Income Share Earnings and Redemption

1. What is Income Share (IS)?

2. Which reviews earn Income Share?

3. How much will I earn?

4. How can I earn more?

5. How is Income Share calculated?

6. When does Income Share show up in my profile?

7. When can I redeem my earnings?

8. How do I redeem my earnings? (US Residents)

9. How long does it take to receive a check?

10. I am not a US Resident, how do I redeem my earnings?

11. Do I have to pay taxes on my earnings?

12. Why does Epinions need my SSN if I redeem over $600 in a year?

13. Epinions stole my money! Where did it go and how can I get it back?

14. Do Writer's Corner and Member Center essays earn Income Share?

15. I have noticed Content Partner Earnings mentioned; what is this?

16. What are "Base Eroyalties"?

17. What is the Cash Back Program?

18. What are Year-End bonuses?

     

1. What is Income Share?

   See the entry for Income Share in the glossary section.

    

2. Which reviews earn Income Share?

   Please see How is Income Share calculated?

    

3. How much will I earn?

   Please see How is Income Share calculated?

    

4. How can I earn more?

   Please see How is Income Share calculated?

    

5. How is Income Share calculated?

   So you want to know exactly how Income Share is calculated, eh? Join the crowd! While the exact formula for IS is a guarded secret, there are a few items of interest that we (fellow members) know to be true. What we do know:

    

   1. Only reviews with overall ratings of Helpful or Very Helpful will earn Income Share. For this reason it is often said that to increase IS a user should focus on writing high-quality reviews.

    

   2. Reviews of products or services that earn Epinions money earn members more IS than those that do not. It has been stated many times by members and Epinions management alike that writing in more valuable categories (valuable to Epinions in terms of revenue generation, that is) will garner more IS. To discover which categories typically earn more IS, study the Top Earning Reviews page that is updated each month. Within each category the top 10 earning reviews for the month will be ranked, and at the top of each page it will detail how much IS the top earner in the category received.

    

   3. Reviews which are used in a purchase decision (lead to a click-thru purchase) earn more IS than those that are not. This can lead to many conclusions. One such conclusion is that if you write the first review on a popular item, your review will be used to make the purchase decision and therefore earn the IS. Another conclusion would be that if there are many reviews on a particular item, it pays to be the one ranked at the top or very near the top. Often enough surfing shoppers will take the time to read the first one to three reviews while the number of hits often tail off as you go down the list. There is not a hard and fast correlation in this, as anomalies to this rule have been exhibited. Also, there is not necessarily a direct correlation between number of hits and which reviews are used for a purchasing decision. As a composite this is assumed to be true, however.

    

   4. Negative reviews can and will earn IS. It has been postulated many times that a negative review can not/should not earn IS, as negative reviews should not lead to click-thru purchases. This has been proven wrong many times as well. One theory is that negative reviews are few and far between, and therefore someone who is truly comparison shopping will seek these reviews out, even if they are not in the first three shown. While they do not necessarily create a click-thru purchase, they may lead a shopper to a 'better' product that they do indeed purchase. In Epinions' eyes this is worthy of some Income Share.

    

   All of the above being said, it is true that there is no hard-and-fast rule which one can point to regarding income share calculations. As Epinions management stated in the October 29th, 2001 chat:

    

   "The way to increase your Income Share payments is to write more high-quality reviews on popular products in high-value categories.

    

6. When does Income Share show up in my profile?

   Income Share (IS) is constantly being calculated, but is only distributed to user accounts once every month, for a total of twelve times each year. Income Share for the previous month is normally distributed between the 5th and 15th of the following month. For example, a review written January 1 will not show any earnings until early-to-mid February, a review written February 1 will not show any earnings until early-to-mid March, and so on.

    

   Advisor bonuses typically come a day or two after regular IS has been distributed. Moderators and Category Leads receive their monthly stipend at the beginning of each month.

    

7. When can I redeem my earnings?

   US residents may redeem their earnings once they have accumulated $10 in their account. International members and US citizens not residing in the United States must accumulate $100 (USD) before they are eligible to redeem their earnings from Epinions.com. This higher minimum amount is the result of the increased complexity of processing international redemption requests.

