Creator Earnings & Status

Sharksnip's marketplace runs on a flat 50/50 split between creator and platform. There is no formal tier ladder. There is editorial recognition for the best creators ("Featured Creator" status) but it isn't paid, and there's no ranked promotion or demotion system.

This doc is the definitive reference for how creator earnings work.

TL;DR for the degens-who-ship

50/50 cash split. Forever. First sale to thousandth sale, same rate.

Stripe Connect Express payout, monthly cycle, $50 minimum, 1099-NEC auto-issued at $600+/yr.

No tier ladder. No promotion criteria, no demotion mechanics, no grace periods.

Featured Creator is editorial only — better marketplace placement, +25 Sharp calls when featured, no rate change.

Forks credit you on their profile + the public tree. No royalty chain — but discovery upside is real.

The split — flat 50/50

Every transaction on the marketplace splits evenly:

Creator: 50% of every dollar, paid in cash via Stripe Connect
Sharksnip: 50% as platform fee

That's it. No tiers, no exceptions, no promotion criteria, no demotion mechanics, no grace periods. A new creator with their first sale gets the same 50% as a creator with 10,000 monthly subscribers.

What gets split

Model subscriptions — a subscriber pays $10/mo for your model, you get $5/mo
Slate Passes — a buyer pays $5 for one slate of your model, you get $2.50
Component sales — same flat 50/50

What does NOT happen

No "Beginner" tier with credits-only payout
No "Established" promotion at 100 buyers
No "Signature" 70% upgrade for top creators
No recursive royalties on forks (parent doesn't earn from fork sales)
No tier badges that change with performance
No demotion when sales drop
No grace periods on rate changes (because rates never change)

Why we collapsed the tier ladder

Earlier versions of Sharksnip had a Beginner / Established / Signature tier ladder. We removed it for these reasons:

1. Simplicity beat sophistication

In creator user research, the simpler model won. "You keep half" beats "you start at 80% in credits, you might promote to 50% cash, then maybe to 70% cash, with these criteria, with 30-day grace periods…" Every layer of complexity reduced creator self-reported intent to publish.

2. The Beginner tier had a worse first impression

Beginner creators were paid in non-cash credits. The intent was reasonable (low overhead, no tax forms, no Stripe setup) but the message read as "you don't earn real money yet." That's not the message we want to send to a new creator who just made their first sale.

3. Tier mechanics were ~30% of the original implementation plan

Promotion logic, demotion logic, grace periods, criteria computation, tier-rate split capture per transaction, cash-out conversion at first promotion, 1099 thresholds split across tiers — all engineering work that didn't move the user-visible needle.

4. The complexity made docs worse

Anyone could explain "you keep half" in 5 seconds. The old tier doc was 250 lines and most creators couldn't summarize it accurately after reading it.

We may revisit a formal tier system after the first 100 paying creators are on the platform. The signal we'd need to see: a clear cohort of top performers who would visibly benefit from a higher rate AND would visibly increase output if given one. Until then: flat 50/50 wins.

Cash payouts

Setup

On your first sale, the creator dashboard prompts you to set up a Stripe Connect Express account. This takes ~5 minutes and Stripe handles all the W-9 / W-8BEN paperwork.

If you don't set up payouts, your earnings accrue indefinitely. They don't expire. We'll send periodic reminders to set up payouts so you can collect.

Cycle

Monthly cadence. Cycle ends last day of calendar month, payout processes within 7 days.
Minimum: $50 USD. Below-minimum balances roll forward to the next cycle.
Method: Stripe Connect Express (default) or Standard accounts supported.
Currency: USD by default. Other currencies supported per Stripe Connect availability.

Tax forms

US creators: 1099-NEC issued automatically by Stripe for $600+/year in cash earnings.
Non-US creators: W-8BEN equivalents per local rules. You're responsible for your local tax obligations.

Stripe handles the hard parts

We chose Stripe Connect specifically so creators don't need to learn payment compliance. Stripe handles KYC, AML, banking integration, 1099 issuance, multi-currency. We just push the right amount to the right account.

Featured Creator status (informal, editorial)

There's no automated tier ladder, but there is editorial recognition.

Featured Creator is a status awarded by the Sharksnip team based on:

Consistent performance (positive ROI, good calibration)
Quality of model documentation
Community engagement (Discord, Snip Tank interview willingness)
Vibe — does this person represent the platform well?

What Featured Creators get

Prominent placement in marketplace browse
Featured spot in Shark Snips of the Week (rotating)
"Featured" badge on profile and listings
25 bonus Sharp calls when featured in Shark Snips content
First call on Snip Tank monthly interviews
Direct relationship with the Sharksnip team

How to become a Featured Creator

There's no formal application — we reach out. The fastest path:

Publish at least one model with a positive 30-day live track record
Engage in Discord (#showcase, #creator-help) — be visible
Document your methodology well (model description, feature reasoning)
Participate in Pack Breaker tournaments (consistent top-100 finishes are a good signal)

How Featured rotation works

We rotate featured spots so multiple creators get exposure. There's no "demotion" — featured status rotates naturally as new creators rise. If a featured creator has a bad month, we don't strip the badge; we just don't re-feature them in Shark Snips until they bounce back.

