Frequently Asked Questions

What is FishTips?

We are an online marketplace for expert fishing advice. The tips in our marketplace have the same kind of details that a guide would use on an actual fishing trip, but packaged into a digital format that you can purchase and unlock instantly.

Who gets the money from a tip sale?

The funds go to the person who lists the tip for sale. FishTips takes a percentage of the proceeds as a platform fee. This fee pays for credit card processing costs, web hosting, and other necessary expenses associated with providing the marketplace.

When a seller registers a sale our 3rd party payments platform, Stripe, will automatically settle the funds to the sellers bank account within 2-3 business days.

Do I have to register an account to use FishTips?

The marketplace is freely browsable without a login. You will need to register an account to post a tip or to purchase one.

Is everyone who posts a tip a fishing guide?

We want the marketplace to be open to anyone with useful information, whether they are a full-time guide or a skilled weekend angler. We do believe that many professional guides will choose to sell on FishTips, as will tournament professionals, and other people who have expert knowledge that would be valuable in the marketplace.

If I am a guide already making a decent living, then why would I start using FishTips?

Because you can earn additional income via the marketplace. Tip sales can provide many of the benefits of a guided trip to both you and your clients at a fraction of the cost and time investment required. Tip sales can fit seamlessly into your existing revenue channels, like guiding, outfitting, and social media. Tips can also generate a meaningful amount of leads and engagement for those channels, and vice versa.

Do I have to sell a minimum amount or dollar value of tips to stay listed on the platform?

No. We believe that you should decide what tips you list for sale and how often. The platform is yours to use as you see fit. We want to provide a flexible option that works for you.

Does FishTips own my tip after I post it?

No. A tip is a creative work, like a book or a movie, and is protected under copyright law. Authors retain full copyright and control of their tips. FishTips only asks for the rights we need to store your tips and make them available for sale.

What happens if someone tries to redistribute a tip they don’t own on FishTips?

This is a violation of copyright law and violates our terms of service. Our policy is to investigate any such incident and take whatever corrective actions we deem necessary, up to and including account deactivation and a permanent ban from using our service.

Is FishTips available outside of the United States?

At the moment, we are US-only. We can only accept payments from credit cards with a US billing address and send payouts to US-based bank accounts. This may change over time. If you are not based in the US and would like to work with us, then we’d love to hear from you!

Can you provide an example of what you mean when you say that tips can fit into a guiding business?

Sure, let’s say that you take a client on a full-day trip. You’ve gained a lot of knowledge about that body of water, but you believe it’s unlikely you will book any more trips there this season. You can package the same information you used for that trip into a tip and gain additional revenue from your investment of time. You may also have the opposite problem of being fully booked and have a client that you just can’t fit into your schedule. You can offer that client a tip instead.

How does a guide get a verification check mark and qualifications like "professional fishing guide" or "professional tournament angler" listed on their profile?

Anyone can select up to two qualifications to be listed in their profile. We ask anglers to submit verifiable third-party evidence for each qualification: this can be a guide business website in their name, or an online link to official tournament results. We evaluate any evidence provided, and we also check their profile name against the identity listed in the verified bank account they use to accept marketplace payments.