Purchasing Credits

Purchasing Credits

You can buy credits at any time from the Credits page, which is in the sidebar and behind the small credits badge at the top of the page.

Credit Packs

Credits are sold in packs of different sizes. The Credits page shows the packs in a grid under Credit Packs, and each card shows:

• The pack name, which is simply the number of credits in it.
• The price, with the cost per credit underneath.
• A Popular badge on one of the packs.
• A Buy Now button.

Larger packs cost less per credit, so buying a bigger one saves money if you know you will use them. If you are not sure, buy the smaller one — the credits you do not spend will still be there next time.

Payment

Clicking Buy Now takes you to a secure Stripe checkout page. We never see or store your card number. Who sells you the credits depends on where you are:

• From the United States, we sell them. Credit and debit cards are accepted, as is Stripe Link if you already use it. Your card is first authorized and charged only once your card and billing address confirm a US purchase. If they are from outside the US, the authorization is released, nothing is charged, and you are taken straight on to our international checkout instead. Your bank may show the released hold for a few days before it falls away.
• From anywhere else, our international reseller sells them as seller of record. It may show the price in your currency and adds your local tax, and sends you its own receipt.

Sales tax is worked out at checkout where it applies, so the total there may be slightly more than the price shown on the pack.

Credits land in your account as soon as the payment goes through, and you are brought back to the site with your new balance showing. The purchase appears in your transaction history right away. If you paid at our international checkout with a method that takes time to clear, the page says your payment is processing; the credits are added, and we email you, once it does.

The Stripe page is only good for about half an hour. If you leave it open and come back later it will have expired — nothing has been charged, just start again from the Credits page.

Three Things To Know Before You Buy

The Credits page sums these up in one line under the packs. Here is what each of them means:

• Credits do not expire while your account is open. There is no clock on them — once they are in your account they stay there until you use them, however long that takes. What ends them is closing the account, not time.
• Credits are non-refundable. Buying a pack is final, and we do not buy unused credits back for cash. Please buy the size you think you will actually use. If a pack was charged in error, or something went wrong with the purchase, contact support and we will look at it. Credits bought from outside the US are sold by our international reseller, which may refund a purchase it sold within 60 days under its own policy; a refunded purchase takes back the credits it added.
• Credits are lost if you delete your account. Deleting your account forfeits any balance left in it, except where the law where you live says otherwise. If you are thinking of closing your account, spend your credits first — see Deleting Your Account.

Credits also cannot be transferred to somebody else’s account, except where the law requires it, and they cannot be used to pay for printing, shipping, a Digital Edition or an Audiobook — those are separate purchases at checkout. See Understanding Credits for what credits do cover. The full wording of all of this is in our Refund Policy.

If a pack was charged to your card and the credits did not appear, contact support with the date and the amount and we will sort it out.