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Knowledge base

How BeansDrop works, for your side of the bar.

Pick the guide that fits you. Each one walks through taking part, from registering to getting paid back.

Lessons

For cafés and regulars · 2 pages

The points system

Follow one bag from the drop to the last latte. Where the money for points sits, and why it isn't the café's until the points are spent or expire.

  1. 01How points workA bag, a latte bought with cash and a latte bought with points, step by step. Plus dial-in, scraps and leftovers.
  2. 02Points are owedThe money for points is the regular's while the points are valid. Only expired points become the café's.

For everyone

The life of a bag

  1. 01

    Offered

    A regular or roaster offers a sealed bag to a café.

  2. 02

    Checked

    The café checks the seal and roast date, sets its value, and accepts or declines.

  3. 03

    Queued

    Accepted bags wait their turn for a guest slot.

  4. 04

    On bar

    The café serves it as the guest coffee and logs every gram used.

  5. 05

    Finished

    The café marks it finished when it runs out or it's time to come off. A roaster's bag also comes off by itself 45 days after roasting.

  6. 06

    Paid back

    Regulars earn café points as the grams are used. Roasters are paid on one invoice for the bag once it comes off the bar.

Words you'll see

Glossary

Money figures in the guides are examples. Contributors set their own price per gram, and each café decides what it accepts.

Drop
Sealed bags left at a café for its guest bar, in bags of 200g or more. Each café sets how much it takes per drop.
Contributor
Anyone who drops a bag. Either a regular, paid in café points, or a roaster, paid in baht on an invoice for each bag.
Guest slot
A place on the café's bar for one guest bag at a time. Most cafés run one or two.
Queue
Bags the café has accepted that are waiting for a free slot.
Grams used
A bag's running total of grams ground, including dial-in and grams sold by weight. Contributors are paid on it.
Weigh-in
The bag's weight on the café's scale at closing, packaging and all. What it lost since the last weigh-in is that day's grams used. Past days are locked.
Bag value
The price per gram a regular sets when they offer a bag, if the café accepts it. They earn points at 120% of that value.
Roaster's price
The price per gram a roaster charges a café, set in their offer. It's the whole price, VAT included if the roaster is VAT registered. The café pays it for grams used, on the bag's invoice.
Invoice
One for each roaster's bag, once it comes off the bar. BeansDrop works out the amount, the roaster uploads the invoice with its number, and the café pays it within 15 days by bank transfer or PromptPay.
Payment proof
The bank slip or transfer confirmation a café uploads once it has paid a roaster's invoice.
Receipt or tax invoice
What the roaster uploads once the café's money arrives. It closes that bag's invoice. If the money hasn't arrived, the roaster presses Not received instead and the café uploads new proof.
VAT registered
A roaster registered for 7% VAT. Their price per gram already includes it, and they add their tax ID and registered name on My bags, so the café sees both on each invoice.
Café points
Issued by one café and spent only there, on anything it sells at its normal prices. The café owes them until they're spent or expire. They can't be cashed out.
Points jar
The money a café keeps apart for the points it owes. It becomes the café's when points are spent, or when they expire unspent.
Counter code
A QR code in a contributor's account that the café scans at the counter. It lasts about two minutes and works once.
Leftover
Beans still in a bag when it comes off the bar. The café buys them at 50% or gives them back to the contributor. Less than 15g left in a roaster's bag counts as used up, so there's nothing to decide.
End of window
45 days after the roast date. A roaster's bag comes off the bar by itself then, and the café takes a regular's bag off by hand. For what's left, the café decides. It buys it at 50% (in points for a regular, at half the roaster's price for a roaster), or the contributor collects it within 14 days of being told. After that it stays with the café at no charge.