About fees and payments

Even if you are a new tutor, if you conduct a lesson at least once per month, and there are no expired lessons or no-shows for two months, the margin rate will increase from the initial 60% to 70%, due to the reliability bonus.

1. How do tutors get paid?

Tutors can have their Cafetalk earnings paid out to their Paypal or Payoneer accounts or directly to a bank account via Payoneer. For residents of Japan we offer direct payment to local bank accounts.
*Depending on your country of residence we might be able to offer WISE as a payment method.

2. When do tutors get paid?

Tutors may make a payment request via the Sales page of their tutor dashboard. The minimum amount of fees you need to have accumulated in order to make a payment request without transaction fees is 3,000 points (= 3,000 Japanese Yen). Please note that you can only request payment for lessons that have a "Completed" status (or a "Canceled" status if a cancellation fee was charged).

For all Payment Requests made on or before the 3rd of the month, payments will be made on the following 15th *. Please have a look at the following graphic for more details

* If the tutor uses the automatic payment option, the payment request will be generated automatically on the 1st of the month. If you choose the manual payment request option, the cut-off date is the 3rd.

  • The tutor fee in the payment request for lessons conducted in January (marked in green) made on or before February 3rd, will be transferred by February 15th.

    For example, if you generate a payment request on February 25th, this would fall into the timeframe with the cut-off date of March 3rd and therefore be paid out by March 15th.

  • The tutor fee in the payment request for lessons conducted in February (marked in orange) made on or before March 3rd, will be transferred by March 15th.

    The tutor fee in the payment request for lessons conducted in March (marked in blue) made on or before April 3rd, will be transferred by April15th.

3. The tutor fee structure

Your fees will be a minimum of 60% of the lesson price charged to the student. Tutors can freely decide how much the lesson price will be. Currently, we use a point system (1 point = 1 JPY) for lessons charged to our students.

How your margin rate is calculated

Example of a month's lesson sales
What is included in platform and system usage costs?
  • Server, system development, security costs
  • Marketing for user acquisition
  • User (student and tutor) support
  • Creation of promotional content and transaction fees
  • Administrative fees for tutor fee payments
  • Administrative fees for user point purchases

Cafetalk's margin rate starts at 60% of the lesson price and changes according to the following criteria.

The minimum assured rate (A): depending on cumulative sales

The variable rate (B): depending on monthly sales and reliability.

Your rates will be calculated on the first of every month (times are based on GMT) and the better of (A) and (B) will become the effective rate for the month.

  • The Minimum Assured Rate (A) changes according to your total sales over time

  • The Variable Rate (B) changes according to monthly sales or reliability.

↑The higher of the two will be applied.↑

A) Minimum Assured Rate

Total Cumulative Sales
50.000 Points Min 65% Guaranteed
500.000 Points Min 70% Guaranteed
1.000.000 Points Min 72.5% Guaranteed
1.500.000 Points Min 75% Guaranteed
2.000.000 Points Min 77.5% Guaranteed
4.000.000 Points Min 80% Guaranteed

B) Variable Rate

Based on total sales over one month
Points Points Margin rate (Next Month)
5.000 Points 19.999 Points 65%
20.000 Points 49.999 Points 70%
50.000 Points 99.999 Points 72.5%
100.000 Points 149.999 Points 75%
150.000 Points 199.999 Points 77.5%
200.000 Points 249.999 Points 80%
250.000 Points 299.999 Points 82.5%
300.000 Points 85%
The higher sales of two previous months will be used for calculation.

If the margin rate calculated based on sales is less than 70% the following 'reliability' bonus will take effect.

Reliability Bonus
Condition Margin rate (Next Month)
Zero no-shows or expired lessons for 1 month. 65%
Zero no-shows or expired lessons for 2 consecutive months. 70%
Please note that you must be active as a tutor in the given calculation period (one and two months respectively) and you must have at least one paid request per month.
For definitions of no-shows and expired lessons see here

Please note that we may withhold payment of your fees or even suspend your account without warning or notice in the event that you fail to deliver a confirmed lesson, engage in any misconduct or violate the Tutor Terms (See 8 and 11-5 of the Tutor Terms).

▶︎ Tutor terms

4. Examples

  • Tutor A

    Started teaching on Cafetalk in January 20XX.

    January margin rate: 60% (starting rate)

    Total Sales since starting on Cafetalk: 0 points

    • Completed 20 lessons in January.
    • (*30 minute lessons, 1.500 Points per lesson)

    • Had no no-shows or expired lessons

    Sales in January: 30.000 points

    Total Sales since starting on Cafetalk: 30.000 points

    Payment for lessons conducted in January:

    • Payment request generated on February 1st
    • (*automatic payment request)

    • Payment request generated for the following fee:
      18.000 points = 18.000 Japanese Yen
    • (*or converted into the tutor's currency of choice)

    • Payment transferred on February 15

    Margin rate calculation for February:

    • A. Assured Rate next threshold:
      50.000 points for 65% margin rate → × not reached
    • B. Variable Rate applicable threshold:
      between 20.000 points and 49.999 points
      for 70% → ◎ reached!
    • Reliability bonus:
      Zero no-shows or expired lessons for 1 month for 65%
      → ◎ reached!

    The highest possible margin rate that was reached is 70%

    The margin rate in February will be 70%!

  • Tutor B

    Started teaching on Cafetalk 1.5 years ago. Took a break from teaching for 4 months, but returned in January.

    January margin rate: 72.5% (minimum assured rate)

    Total Sales since starting on Cafetalk: 1.487.200 points

    • Completed 5 lessons in January.
    • (*60 minute lessons, 3.000 Points per lesson)

    • × Had 1 expired lesson request

    Total sales in January: 15.000 points

    Total Sales since starting on Cafetalk: 1.502.200 points

    Payment for lessons conducted in January:

    • Payment request generated on February 3rd
    • (*manual payment request)

    • Payment request generated for the following fee:
      10.875 points = 10.875 Japanese Yen
    • (*or converted into the tutor's currency of choice)

    • Payment transferred on February 15

    Margin rate calculation for February:

    • A. Assured Rate next threshold: 1.500.000 for 75%
      →◎ reached!
    • B. Variable Rate applicable threshold:
      between 5.000 points and 19.999 points for 65%
      → ◎ reached!
    • Reliability bonus:
      Zero no-shows or expired lessons for 1 month for 65%
      → × not reached

    The highest possible margin rate that was reached is 75%

    The margin rate in February will be 75%!

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