Frequently asked questions

There are exactly 1,440 minutes in a day, and each can be kept by one person. Every minute has its own colour and its own question, the same every day. A minute's keeper gets its address (buy1minute.com/HH-MM) and a Keeper Note that appears on the homepage whenever a visitor's clock reaches that minute.

A minute is a one-time payment, at the price shown at checkout. It is the same for every minute, and there is no subscription.

One per account. We want 1,440 minutes kept by 1,440 different people, not a few accounts holding many.

No. You get a revocable licence to give that minute a Keeper Note and use its address, for as long as we run the service and you follow the terms. You do not buy property or any title over time itself. To keep it, submit a Keeper Note or use Keep my minute active at least once every 30 days.

The minute that is on air on your own clock: its time and colour, who keeps it, and its question. Every minute asks its own question, the same every day, answered in one tap. Then you see how everyone answered at that minute today.

It runs on each visitor's own clock. When a visitor in Tokyo reaches 11:11, they see 11:11; a visitor in London sees it nine hours later. So each minute comes round about 38 times a day, once for each of the world's time zones.

Yes, on the same day and in the same browser: choose Change, or Undo for the 11:11 wish. Once you save an answer to My Time, it stays as you saved it.

A minute's page shows today's answers at any time, and opens its question while that minute is on air on your clock. Every answer counts toward that minute today.

It still has its colour, its picture and its question, and it still comes round every day. Only the Keeper Note is missing, and anyone can claim it.

The clock follows local time. When clocks go forward, the hour from 02:00 to 02:59 is skipped once that year where the change applies; when they go back, that hour comes round twice.

You do not need to keep a minute to use buy1minute. Anyone can join free as a Time Citizen and keep a private collection of their own minutes, called My Time. A Minute Keeper has claimed one of the 1,440 minutes of the day. One account can be both.

After you answer a minute's question, choose Save it to My Time. You need a free account, and you can save up to 3 a day. Each is kept with its date.

Yes. What you save is private to your account. It is never shown on the live clock or on a minute's page, never sold, and never used for advertising. Only anonymous counts of answers are public.

Yes. In your account settings you can export everything you saved as JSON, delete single entries, or delete your whole account.

Once you claim a minute, sign in and open Keeper Studio. Write one Keeper Note of up to 120 characters. After approval it appears on your minute's page and on the homepage while your minute is on air. The question, and everything else on the homepage, stay the platform's.

At most once every 30 days. The 30 days start when a note is approved, and only one change can wait for review at a time.

Every Keeper Note is screened and then held for approval before it appears. Your approved note stays up while a change is reviewed. Keeper Notes carry no links and no images.

To keep a minute you must be active at least once every 30 days: submit a Keeper Note for review, or press Keep my minute active in Keeper Studio. Signing in or viewing the minute does not count. After 30 days with no activity we may return the minute to the pool, with no refund. We may send reminders first, but we do not promise to.

Claims are final. We may refund at our discretion, for example if you claimed a minute by mistake. Email hello@buy1minute.com with your minute.

You can transfer your minute to someone else from Keeper Studio, and every change of hands is recorded on the minute's page. Selling and renting need a marketplace, which is not open yet, and we have not set a date for it.