Hello!

You’re probably here because you’ve just received your first QR code sign from The Busking Project, which we call ‘BuskPay’.

If you still haven’t bought a sign, what are you waiting for? Get one here.

Here’s all the information you need to know to get started.

  • To use the signs you need a profile on busk.co. You can sign up here.
  • Once you’ve made a profile, you’ll need to add a payment option, which you can do here.
  • To activate your sign, the easiest way is to:
  • Don’t forget to check that it worked by scanning the sign a 2nd time. It should now take you to your tip page.

You can scroll down to read more information about our service, but first, here’s a video of testimonials from street performers who used our QR code signs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival:

About the Signs

There’s honestly nothing else like it on the market. These payment signs:

  • are waterproof, durable and lightweight
  • don’t bend in the wind, reflect the sun or need batteries to operate
  • work internationally, in multiple currencies
  • pass most of the fees onto the tipper
  • processes multiple simultaneous tips (they don’t create queues)
  • don’t require tippers to have an account
  • and let tippers choose how much to tip (in the busking spirit)

Our service doesn’t create queues after your show, it doesn’t force people to pay a pre-set amount, and you can take it with you as you travel all over the world. That’s because our service is the only payments platform out there that has been designed specifically with buskers in mind.

How does ‘activating a sign work?

The first time you scan the QR code, it will take you to a page asking you to activate the sign. Once activated, that page will change (via a URL redirect) to your tip page.

How do payments work?

When your audience tips you, they choose how much to tip and whether to pay the fees. Tips go into your ‘Stripe’ or ‘PayPal’ accounts. The money will transfer into your bank account every day/week/month. We’ve published a detailed explanation about cashless payments on our website, and you can read about payment security here.

What are the fees?

The tipper either pays the fee or un-checks that box and you lose 5% instead. On average, you will take home around 99.7% of your tips. Read more about the way fees work.

What happens when you travel?

Your sign will work almost everywhere in the world! As you travel, just change the local currency in your settings. International tips will be automatically converted to match your bank‘s currency. Read more about international travel here.

What is The Busking Project?

We are a non-profit based in the UK. We created ‘busk.co’ to help buskers with cashless payments, but we also do a lot of work advocating for the rights of street performers in free and open cities. You can read more about our mission here.

How does The Busking Project make money?

We don’t profit from your tips. The fees we charge are eaten up by associated costs. We make our money mainly from donations and grant funding.

Further links and reading:

For more info, check out our FAQs.

For help, contact us on our support page.

Read what other buskers say about us in our testimonials.

If you want to support our work, go to busk.co/donate

Finally, here are some photos of the signs in action: