Two Bandcamp Fridays left in 2026: how to plan a release around 6 November and 4 December

Bandcamp has two Fridays left in 2026: 6 November and 4 December. They are the last of eight dates this year, and Bandcamp says the scheme has sent more than $150 million to independent musicians over five years.

The headline offer is simple. On those days Bandcamp waives its revenue share. The small print matters more for planning: payment processor fees still apply, the window runs on Pacific Time, and the saving is a percentage that stops growing at a certain price. Here is how to get the most from the two days that are left.

What exactly is waived, and what isn't?

Bandcamp's fee page sets out what you normally pay. The revenue share is 15% on digital items, dropping to 10% once you reach $5,000 in sales (and stays there while you keep $5,000 in the past 12 months). On physical items it is 10%, with shipping and tax left out of the calculation. The share applies only to the first $100 of an item.

That revenue share is what goes on Bandcamp Friday. What stays is the processor fee, which Bandcamp says typically runs 4 to 6%. For digital sales of $8.07 or more, its current help page lists 1.9% + $0.30 for PayPal, 2.2% + $0.30 for card and 2.9% + $0.30 for gift cards. Under $8.07, the rate switches to 5% + $0.05. Physical merch sold through Enhanced Payments pays the same rates. On top of that, PayPal charges 1% on each payout, capped at $1.

Worked through with those published rates (our sums, before tax and collection society shares):

Two things stand out. The saving is largest, as a share of the sale, for artists still on the 15% digital tier, which usually means smaller acts. And on anything above $100 it is capped at $10 to $15 per item, so a premium box set gains less proportionally than a cassette.

When does the window actually open?

Bandcamp says the waiver covers sales from 12:00am to 11:59pm Pacific Time. Both remaining dates fall after US daylight saving time ends on 1 November 2026, so Pacific Time is eight hours behind UTC on those days. By our conversion, the window runs:

• UTC / UK: 08:00 Friday to 07:59 Saturday
• India (IST): 13:30 Friday to 13:29 Saturday
• US East: 03:00 Friday to 02:59 Saturday

One trap: the help page says the Payments Summary page and Cha-Ching notifications show times in UTC, described as "PT +7". That gap only holds during summer time. In November and December it is eight hours. If you see a sale stamped 07:30 UTC on Friday, it came in before the window opened. Bandcamp says sales outside the window cannot be included retroactively.

How to plan a release around 6 November or 4 December

1. Pick the date by stock, not hype. If vinyl or tapes are involved, 4 December gives four more weeks for the pressing plant and is the stronger gift-buying date. 6 November suits a digital-only release that is ready now.
2. Put the release live a few days before. Have the page, tracks and merch listings published early so you can catch broken downloads or missing artwork before the traffic. Bandcamp warns of slow page loads on the day.
3. Announce the window in your own time zone. Use the conversions above. "Friday" means Friday afternoon to Saturday lunchtime for an Indian audience.
4. Price the bundle above $8.07 where you can. Below that line the processor charges a higher percentage (5% + $0.05). By our sums, a $9 bundle paid by card costs about $0.50 in fees, against about $0.55 for two $4.50 singles. Small per sale, but it adds up on a busy day.
5. Make the physical item the hero. On a $30 LP the waived 10% is $3 a unit, against about $1.50 on a $10 download. Include the download with the record so a fan who wants both buys the higher-value item.
6. Use the day for back-catalogue too. The waiver covers every sale in the window, so a discount code or a reminder about older releases costs you nothing extra in revenue share.
7. Check payout settings now. Bandcamp pays to PayPal 24 to 48 hours after a sale by default, with an option to take monthly payouts on the 1st. Monthly can cut the 1% PayPal fee, since it is capped at $1 per payout. Larger purchases, such as a $500 item, may be held for manual review for up to 14 days.

Where does the Stripe switch stand?

Bandcamp is moving payouts to Stripe, but not yet. Its Stripe setup guide (dated 10 July 2026) says PayPal remains the only way to be paid out, and that no payouts are being made to Stripe accounts yet. The payments page says PayPal stays available through the end of 2026 while the transition completes.

When it arrives, the new system offers monthly, weekly or daily payouts straight to a bank account, with weekly as the default. Bandcamp says these payouts are free, and lists processing at 2.9% + $0.30 for sales of $8.07 or more, 5% + $0.06 below that, and a possible 2% foreign exchange fee on international purchases. It says the average cost per sale stays the same. India is on the list of supported countries. Setting up the Stripe account now can take up to 15 minutes, Bandcamp says, and does no harm. Just don't budget for Stripe-speed money from either Friday.

Checklist

• Date chosen: 6 Nov (digital, ready now) or 4 Dec (physical, gift season)
• Release and merch live at least three days early, download tested
• Window converted to your fans' time zones (13:30 IST / 08:00 UK start)
• Bundles priced at $8.07 or more where it makes sense
• Download included with physical items
• PayPal account active and verified; Stripe account set up for later
• Sales timestamps checked in UTC on Saturday morning

This is general information, not tax or financial advice. If you sell more than $5,000 a year on Bandcamp, it requires tax information before it pays out; our guide on US tax forms for Indian musicians covers the form side.

What we think

Bandcamp Friday is still one of the few platform promotions that moves money straight to artists. It deserves credit for keeping all eight dates in 2026. But the details reward the people who read them, and that is a design choice.

The help page needs updating. It describes the window as PDT and says UTC is "PT +7", which is wrong for both remaining dates. Artists checking their own sales against the window will get it wrong by an hour. This is a small fix that Bandcamp should make before 6 November.

The saving favours smaller sellers, which is right. Because the 15% tier drops to 10% at $5,000 and the share stops at $100, Fridays help the act selling $7 downloads more, proportionally, than the label selling $200 boxes. In our view that is the scheme working as intended.

The payments move is the bigger story for 2027. Free bank payouts would beat PayPal's 1% for many artists. But Stripe's listed card rate is higher than today's 2.2% card rate on the help pages, and there is a new FX fee. "The same on average" will not be the same for everyone. Once the switch happens, check your own sales report against the old rates rather than taking the average on trust. Bandcamp's handling of its AI ban showed the same gap: good policy, thin explanation.