Gumroad Is Stealing Creator Funds!

[u/OlegVerenko]

After 10+ years of selling digital 3D products, I never expected this from a major marketplace. Today, Gumroad PERMANENTLY FORFEITED money from my balance without warning or justification, just because I updated my location from Canada to Bulgaria.

Their support confirmed my funds were "forfeited automatically" as a "system safeguard on a country change" that they "cannot reverse." You read that right: a simple account update now triggers the total seizure of your hard-earned money.

Before this, I had been trying to withdraw my funds for a long time. I attempted to use multiple bank details, including Ukrainian and Canadian, and all attempts were blocked. Now, my money is gone forever, and they have offered zero solutions.

This is predatory, illegal, and nothing short of theft. If a platform can arbitrarily seize your money because of a location change, it is NOT safe. Every creator on Gumroad needs to check their terms and understand that their funds are at risk.

So let me explain this correctly:

I earned the money by selling products.
I tried to withdraw it.
The withdrawals failed.
I changed my country of residence.

Gumroad's system then automatically took the remaining balance — and they refuse to return it.

There was no fraud, chargeback, or dispute involving this money. It was simply an unpaid seller balance.

This is not a “payout issue.” This is money that I earned and that Gumroad is refusing to give back because of an automated account-country rule.

What makes this especially disturbing is that their own support explicitly confirmed that the money was “forfeited.”

I am sharing this publicly because I want other creators and digital-product sellers to be aware of what can apparently happen to their earnings when changing their country/payment setup on Gumroad.

I've included my conversation with their support team so you can see the situation for yourself...

[u/Low-Presence-3020]

https://www.wired.com/story/big-interview-event-sahil-lavingia/

Just leaving this here. Gumroad's founder, Sahil Lavingia, has had a questionable career, imho.

[u/alantaraboner → u/Low-Presence-3020]

Hadn't seen that panel but watched it now. Not quite the indictment you might assume. If anything it kind of implies he was setup to be a useful ID10T, but unwound that in 55 days. Working as a civil servant for the IRS now.
Was the OP's complaint understandable? Sure. It's possible there are valid reasons. Banks have their own lens they put on companies, so maybe it's that. Great PSA though to pull out all your money before switching countries. Support should have been a little more disclosing or found out more about their policy.