PUBLISHER /CREATOR QUESTIONS

• Download the Publisher / Creator Cheat Sheet to fast track your success.
• Can I become a Publisher from my country?

You can find the list of available countries on the Add Bank page once you have created an account.

• Earnings and Payouts
  • How do I start earning on Lookhu?

To start earning on Lookhu, please do the following:

• Add your bank account that is in your own name
• The bank account should be in the same country as the country that issued the verified photo ID of the Publisher. As an alternate payout method, you can add a verified e-wallet
• Complete your W-9 form (for US Publishers)
• Make sure your account is verified
• Make sure you have set your subscription price

Note: You may be unable to set a subscription price until your account has been verified.

• Payouts

The available payout methods are determined by your location.
Your Statements page will display your Payout Request, Pending Balance, and Earnings.
The Pending Balance is the amount that you have earned during the last 7 days. Your earnings become available for withdrawal from the Current Balance on a 7-day rolling basis.
Publishers in a small number of countries that receive high levels of reversed transactions will have Pending Balances for 21 days. After four months from the first earned transaction, payouts switch to a 7-day rolling basis.

Please note: if a User seeks or causes a refund or a chargeback and is successful, you will see an Adjustment in your Statements page for the amount. The Status column on the Statements page will indicate if any earnings were reversed or adjusted.

All withdrawal requests and bank payouts are processed immediately and will appear within 3-5 business days.

• Payout Percentages

Publishers receive 75% of the revenue on their earnings including subscriptions, paid messages and tips.
The remaining 25% covers operating cost, content, referral payments, payment processing, hosting, support, and all other services.

• Top Publisher

The top Publisher notification is an informational tool that compares account performance to other Lookhu Publishers over the last 30 days and it is updated daily.

• My payout request was rejected

If you receive the following error message:

“We have been unable to process your payout due to the following reason: Please contact support with an up to date ID so we can process your payment.”
Your payout request will not be processed until you have submitted a new ID that is then verified and approved.

Possible reasons:

• Your previously submitted ID has expired
• The documents previously submitted do not meet the requirements required to complete your Payout Request
• There is missing payout information on your Account which prevents you from withdrawing funds.

Please submit a copy of your government issued photo ID along with your selfie holding your ID.

Once your ID is verified and approved your payouts will be enabled. Please note that if you have received this message, you will not be able to receive your Payouts until this is complete.

Please note the following requirements which must be met for ANY uploaded image:

1. Images may not be edited, cropped or re-sized.
2. All images must be in color.
3. Submitted documents must be a photo or a scanned copy. Electronic documents or a photo of a photo will be rejected.
4. All 4 corners of the document must be visible.
5. The entire government issued, non-expired ID must be shown. No parts of the document may be redacted, covered, cut, or censored.
6. Files must be .PNG or .JPG format and under 7MB in size. 
7. US Publishers are required to complete a W9 form.

• My payment has been processed. Where is it?

Typically, it takes 3-5 business days for funds to appear in your bank account.
In some cases, it can take up to 10 business days. 

If it has been more than 10 days since your payment has been listed as processed, please email us at payments@Lookhu.com. Include a downloaded copy of your bank statement. It must show your bank details and have evidence that you have not received your payment. We will investigate the payment further. For bank wire transfers (outside US), you will need to request your Destination Trace ID from Support for the deposits Lookhu has issued to you. You will need this number to provide to your bank to trace your wire.

• My earnings are pending and the payout is unavailable

Please confirm on your Payouts page that your bank has been successfully added. Pending balances will become eligible for withdrawal 8 days after the funds were earned.

• Minimum withdrawal

The minimum withdrawal amount depends on your chosen payout method. For most payout methods, it is $30. 

The minimum payout for US Publishers is $30. For Publishers outside of the US, you can see the minimum Payout amount for your chosen payment method on your Banking page.

• Initiating a payout

You can choose when to initiate a payout. Different payout methods have different options.

