Having trouble cashing out? Here are the most common issues and how to resolve them.
Why is my cashout button greyed out?
There are a few reasons why the cash out button may be greyed out:
You don't have the minimum withdrawal amount in your approved balances. You need at least £6.00 or $6.00 to cash out.
You've already cashed out today. You can only cash out once every 24 hours, resetting at midnight UTC, or every 72 hours if you're on a 72 hour cool off period. Once that wait period ends, you should be able to cash out again.
Your payment details aren't set up correctly. Make sure that:
Your PayPal account is fully verified.
The name on your Prolific account matches the name on your PayPal account.
The residential address on your PayPal matches the address on your Prolific account.
The email address linked to your Prolific account is your PayPal account's primary email, not a secondary one.
Your PayPal is configured to accept both USD and GBP payments.
The button isn't greyed out, but the PayPal window won't open. Try disabling any ad or pop up blockers, or try a different browser or device.
After making changes in PayPal, re-link your PayPal account to Prolific to sync the update. Once re-linked, you'll need to wait 72 hours before you can cash out. If you still can't cash out after that, contact Prolific Support using the chat icon in the bottom right of your screen, and let us know what you've already tried.
Why do I still have a 72-hour wait between cash outs?
A 72 hour wait between cash outs gets triggered if:
You've recently added or updated your PayPal address, any update resets the 72 hour wait.
You've made fewer than four cash outs on Prolific.
The 72 hour cool off is a security measure and can't be expedited or lifted. Once you've made four full multi currency cash out requests, every cash out from the fifth onwards can happen daily, resetting at midnight UTC.
If the 72 hour wait is still showing after your fourth cash out, it's likely the full 72 hours haven't passed yet, or midnight UTC hasn't hit. If it's still there after another 24 hours, contact Prolific Support using the chat icon in the bottom right of your screen.
Please note: reverting to a previous PayPal address doesn't remove the 72 hour wait, every update resets it. Also, when Prolific moved to Hyperwallet in 2024, all accounts were reset to the 72 hour cool off, so you'll need four new cash out requests through Hyperwallet before returning to daily cash outs, even if you'd made more than four before.
Why does it say I have already cashed out today?
You can only cash out once a day, resetting at midnight UTC.
If you're seeing this message and haven't cashed out in the past 24 hours, you're likely on the 72 hour cool off, and you've cashed out within the past 72 hours. You'll need to wait until the full 72 hours have passed before you can cash out again.
I no longer have access to my PayPal account
If you've lost access to your PayPal account, you'll need to either regain access through PayPal's customer support, or link a new PayPal address on your 'Account' page. For full guidance, see How do I cash out on Prolific?
I’m seeing a PEC-U-0001 error
This error usually shows up when cashing out if:
You're not currently in your listed country of residence. If you're abroad, you won't be able to cash out until you return.
Your country of residence details aren't up to date. If you've moved, update your details before trying to cash out again.
You're using a VPN. A VPN can cause a mismatch in the country we detect. If you're in the right country and your details are current, try disabling any VPNs.
My payment was returned to my account
There are a few common reasons a payment gets returned to your Prolific account. Work through this checklist:
For more on each step, see my payment hasn't arrived or was returned. Also confirm the PayPal address linked on your 'Account' page is correct and connected to an active, verified PayPal account.
If payments keep getting returned after checking these, contact Prolific Support using the chat icon in the bottom right of your screen.
My payment was unclaimed
If your PayPal account is set to manually claim payments, or isn't set up for multiple currencies, you'll need to claim your payment in PayPal. Go to Summary, then Pending, and follow the claiming process there.
If a payment isn't claimed within 30 days, it automatically returns to your Prolific account so you can cash out again. For more detail, see my payment hasn't arrived or was returned.
Please note: we can't speed up this return process, and you won't be able to cash out again until you've either claimed the pending payment or it's been returned to your Prolific account.
When should I contact PayPal?
If you're having trouble with your PayPal account settings or functionality, like currency options, you'll need to resolve it directly through PayPal: