The questions people ask before they trust a stranger's experience.

A private written answer from one specific person whose relevant claim has been checked against an official document. It arrives on Thands within 72 hours, and you can ask one follow-up within 7 days of the answer.

You are not getting professional advice, a coaching relationship, or an ongoing subscription. One question, one written answer, one follow-up.

Thands is in a pilot. We would rather learn what an answer is worth from the people who receive one than guess a price up front.

After each answer we ask whether you would pay a given amount for your next question. Nothing is charged. Those answers set the prices, and we will publish them before charging anyone.

Your first question is free. 30 days after your answer we ask two questions: did you act on it, and how is it going? Answer them and you get another free question.

The 72-hour clock starts when you send your question. If it runs out with no answer, we offer your question to another verified person. You do not need to ask, and the missed answer does not use up your credit.

No. Every exchange is written and stays on Thands — no calls, no meetings, no swapping contact details. Phone numbers, emails, handles and links are removed automatically before anything is saved.

This is for your safety and theirs. You are talking to a stranger about something that matters, and keeping it on the page means there is a record, nobody can push you somewhere else, and nobody has your number. Anyone who repeatedly tries to move people off the platform loses their profile.

Careers, starting or closing a business, moving abroad, going back to study, and other life decisions someone has already lived through.

Not medical, legal or investment questions. Answers are experience, not professional advice.

Yes. The person answering sees your question only. Your name is never required, your contact details are never shared with them, and nothing you write appears publicly.

A model gives you the averaged answer of everything ever written about your situation. It is genuinely useful, and it has never had to tell a landlord it was closing, or sit through a visa interview.

Thands gives you the specific, unaveraged case — including the parts nobody publishes.

The thread is private between you and the person answering. We never publish answers, and people who answer agree not to reuse your situation elsewhere.

Your exchange is used to run the service: delivering the answer, the follow-up, the rating and the 30-day check-in. It is never used for advertising.

You can choose to let your exchange be used, with names and contact details removed, in research datasets about real decisions. The box is unchecked by default, and nothing changes for you if you leave it that way.

During the pilot, answering is invite-only. We recruit each person by hand and check one claim against an official document before their profile goes live.

Anything documentable: leaving a job, founding or closing a business, moving countries, a degree finished or abandoned, a debt cleared. The test is whether an official document confirms the sentence you wrote.

No — and failure is often the more valuable listing. The people who most need an answer are usually afraid of the outcome you already survived.

A human reviews it against your claim, records what was checked and when, then deletes the file. It is never shown on your profile and never sent to the person asking.

Sensitive fields can be masked before you send it.

Not during the pilot — nobody is charged, so there is nothing to split yet. Payouts begin when paid questions open.

Pilot mentors get a say on pricing and on the expert split before they are set, and we will announce both before charging anyone.

One document check, then only the questions you accept. Most written answers take 20–40 minutes. Miss the 72-hour window twice and the profile is delisted.

By results. Askers rate each answer from 1 to 5 right after reading it, and tell us 30 days later whether they acted on it and how it is going.

No. People share what happened to them. Nothing on Thands is legal, medical, financial, tax, or immigration advice, and no verified badge implies a licence to give any.

Medical, legal and investment questions — anywhere being wrong is catastrophic and a licence exists for a reason.

We verify that experience happened. We never certify that acting on it is safe.

Askers rate every delivered answer. If an answer does not address your question, tell us and we will offer it to another verified person. Repeated low ratings pull a profile from the marketplace.