At Throne, our number one goal is to build the platform so it works for you, the creator. To make the service work for everyone, we have decided to update our ordering policies.
The two main changes are the overhaul of the Throne item types and the introduction of Throne Withdrawals.
Throne Withdrawals
Read more here.
One of the most widely requested features was the ability to withdraw the Throne balance via a withdrawal method of your choice. This has a few notable advantages which will be described below.
⛔️ No more "banned merchants"
Previously, you could only add items from merchants that were not banned. Despite a large number of stores being supported by Throne, there were a few notable exceptions. Due to difficulties ordering items, popular stores like Steam, BestBuy, WayFair, and Gamestop were banned. You could not add them to the platform at all.
Now, if you really want that one game from Steam, you can add it to Throne, withdraw the credit after the item is gifted, and buy it for yourself.
🌎 More countries
Due to difficulties with international ordering, logistics, and staffing, Throne was previously restricted to a small number of countries. Our goal is to empower and support creators all around the world and Throne Withdrawals allows us to do this.
Countries that we previously could not service now have access to Throne. We still cannot order items to these countries, however, with Throne Withdrawals, creators can build and share their wishlists and then purchase the items themselves.
Item Types
🦖 Previous Item Types
Previously, there were three types of items. Partner items, low-fee items (from recommended merchants), and high-fee items (from standard, non-recommended merchants). We have decided to greatly expand the low-fee items category and remove the high-fee items category.
⭐️ New Item Types
Now the only item types are partner items, manual items, and direct credit items.
Partner Items: items from one of our Partner Stores (0% fees, automatic tracking, instant order placement).
Manual Items: low-fee items from stores that Throne has vetted and that Throne knows have high quality, low cancellations, and quick ordering times.
Direct Credit Items: items that get credited directly to your Throne Balance so you can withdraw the funds and buy the item for yourself.
Find out more about these new types here.
🙋 Motivation
Expanding Verified Low-Fee Merchants
One thing that was really important to us was to expand the low-fee, reliable & verified merchants. Previously only very few merchants benefited from these reduced fees, such as Etsy and Amazon. However, we noticed that a lot more merchants should be in that category.
Flexibility
Adding good support for the stores that work and allowing creators to receive direct credit for the other stores gives every creator as much choice as possible. In the end, every creator should use Throne to get the items they really want. We realized that having disallowed merchants and items did not play into that and thus opted for a system that gives creators the choice to add any item and have a reliable way of receiving it.
Security
Creator security and privacy is - and will always be - our number one priority. We make sure to safeguard creators' details, however, third-party stores, that have not been vetted by Throne, always present a risk.
By only ordering from approved stores, this risk is greatly reduced and will greatly help to safeguard creators' private details.
Better Gifting Experience
Unfortunately, there were many stores that offered a very difficult experience for Throne and all creators. Issues ranging from not accepting our corporate card to canceling items without notifying us to very long shipping times made the gifting experience not as fun as it should be.
By focussing on the stores that really work well with Throne will greatly improve the experience of receiving items via Throne and lead to...
🚀 Quicker ordering speeds
❌ Fewer cancellations
🌵 Fewer issue items
🚚 More automated tracking