What Bandcamp confirms
Bandcamp Friday returns Friday, November 6. Bandcamp's Help Center lists November 6 among its 2026 fundraiser dates, with December 4 still to come. During each fundraiser window, Bandcamp says it waives its revenue-share fee on sales.
That does not mean every fee disappears. Transaction fees still apply because Bandcamp cannot waive fees charged by payment processors. The waiver only covers purchases made within the stated window, from midnight to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Sales outside that window cannot be added to the fundraiser later.
Bandcamp says the Payments Summary page and Cha-Ching sale notifications show times in UTC. Its help page says that if revenue share was collected on a sale, the sale almost certainly happened outside the fundraiser window. Payouts may take 24 to 48 hours to reach PayPal. For purchases made outside fundraiser windows, Bandcamp says 80–85% of the money still goes directly to the artist.
The time-zone trap (Yenpro analysis)
This time-zone section is Yenpro Musik's calculation and editorial interpretation, not a statement from Bandcamp. The Help Center uses both “Pacific Time” and “PDT.” The November 6 date falls after U.S. daylight saving time ended on November 1, 2026, so the Pacific coast is on standard time (PST, UTC−8), according to NIST. Spain's summer time ended October 25, according to the BOE. Mexico's time-zone law keeps Mexico City in the Central Zone year-round; seasonal time applies only in the northern border area.
If the campaign window follows the local Pacific clock on November 6, midnight-to-midnight Pacific converts to these local times:
- Mexico City: 2:00 a.m. Friday to 1:59 a.m. Saturday.
- Madrid: 9:00 a.m. Friday to 8:59 a.m. Saturday.
- U.S. East Coast: 3:00 a.m. Friday to 2:59 a.m. Saturday.
A reporting caveat: Bandcamp says reports are in UTC and gives “PT +7” as an example. Because the page also refers to PDT and this date follows the clock change, we cannot confirm that fixed example applies to November 6. Do not rely on a fixed UTC conversion. Compare each sale's recorded timestamp with the official Pacific window; ask Bandcamp to clarify if a sale appears misclassified.
A practical checklist before Friday
- Prepare releases, merchandise, prices and product availability before the window opens. Do not wait until the fundraiser is underway to fix a missing file or a price.
- Tell fans the hours in their own time zone. A post that only says “Friday” may lead people in Latin America or Europe to buy too early or too late.
- Describe the fee accurately: Bandcamp waives its revenue share, but payment-processor fees still apply. Avoid promising that every dollar goes to the artist.
- After the event, check individual sale timestamps against the Pacific window instead of assuming that the calendar date in a report is enough.
- Put December 4 on your calendar. It is the final Bandcamp Friday listed for 2026; use this one to learn what your audience responds to.
Why it matters
Direct-to-fan sales let independent artists set prices and speak with buyers directly. Bandcamp Friday does not change that model; it removes one fee for a limited window. Artists are best positioned to make the most of it when their catalog, pricing and audience information are ready in advance.