    

8. How do I redeem my earnings? (US Residents)

   If you are living in the United States, once you have earned at least $10, a button to redeem your earnings will appear on your account summary. You will then be prompted to reenter your password, and then proceed to a form where you can determine the value of the check and verify your personal details. Follow the prompts from there and your check should arrive within the next few weeks. To redeem more than $600 in a year, you will need to contact Epinions and provide them with your SSN.

    

9. How long does it take to receive a check?

   Most US members report usually receiving their check 2 to 3 weeks following their redemption request. Understandably, it will take slightly longer to reach international members. Occasionally there are delays, and for that reason Epinions.com officially states that it may take up to 6 weeks for your check to arrive. If it has been over 6 weeks since your redemption request and you have still not received your check, contact Community Care. If not deposited, checks will automatically expire 60 days after being issued.

    

    

10. I am not a US resident, how do I redeem my earnings?

    Because of tax laws, international redemption is a process that requires a great deal of patience. It is considerably more complex than redemption for residents of the United States, and especially so if you are not a US citizen. Please realize that the following procedures are merely guidelines and do not guarantee that you will have a trouble-free path to redeeming your earnings.

     

    If you are a US citizen not residing in the United States:

    1. Form W-9 & Redemption:

       Download and print Form W-9 and the International Redemption Request Form. Form W-9 only needs to be submitted once, unless your personal details change, in which case you’ll need to send in an updated version. Mail these completed forms to Epinions at:

       Epinions, Inc.

       Attn: Redemptions

       8000 Marina Blvd, Fifth Floor

       Brisbane, CA 94005

       USA

    2. Confirmation

       Epinions will email you when they have received your paperwork and ask for confirmation of your address. Once you reply, they will process your check and mail it to you. If you redeem $600 or more in a year, Epinions will issue you a Form 1099 for your records at the end of the calendar year.

     

    If you are not a US citizen and not residing in the United States:

    1. ITIN:

       You must apply to the US Treasury Department Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number), which is the equivalent of a Social Security Number. ITINs are purely for tax purposes, and will only have any sort of relevance with taxable income earned in the United States. This is the most troublesome step with redemption, but fortunately is a one-time thing so you won’t have to do it every time you redeem. You can apply for an ITIN before meeting Epinions’ minimum requirements for redemption, but it's best to wait until you know that you will eventually meet the requirements before investing your time in this process.

       1. Download Form W-7 from the IRS’s website: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf

       2. Check box a and h.

       3. Next to box h, you must write down Exception 1*. In the two fields below put your country and the treaty article number for "Royalties," which for most countries (including Canada, the UK, and Australia) is 12. A complete list of Income Tax Treaties can be found here.
          • Some members have had success by putting Exception 2, which is legitimate if you have held an Advisor, Category Lead, or Moderator title. This is because those titles earn some income based on actual services they provide, rather than from copyright royalties that are regular members and Top Reviewers sole source of income. Regardless of the exception you write down, you will need to attach evidence to your Form W-7 that shows that you meet that specific exception. Ideally, Epinions.com should provide you with a letter stating that it is a US company paying you small amounts of currency for copyright royalties on articles you have written for them (Exception 1) or services you have provided (Exception 2). Unfortunately, Epinions.com is extremely reluctant to provide such letters, so your best chance is to write a letter yourself that explains where your income is coming from and attach that to your Form W-7. Some members have acquired an ITIN without providing any evidence.

       4. Fill in the remaining fields as they apply to you. The best form of picture identification to send along with your Form W-7 is a passport. However, the IRS loses things frequently, so avoid sending your actual passport and send a copy instead. Copies must be certified copies issued by your local passport office (best method), or you can have a copy signed by a notary public (lawyers are typically notary publics, and may charge a small fee for their time).

       5. Staple together your completed Form W-7, certified/notarized photo identification copy, and your letter substantiating the Exception, and mail it to the IRS at:
          Internal Revenue Service

          ITIN Operation

          P.O. Box 149342

          Austin, TX 78714-9342

       6. In 4 to 6 weeks the IRS will respond, hopefully with good news. If not, give it another try or seek help from a tax professional, or perhaps you’ll want to start pondering the less-than-legal methods of acquiring your earnings.