Track record — your reputation

Your track record is computed from your live predictions — every inference run on a published model is logged with the prediction and the eventual outcome.

You cannot:

Manipulate track records (we compute, you don't self-report)
Delete or alter logged predictions
Hide bad performance windows

You can:

Unpublish a model (existing subscribers retain access through their billing period; new subs stop)
Revise and republish (the new version starts with a fresh track record)
Add new models (each model's track record is separate)

This is the central trust mechanism of the marketplace. Buyers see what they're paying for, and creators are incentivized to publish only their best work.

Examples

Example 1: New creator's first month

Publishes 1 model, prices it at $10/mo
Gets 20 monthly subscribers in first month
Plus 30 Slate Pass buyers at $5 each
Subscription earnings: 20 × $10 × 50% = $100
Slate Pass earnings: 30 × $5 × 50% = $75
Total month 1: $175 cash

This creator gets their first $175 cash payout at the start of month 2 (assuming Stripe Connect is set up; otherwise it accrues until they set it up).

Example 2: Steady mid-popularity model

Has 2 published models, average price $10/mo each
200 active monthly subscribers across both models
Plus ~80 weekly Slate Pass buyers ($5 average) = ~320/mo
Subscription earnings: 200 × $10 × 50% = $1,000/mo
Slate Pass earnings: 320 × $5 × 50% = $800/mo
Total: $1,800/mo cash

Real income at this stage: ~$22K/year. Modest but real.

Example 3: Featured Creator with a hit model

Has 5 models, top one priced at $20/mo, others at $8-12/mo
1,500 unique monthly subscribers across all models, average $12/mo
Plus 500 weekly Slate Pass buyers at $5 = 2,000/mo
Subscription earnings: 1,500 × $12 × 50% = $9,000/mo
Slate Pass earnings: 2,000 × $5 × 50% = $5,000/mo
Total: $14,000/mo cash

~$170K/year run-rate. Real income for a part-timer; full-time potential.

Example 4: Top creator (rare but real)

Multiple high-performing models, top one features prominently in Snip Tank coverage
5,000+ monthly subscribers, average $15/mo
Featured in Shark Snips of the Week 4× per quarter
Subscription earnings: 5,000 × $15 × 50% = $37,500/mo
Slate Pass earnings: ~$5,000-10,000/mo on top
Total: ~$45,000+/mo cash

Top creators on the platform can clear $500K+ annually. This requires consistent quality, marketing presence, and a hit model — not common, but not theoretical.

Common questions

What if I don't want to publish but want to use the platform?

Don't publish. Train models for personal betting only. The free Sandbox tier gets you all the Tinker tools without any marketplace involvement. This is a perfectly valid and common path.

Why is the split flat instead of escalating?

Simplicity won the user research. See the rationale section above. We may revisit after the first 100 paying creators ship.

What if my model is good but doesn't sell?

Marketing matters. Top creators are visible — they engage in Discord, post on Twitter, write blog posts about their methodology. A good model with no marketing earns 1/10th what the same model with active marketing earns.

We help: featured listings, Shark Snips of the Week, Snip Tank interviews. But you have to do your part too.

Can I appeal Featured status decisions?

Featured status is editorial, not algorithmic. There's nothing to appeal — we just keep an eye on the platform and rotate the Featured slots. If you want to be considered, the fastest path is consistent live performance + community engagement.

What happens to my models if I leave Sharksnip?

You can unpublish at any time. Existing subscribers retain access through their billing period. Pending creator payouts above $50 are processed (subject to legal obligations). Below-threshold balances are kept in your account in case you return; after 24 months of inactivity, they may be forfeited.

What if I had earnings under the old tier system?

Existing creators on legacy tiers (Beginner credits, Established/Signature cash) are migrated automatically:

Legacy Beginner credits balance: spendable on remaining marketplace items that still accept credits during the transition window. After transition, residual balance can be converted to Sharp call quota at a rough 10:1 ratio (10 credits = 1 Sharp call).
Legacy Established/Signature creators: automatically migrated to flat 50/50 cash. Existing payout setup and Stripe Connect account carries over. Your historical earnings on the higher rate are unchanged; only future transactions move to 50/50.
No clawback. Anything earned at the old rate stays earned at the old rate.

Summary card

EVERYONE
  50% to creator, paid in cash via Stripe Connect
  50% to Sharksnip
  No tiers, no ladder, no royalty chain on forks
  $50 monthly minimum payout
  1099-NEC at $600+/year (US)

FEATURED CREATOR (editorial — not paid)
  Prominent marketplace placement
  Featured in Shark Snips of the Week
  25 bonus Sharp calls per feature
  First call on Snip Tank interviews
  Direct relationship with the Sharksnip team

Questions?

Creator support: creators@sharksnip.com
Discord #creator-help
This doc lives at docs.sharksnip.com/creator-earnings