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How do Scribble credits work?

One credit is one card: the card, the envelope, the writing and US postage. You buy credits outright at a rate that depends on how many you buy in one purchase, and they never expire. Scheduling a campaign holds credits; they are only spent when each card enters production, and a cancelled campaign returns every held credit.

On this page

#The three numbers on the Credits screen

What each balance means
NumberMeaning
Available to spendWhat you can commit to a new campaign right now.
Held for scheduled campaignsPaid for and promised to a send date. Still yours: a cancelled campaign returns them in full.
Total paid balanceAvailable plus held. Business credits never expire.

#Held versus spent

  1. Bought

    You buy a quantity and are charged in full at purchase. The rate is set by that one purchase, not by your history.

  2. Held

    Scheduling a campaign holds one credit per card. Held credits leave available and appear under held. Nothing has been consumed.

  3. Spent

    A credit is spent at the moment its card enters production. This is the point of no return, and it is why the cancellation deadline is 9am on the production start date.

  4. Returned

    Cancel before production and every held credit goes straight back to available. A card that lands Held because of a bad address is never charged at all.

#What a credit includes

  • The card and its envelope.
  • The message written in ink by a machine holding a real pen.
  • The envelope hand-addressed by the same machine, with your return address on the back.
  • A real US stamp.
  • Handing it to USPS.

There is no per-card postage surcharge, no envelope fee and no setup fee. Uploading your own artwork does not cost extra.

#Running out mid-run

What happens when the balance hits zero
WhereWhat happens
Building a campaignThe review step tells you how many more credits you need and links to the top-up with the quantity filled in.
An automation runAnybody not yet written to is skipped with a reason, and picked up on the next run once you top up, while their date is still inside the catch-up window.
POST /api/v1/cards402 no_credits. Nothing is created and nothing is charged.
A race for the last creditThe card is cancelled rather than made, and the response says so. Two concurrent sends cannot spend the same credit.

#Common questions

Do credits expire?
No. Business credits never expire.
Can I get a refund on unused credits?
Credits are charged in full at purchase and are intended to be spent. Talk to us if you have bought a volume you can no longer use.
Is there a subscription?
No subscription and no minimum. You buy credits when you have something to send.
Does a held card cost a credit?
No. A card that cannot be produced because of a bad address is never charged.
Who can buy credits?
Owners and admins. Members can build and send campaigns against the existing balance.

Last checked against the product on . Something wrong or missing? Tell us.