    2. W-8BEN & Redemption:

       Download and print Form W-8BEN and the International Redemption Request Form. Both forms are relatively straightforward, but instructions for W-8BEN are available here should you need them. Form W-8BEN only needs to be submitted once, unless your personal details change, in which case you’ll need to send in an updated version. Mail these completed forms to Epinions at:

       Epinions, Inc.

       Attn: Redemptions

       8000 Marina Blvd, Fifth Floor

       Brisbane, CA 94005

       USA

    3. Confirmation

       Epinions will email you when they have received your paperwork and ask for confirmation of your address. Once you reply, they will process your check and mail it to you (minus any taxes that may apply). Epinions will issue you a Form 1042-S for your records at the end of the calendar year.

     

    International Redemption Discussion, Further Reading, and Sources:

    Epinions Message Board Thread:

    http://www.epinions.com/msg/show_~threads/cat_id_~121/id_~6424/forum_id_~442

    Epinions International Redemption Pages:

    http://www.epinions.com/help/faq/?show=faq_redeeming&sub=redeem

    http://www.epinions.com/redemption/redemption_login.html?intl=1

    US Internal Revenue Service Pages:

    Income Tax Treaties: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/international/article/0,,id=96739,00.html

    Form W-7: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf

    Form W-8BEN: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf

    Form W-8BEN Instructions: http://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw8ben/index.html

    Form W-9: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

     

11. Do I have to pay taxes on my earnings?

    Short answer: Yes.

     

    Long answer: Yes. That being said, the government will only have a record of the income if a member exceeds the $600/year redemption threshold. While all income is reportable to the IRS, Epinions.com is only required to issue a 1099 form to members who have redeemed over $600 in Eroyalties. Note the stress on the word ‘redeemed’; if a member has earned over $600 but not withdrawn (redeemed) over this amount the forms will not be sent. Redeeming over $600 will guarantee issuance of the 1099 form, a copy of which goes to the government. At this point a member would be best served to go ahead and report the income, as the government already has it on record and a simple audit will show that the member owes more than they might have previously reported.

     

    If you fit into the $1 to $599 per year redemption area, note that you are still required to report this income per government guidelines. That being said, the government will not have a record of this exchange as no 1099 form will be filed on your behalf by Epinions.com. Some members have been known to leave this income off of their returns and take the risk of an audit. It is up to each member’s moral compass to determine how much risk they are willing to take on in this situation. Consultation with a tax professional is urged, as tax laws can change and members should not view this FAQ as professional advice.

     

     

12. Why does Epinions need my SSN if I redeem over $600 in a year?

    At the point that a member attempts to redeem more than $600 in a single tax year, Epinions will stop payment and require that personal information is transmitted to them, including the member's Social Security Number, or SSN. Per the answer to the question above, Epinions.com is required by law to report redeemed income totaling over $600 in one year to both the member and the government for tax reasons. Without this personal information Epinions.com cannot file this form on your behalf, and therefore to comply with tax law they cannot issue any more redemptions until the situation is resolved. If a member is nervous about supplying this personal information they will simply have to wait for the following tax year to continue redemption of Income Share earned.

     

13. Epinions stole my money! Where did it go and how can I get it back?

    Epinions is not in the business of stealing money from members. What has more than likely occurred is that your account has been deemed inactive, and therefore the Income Share (IS) residing in your account has expired. Epinions, and any business for that matter, can not continue to accrue debits and credits indefinitely, and therefore a cap for outstanding debits has been set at three months of account inactivity. Per the Epinions FAQ:

     

    Termination. You can cancel your account at any time by contacting Customer Support. We can cancel your account, or otherwise refuse service to you, at any time for any reason (including repeat infringement). Shopping.com may choose to assume that you intended to terminate your account if you do not access it for more than 3 months. Following termination of your account for any reason (including inactivity), (1) at their sole option, Shopping.com and its licensees may continue or stop publicly displaying some or all of your content, and (2) all of your existing Eroyalties credits automatically expire, and no new credits will accrue.