• Manual – if your payment method allows manual/on-demand payouts, you can initiate a payout by clicking the “Request withdrawal” button in your Payout Requests page.
• Automatic recurring payments – can be set to Monthly, Weekly, or Daily (daily may not be available for all payment methods). For your automatic payment to occur, your Current Balance must be above the minimum payout amount.
• Cancel my payout request

To submit a payout cancellation request, you will need to contact customer support. Please include in the ticket date & time of the payout request, invoice number, and the amount. You may find this information in the Statements section of your profile. Although there is no guarantee that the operation will be 100% successful, we will do our best to cancel the transaction.

• My account is approved but the payout is unavailable

Your payout request may not be processed if there is an info mismatch in your account. You may need to re-add your bank account details (or debit card for OCT payments) to your account in the banking section and make sure you enter the correct details: Payments

• My Current Balance is above the withdrawal minimum but payout is unavailable

If your bank information is correct, it’s possible that your W-9 was filled out incorrectly. Please verify that Box #6 on your W-9 form contains your city, state, and ZIP.

Otherwise, your payouts may have been paused because your account was suspected of fraudulent activity or was suspected to be in violation of our Terms of Service. Contact Support to resolve the issue and resume payouts.

• OCT Payments

Original Credit Transaction (OCT) is a payment method that enables direct transfers of funds to credit card users (only available to Publishers outside the US). 

If you encounter the following error message:

“We have been unable to process your payout due to the following reason: Please use another card or try to withdraw in 12 hours. Choose a different payout method if the problem persists.”

• Try adding another payment card as it is possible that your current card does not support Direct Transfer (OCT) payments. 
• Try requesting again after 12 hours.

How much of the payout do I receive?

The amount that you see in your current balance is the exact amount in USD that will be sent to your payment method of choice. Your bank may charge you currency conversion or transfer fees to receive the money. Additionally, your e-wallet company may charge you a fee for accessing the money. Payouts go out in USD and will be converted to the currency of your account. Lookhu does not have control over currency exchange rates imposed by your bank.

• S. Publishers Tax Form

Publishers in the United States will receive an IRS Form 1099 if they have earned and withdrawn more than $600 USD in the previous tax year. The 1099 form will be sent in the mail to the address on your W-9 form. If your address changes, be sure to update your W-9 form with the new address to ensure you receive your tax documents. A digital copy of your 1099 form can be downloaded from your Banking page. 

Proof of income can be found on your Earning Statistics page.

For more information please see 1099 Tax Information section.

• Tips
  • Adding a tip button

In order to have a tip button appear under your posts, please:

• Add a bank account to your profile to earn income
• Complete all of the verification details
• Verify your account
• Verify your banking information
• Once your account is verified, please add new content and posts to your feed
• The Lookhu system will activate the tip feature based on your activity

• Tip feature

To activate the tip feature on your account, please update your feed regularly and include at least 10 posts.

• Account
  • Account approval / account application requirements

In order to be approved as a Publisher, two photos must be submitted. 

1. A close-up photo of your government-issued ID (passport, driver’s license, ID card)
2. A photo of you (selfie) holding the same ID. Make sure your face is fully visible and the ID is fully visible.  

Please note the following requirements which must be met for ANY uploaded image:

1. Images may not be edited, cropped or re-sized
2. All images must be in color
3. Submitted documents must be a photo or a scanned copy. Electronic documents or a photo of a photo will be rejected.
4. All 4 corners of the document must be visible
5. The entire government issued, non-expired ID must be shown.  No parts of the document may be redacted, covered, cut, or censored
6. Files must be .PNG or .JPG format and under 7MB in size

• Rejected applications

Applications may be rejected for the following reason(s):

