Earnings

Nothing is paid yet

Payouts aren’t available during the early beta: your earnings are recorded in your balance until they are. Prices, the revenue share and the payout schedule can still change, and no earnings are promised.

How earning is planned to work

• You set an hourly price for each phone, within bounds PocketShare publishes, with a suggested price for its model.
• Renters pay per minute of use while the phone is connected and usable. A five-minute check pays for five minutes.
• You receive a disclosed share of the phone-time charges for your phones.
• You earn from rentals only. Being plugged in and available doesn’t earn money by itself. Failed starts and cleanup time aren’t billed to renters, so they don’t earn either.
• Payouts are planned through Stripe, to the bank account you connect, with tax forms handled through Stripe where required.

During the soft launch, phones list at about $0.35 to $0.50 an hour and hosts receive 60% of phone-time charges: a phone rented two hours a day at $0.50 earns about $18 a month.

Phones developers can’t easily find elsewhere (less common brands, budget and Android Go devices, particular model and Android version combinations) and phones that stay reliably online are likely to be rented more.

Your costs

Hosting uses electricity for the phones and hub, uses your home internet for the hub’s connection, and adds wear to the phones’ batteries. Weigh that against what you might earn before buying anything.