     

    Does this mean that your money is lost indefinitely? Not necessarily. The curious user can contact Community Care to request a reinstatement. Keep in mind that at this point any resolution is at the sole discretion of Epinions.com

     

14. Do Writer's Corner and Member Center essays earn Income Share?

    Yes. Even though Epinions states in the Writer's Corner that content in that area is not eligible to receive IS, many members have indicated otherwise. However, based on the typical reported earnings of Writer's Corner and Member Advice essays, saying that they don't earn any IS is in many ways an accurate statement.

     

15. I have noticed Content Partner Earnings mentioned; what is this?

    Content Partner Earnings refers to a method of earning money which is no longer available to members of the site. In the early years of Epinions.com, a member who had their own website could become a Content Partner site, directing traffic to Epinions. Epinions would then pay the site owners a certain amount of money based on the volume of traffic directed to Epinions via these other sites, thus increasing the visibility of Epinions.com and the ranking of the site. As the site became more and more self-sufficient the added hits were no longer necessary. Additionally, many folks deduced methods to game the system to take money from Epinions while driving no actual sales and contacts. For this reason the Content Partnering program payout was first reduced and then eliminated all together. This page (the archived News items from the year 2001) details the changes that were made and the eventual termination of the Content Partner Program.

     

16. What are "Base Eroyalties"?

    Like Content Partner income, Base Eroyalties refers to a method of earning money which is no longer available to members of the site. When Epinions was in its infancy, the original pay scale was a pay-for-hits scheme, meaning that a set amount of money was earned each time a member’s review was viewed (Base Eroyalties). Presumably this was set up to pay folks for the hits that they generated for the site, as hits were assumed to be the lifeblood of a fledgling internet startup.

     

    After some time and subsequent review by Epinions management, Base Eroyalties were first reduced over steps from ten cents per hit to one cent per hit and then completely eliminated in October of 2001. There were several reasons for this. First, it was realized that pure hits do not directly sell products or advertisements which would earn revenue for Epinions. Second, many members discovered that it was easy to game the system. Creating multiple accounts and submitting pure drivel in the form of a review guaranteed that the user could cash in on the penny or three cents per hit with little to no effort and absolutely no benefit to the site. Several member groups were created in which each member would post their new review, guaranteeing multiple hits with the only requirement being that the hits were reciprocated. Each member of the group hitting a review would guarantee the user three cents or a penny, yet the hits registered in this fashion often resulted in nothing more than lining the pockets of said members. The net effect of this was that Epinions was paying out money that did nothing to generate sales or advertising income, and that was a formula for eventual bankruptcy.

     

    For these reasons the Base Eroyalties program payout was first reduced and then eliminated altogether, as mentioned above. The only remaining stream of revenue for members was and still is Income Share (IS) which is detailed above. This page (the archived News items from the year 2001) details the changes that were made and the eventual termination of the Base Eroyalties Program.

     

17. What is the Cash Back Program?

    The Cash Back Program was a short-lived buyer rewards program initiated by Epinions/Shopping.com. If you were a member of Epinions/Shopping.com's Smart Shopper Club and purchased items through a participating seller, Epinions would reimburse a small percentage of the purchase price to the buyer via the Cash Back Program. For more information regarding this now defunct program, please see the following page, http://www.epinions.com/help/faq/show_~faq_cashback.

     

    The Cash Back Program was started somewhere around December of 2004 and was cancelled on August 31st, 2005.

     

18. What are Year-End bonuses?

    Year-End bonuses are rewards to active and hatted members from Epinions.com. This bonus typically consists of cash in the form of Eroyalties but has also been granted in the form of gifts such as cameras, printers and the like. The Eroyalties have been disbursed in an escalated manner per the user's status. A certain amount would go to 'regular' members who have met certain criteria with a larger amount for Moderators, Advisors, and Top Reviewers. Category Leads would be rewarded with an even higher amount than the previous groups.

     

    For 2006, Epinions took a departure from the typical method and instead held a Holiday First Review Sweepstakes with 78 prizes ranging from $100 to $2500. Although the sweepstakes successfully brought more reviews to Epinions, the way Epinions handled and communicated the altered situation was met with some harsh criticism from parts of the community.

     

    For the year-end bonus announcements in the member center, see the following pages:

    2006 announcement & winners

    2005 announcement

    2004 announcement

    2003 announcement