• Poor quality selfie with a government-issued, non-expired photo ID
• Poor quality image of a government-issued, non-expired photo ID or passport
• Provided ID is expired or will expire in less than 30 days
• Provided ID is invalid or damaged (hole-punched, cracked/taped, cut-up)
• Provided ID is not government-issued and/or does not contain holder’s photo
• A secondary form of ID is required at this time (preferred: international passport with English characters)
• Images of the front and back of your government-issued ID are required
• A photo of your government-issued ID and a selfie photo with your government-issued ID are required
• Verification by additional social media is required at this time; you may complete this step by linking your Twitter account or by allowing access for verification to another social media platform such as Instagram or Facebook
• Cover image and/or profile photo does not match your identity; please note that for any third-party content, you must submit:
  • the Publisher’s ID
  • the Publisher’s selfie photo with matching ID
  • a Publisher release form
  • the Publisher’s selfie photo with signed release form
• Cover images or profile photos are misleading or confusing. Images should represent the type of content you intend to post
• Cover image and profile photo do not match criteria, they cannot contain nudity and/or sexual material
• Submitted account application for 2 or more Publishers; additional documents are required:
  • all Publisher’s government issued, non-expired IDs
  • all Publisher’s selfie photos with government-issued, non-expired IDs
• Submitted account promotes escort services, which are prohibited by our Terms and Conditions
• Submitted account suggests direct contact with Users, which is prohibited by our Terms and Conditions
• Submitted Account suggests third-party payment processors or services in the About Section, website URL, cover image or profile photo
• Submitted account owner is not over the age of 18

• My account is paused / Subscriptions paused due to inactivity

If a Publisher stops posting, their account is Paused automatically until they choose to start posting again.

You must have at least 1 post per month; otherwise, your account will be set to inactive.
When your account is inactive, new subscribers cannot sign up to your Lookhu page.
The system will automatically pause your account. If your account is paused, resuming posting will reactivate your account.

• Two Accounts

You may only have two active profiles on Lookhu. Many Publishers have one Free Account and one Account with a subscription price. 

• What is the difference between a Paid Account and a Free Account?

Paid accounts require Users to pay a monthly subscription fee to view your feed.

Free accounts allow Users to subscribe without paying a monthly subscription fee. However, free accounts allow for paid posts and paid live streams. 

Otherwise, there are no differences between the two types of accounts.

• Is nudity allowed on Lookhu?

Nudity is not allowed on Lookhu.

• Linking to Social Media

Lookhu is currently compatible with Instagram and Facebook. You can promote your Lookhu account in any way you wish.

• Stolen Content on Third-Party Sites

Lookhu takes content piracy very seriously.

• Our designated Copyright team issues formal takedown notices against all reported copyright violations.
• Our Copyright team’s service is provided free to all of our Publishers.
• Our Copyright team issues notices on all illicit target websites, hosting services, and domain registrars, while also notifying all major search engines of these infringements. 

To file Copyright Infringement notices, Publishers should send all supporting details and evidence via a support ticket. Please provide the link to the page in question, as well as supporting screenshots. You may also click “Report” near the post with copyright infringement and select option “This content contains stolen material (DMCA)”.

Removal turnaround time is on a case by case basis and dependent on the infringing website and due legal process. Please be advised that Lookhu does not have direct control over the actions of other websites but we will do our best to get stolen content taken down. We also encourage you to reach out to the website directly.

• Account and Page Settings
  • Who can see my Lookhu page?

Free Account

• Anyone registered to Lookhu can subscribe to your free account and see all of your past and current posts on your page.
• Please note that all content must comply with our Terms of Service or be subject to suspension or closure.

Account with Subscription Price

• Users that have paid your subscription price can see your Feed.
• Users can view all your current posts and future posts after they subscribe.
• The content contained within your posts is hidden for non-subscribers.
• Please note that all content must comply with our Terms of Service or be subject to suspension or closure.

• Subscribers report “Page Unavailable” error when they visit my profile

Geo-blocking in your Security Settings would prevent users from blocked countries or areas from being able to see your profile.

