Rules & important limitations
The Community Rewards program is a thank-you to locals who make their city stronger on 8-L. Please read these rules — participation is optional and subject to the terms below.
Eligibility
Community Rewards are available to signed-in 8-L members in good standing whose approved contributions are recorded in a participating market. Members must comply with the 8-L Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.
Participating markets
Community Rewards are enabled on a per-market basis by 8-L administrators. A market that has not been explicitly enabled does not participate, regardless of any activity that occurs there.
Meaningful approved contributions
Only meaningful contributions that have been approved after review count toward qualification. Examples include adding a real local business, improving an existing listing, or referring a neighbor who joins. Submissions alone never qualify — approval is required.
Qualification is not guaranteed
Meeting the minimum thresholds does not guarantee qualification. 8-L reserves the right to determine qualification in its sole discretion, including where activity appears low-quality, duplicative, coordinated, automated, or otherwise inconsistent with the intent of the program.
How earning works
Community Rewards is an earned-balance program, not a drawing, sweepstakes, contest, or lottery. Each week, a participating market's Community Fund contributions are converted into a weekly reward budget. Members who meet that market's minimum weekly thresholds share the budget in proportion to the approved points they earned that week. Qualifying weekly shares are never smaller than $0.50, and no member's share is decided by chance.
Your Reward Balance and the $25 Local Reward
Weekly shares are credited to your Reward Balance for that market. Your balance carries over from week to week. When it reaches $25, a $25 Local Reward is unlocked and $25 is deducted from your balance; any remainder stays in your balance and keeps building toward the next one. Balances and unlocked rewards are tied to the market where they were earned and are not transferable, redeemable for cash, or combinable across markets.
Redeeming at a local business
An unlocked $25 Local Reward is redeemed by choosing a participating local business in that market — currently, businesses with an active Featured Placement in the market's city. The list of eligible businesses changes over time, and a reward stays safe in your account until an eligible business is available. 8-L verifies eligibility at the moment you make your choice.
Weekly budgets depend on real revenue
Weekly reward budgets are funded by real qualifying business revenue in that market. Budgets vary, and in any given week a market's budget may be $0 — in which case no shares are credited for that week. 8-L does not guarantee any weekly budget, share amount, or earning rate.
No purchase necessary
No purchase is ever necessary to participate. Purchasing anything from 8-L or any partner does not increase a member's points, weekly share, or Reward Balance.
Spam, duplicates, fraud, manipulation, or abuse may cause disqualification
Attempts to game the program — including duplicate submissions, fake or misleading content, coordinated activity, sockpuppet accounts, automation, or any form of manipulation — may result in removal of contribution credit, disqualification from one or more reward periods, permanent ineligibility, and account action under the Terms of Service.
Review, correction, reversal, or removal of contribution records
8-L may review, correct, reverse, or remove erroneous or improper contribution records at any time. Historical events are preserved for auditability; corrections are recorded rather than deleted whenever possible.
The fund balance is not the weekly budget
A market's Community Fund balance is not the amount distributed in any week. Only the weekly reward budget derived from that market's qualifying revenue is allocated to members. 8-L does not guarantee any total fund figure, and reserves are not distributed all at once.
Taxes and reporting obligations
Recipients are solely responsible for any taxes, withholdings, reporting, or filings associated with rewards they receive. 8-L may collect information required to comply with applicable tax or reporting laws before delivering a reward.
Delays, modifications, pauses, substitutions, or cancellations
Rewards may be delayed, modified, paused, substituted with a reward of comparable value, or canceled where operationally or legally necessary. 8-L may also modify or discontinue the Community Rewards program in whole or in part at any time.
Manual fulfillment and required information
Local Rewards are currently fulfilled manually. Members may be asked to provide valid contact information, delivery details, or identity verification before a reward can be delivered. Failure to respond within the claim period may forfeit the reward.
Unclaimed rewards may expire
An unlocked Local Reward not claimed within an administrator-configured claim period may expire and return to the Community Fund. Watch your in-app notifications and the email on file for delivery instructions.
This page describes how 8-L operates the Community Rewards program. It is not legal advice, has not been reviewed by counsel, and does not create a contract. Where these rules conflict with 8-L's Terms of Service or applicable law, those controlling documents govern.