• Tagging
  • Tagging Publishers

If your content contains someone other than you, you must tag that person’s Lookhu account. If they do not have an Lookhu account, please ask them to make one. If they cannot make an Lookhu account, you will need to provide a copy of their photo ID and release documents before the content can be posted.

To tag a Publisher’s account, simply @ their username. You can also include their full URL “Lookhu.com/” to generate a card that links to their profile at the bottom of your post.

• Tagging Users

The system only allows you to mention your active Users in posts and comments.

• Promoting Your Lookhu Account
  • Tips for Publishers
• Post new content often.
• Place your Lookhu link on your existing social media (Twitter, Instagram, etc.).
• Promote your Lookhu link anywhere you have followers.

• Promotional Campaigns

Promotional campaigns are limited-time discounts that Publishers can offer to attract new Users. Promotional campaigns can be discount subscriptions (up to 90%) but are not free. Publishers can customize the discount percentage, offer limit, and expiration date. Promotional campaigns are only available for paid accounts. 

To begin a promotional campaign: 

• Make sure you have a subscription price set in Settings
• Go to the Promotions Page or your Profile Page
• Click “Add a Promotional Campaign”
• It will default to the “Discount” tab
• Set your desired discount percentage. The maximum discount is 90%
• Set the expiration date of the promotional campaign
• Select the number of discounted subscriptions you would like to provide. This way a limited number of new or expired users will be able to use the discount
• An announcement will appear on your Profile with your message to Users after you start a promotional campaign

• Free Trials

Free trials are limited-time free access to content on a paid account for promotional purposes. Free trials do not auto-renew by default. Free trials can be used to attract new Users.

Free trials can be sent to:

• Users who have not subscribed to your profile yet
• Users with expired subscriptions to your profile

Free trials will not work for:

• Users who currently have an active subscription to your profile
• Users who have not accepted your Free Trial yet

Free Trials Step by Step:

1. Make sure you have a subscription price set in Settings
2. Go to the Promotions Page
3. Click “Add a Promotional Campaign”
4. Click the Free Trial tab in the window that appears
5. Set the duration of the free trial period
6. Select the number of free trial offers you would like to provide. This way a limited number of new or expired users will be able to get free trial access to your profile
7. Set the expiration date on the free trial offer

– An announcement will appear on your Profile with your message to Users after you start a trial campaign.

• Referrals
  • Referral program

The Referral Payout will be 5% of the Referred Publisher’s Earnings:

• Limited to the first $1 Million Dollars earned by each Referred Publisher. This allows Referrers to earn up to $50,000.00 per Referred Publisher.
• There is no time limit to achieve this. 

There are no limitations on the number of Referred Publishers or your total Referral Earnings.

If someone signed up but did not use your referral code, we are unable to link that account to your referral. It is automated and cannot be changed.

For additional details, please read the “Referral Program Terms” in the Terms of Service.

• Referral income

• Referral income is processed monthly on the 1st working day of the month.
• Referral income is credited directly to your bank account instantly. 
• In the event your monthly Referral Income does not exceed the minimum withdrawal amount of your current payout method, then your referral income rolls over to the next month.

• Referral link

• Click the “My Referrals” tab in your dropdown menu. Your unique referral URL appears there.
• You can share your Referral Link with anyone you believe would be a great Lookhu Publisher. 
• In order to receive Referral Income, the person must sign up using your unique code.
• It is not possible for a Publisher to use their own referral link. 
• Referral links are only able to be used by individuals who do not have and have not previously had a Lookhu account. A Publisher cannot delete their old account and open a new account with a referral link.

• Technical Questions
  • Subscription Prices

You can set your subscription price between $4.99 and $50 per month, or you may set your account to be a free subscription.

You may create bundles where users can buy a subscription for 2 or more months at once. The maximum bundle price is $250.

The maximum tip amount is $100 for new users and $200 users who have been on the platform at least 4 months.

• Post troubleshooting

Posts can include up to 40 pictures or videos. 

• Pictures should be less than 6000×6000 pixels
• The video file size limit is 3 GB per video
• Supported video formats include mp4, mov, avi.

• Deleting or Editing a Post

• You can delete any post at any time. 

• Direct Messages Troubleshooting

Recall a Message:

A Publisher can visit their Messages Statistic page and click on the button called “Unsend”.

In each message, you can click Unsend, and this message will disappear from anyone who has not yet paid to view this message.

Paid Private Messages:

1. Click on the Message button on your subscriber’s page. 
2. You will see the New Message pop-up window and your current Messages. 
3. There are 2 buttons on the left side of the message field to upload media and to set a price.
4.  Your Users will be charged automatically upon confirming that they agree to pay and view content in your message. 

• Video and Livestream Troubleshooting

In order to use Live Streams:

• Lookhu requires you to have at least 5 recent posts, 5 active subscribers and activity on your Feed.
• Give browser permissions to use your camera and microphone.
• Browser recommendations:
  • On iOS – Safari
  • On Android – Google Chrome
  • On Desktop – All major browsers
    • Free accounts are able to set a price to live streams
• Check your Wi-Fi signal strength or internet connection
  • If you see a Red circle at the bottom of your livestream page – that means you have a weak internet connection
  • Yellow circle – average internet connection
  • Green circle – strong internet connect

• How does co-streaming work?

• Begin streaming. Another Publisher must join your stream as a viewer (they must be subscribed to you to do so). 
• Once they have joined, they will see a co-stream request button.
• Once they click the button, you will be able to approve their request.
• Your Users and the co-streaming Publishers Users will be able to see that you are streaming together.

• Lookhu Watermark

Under Security Settings, you can configure your watermark for videos or photos uploaded to your page. You can add custom text to your content. This is recommended and serves as a copyright protection feature.

• Value Added Tax
  • What is Value Added Tax (EU/UK VAT)

Value Added Tax is a consumption tax added to the value of goods or services purchased in the European Union and United Kingdom. The specific rate of tax varies by country. As the name suggests the tax is added to the price of the product or service at the time of purchase and paid directly to the relevant tax authority.

• What has changed?

In accordance with European Union rules on how VAT is calculated on payments made by Users, the collection of VAT from customers is paid directly to the relevant tax authorities. Regardless of where the Publisher or User is based, the 75/25 earning split between Publisher and Lookhu is protected.

This change will only affect payments made by Users who are resident in a country which charges VAT.

• When did these changes come into effect?

Lookhu changed its policy on the collection of VAT on the 1st of July 2020 for the UK and the EU.

• How does Lookhu handle VAT

All VAT collected by Lookhu is paid directly to the relevant tax authority, in full.

• Is Lookhu now taking more money over and above the 25% fee?

No. All VAT collected by Lookhu is paid directly to the relevant tax authority, in full. These changes have been introduced to protect the 75/25 earning split between Publishers and Lookhu.

• Will this change affect me?

Any purchase by one of your Users residents in a country which charges VAT will be subject to VAT at the local rate. This will be added to the cost of any payment for interaction that they make on Lookhu.

Specific guidance on how the changes may affect you is determined by your place of residency and VAT status. This is addressed and is covered in the below questions.

We recommend you seek professional advice to ensure you are compliant with your local rules based on your individual circumstances.

• Whose responsibility is it to pay the VAT?

Following our change in VAT treatment implemented on 1st of July 2020, Lookhu is responsible for the collection of VAT where applicable, in respect of payments from Users.

The payment of VAT to tax authorities depends on your VAT tax registration status as outlined in the below question.

• Does this change my relationship with my Users?

All forms of interaction with your Users remain the same.

For the purposes of VAT only, Publishers with Users in the UK and EU are deemed to provide their services to Lookhu rather than Users directly.

• What does this mean for me?

If you are a Publisher resident outside of the UK, Lookhu will collect the required VAT on sales to the UK/EU based Users and pass this directly on to the relevant tax authorities. There is nothing else to do at this time. However, we recommend you seek professional advice to ensure you are compliant with your local rules based on your individual circumstances.

If you are a Publisher resident in the UK, it depends on whether or not you are registered for VAT.

The following guidance from HMRC explains when you are required to register for VAT https://www.gov.uk/vat-registration/when-to-register. For clarity, your Earnings (75% of Users payment) is classed as “VAT Taxable Turnover” as referred to in the guidance article.

If your earnings do not exceed the VAT Threshold explained in the guidance article, and you are not registered for VAT, then Lookhu will collect the required VAT on the sales to the UK/EU based Users and directly pass on to the relevant tax authorities. We recommend seeking professional advice to ensure you are compliant with your local rules based on your individual circumstances.

See image below for a detailed example of how VAT will be handled for Publishers who are not registered for VAT

If you are resident in the UK and registered for VAT, we ask that you please provide us with your valid VAT number and confirm acceptance of the self-billing agreement.  We can then raise invoices for you, which you will find on the ‘Bank’ section of your profile.

You will then be deemed to be charging Lookhu your Earnings figure (75% of Users payment) + VAT at 20%. This VAT element that is deemed to be added to your earnings will be paid to you monthly on a separate payment outside of your regular earnings, once internal verification procedures are completed. There will be a downloadable VAT statement supporting this amount which you can use to complete your VAT return and remit the VAT amount (which is paid to you by Lookhu each month) directly to HMRC.

See below for a detailed example of how VAT will be handled for UK VAT registered Publishers who have provided a valid VAT number. This results in all required VAT being paid on User payments to HMRC whilst protecting the 75/25 earning model.

• What information do I need to provide to receive payment for the VAT element?

For Earnings in July / August / September 2020, you will need to send a monthly invoice to Fenix International Limited. The invoice needs to show your Earnings figure for the month and have VAT applied at 20%. For Earnings after 1st October 2020 we will be generating the invoice for you and it will be available on the Lookhu Platform.

We will be carrying out additional verification procedures before processing the VAT payments. In order to receive the payment, Publishers will need to email proof of their VAT filing to vat@Lookhu.com. This will be checked to ensure the VAT element on Lookhu Earnings is being declared to HMRC. Once checked, the payment will be released.

• Is there a chance that this policy will change again?

Like all businesses, we constantly review the relevant regulatory requirements of the countries in which we operate.

• Who can I contact if I have further questions?

We hope that the information included in this FAQ has been helpful. If you have any additional questions on the subject of VAT, you can contact us at vat@Lookhu.com.

• Tax Information
  • What is a 1099 form / Do I need a 1099 form?

All US Publishers will receive a 2020 1099 NEC document if they have earned and withdrawn over $600 dollars in the 2020 calendar year.  Copies have been filed with the IRS and mailed to Publishers to the address on file. For a digital version of your Tax Form 1099, please visit Banking section.

• Why haven’t I received my 1099?

Please be advised if you have earned the minimum of $600 in payouts in 2020 you will receive a 1099 NEC in January 2021 to the mailing address that is on your W9 tax form as of December 31, 2020. Additionally, the form will be available electronically in the “Add bank” section of your profile.

• I need a W2 / W4

The tax form required for your earnings on Lookhu is a 1099 NEC Form

• I need to update the information on my 1099

Please be advised the 1099 NEC is issued using the information on your W9 tax form as of December 31, 2020. Since your W9 was updated on Insert Date here we will be unable to update your form.

• The information shown on the 1099 is incorrect

Please submit a support request from the help center portal and we will investigate with our tax team and keep you updated as soon as the issue is resolved.

• I need a copy of a previous years 1099

Please submit a support request with year details and we will escalate it to our US Accounting department who will seek to provide the requested information.