How to Start a Tipster Service

A tipster service sends betting selections to an audience before the event and earns from that audience in one of two ways: commission from bookmakers when readers sign up through its links, or a fee for the tips themselves. Free tips with affiliate income are the easier start. Charging works once you have a proofed record and readers who already trust it, and it turns your tips into a service with consumer-law and advertising duties.

Two ways to earn: affiliate or paid

Many services run both: free daily tips on a website that earns affiliate commission, and a paid tier for extra selections or festival packages. The free tier keeps the audience growing and gives would-be subscribers a record to judge. How affiliate deals work is covered in how affiliate programs work.

Before you charge anyone

People pay for a record, not a promise. Before a paid tier, have:

• A public results record of every tip, losers and non-runners included, with advised prices, starting prices, strike rate and ROI. The racing tipster website guide shows what columns to keep.
• Independent proofing of your selections before each event, if you'll quote results in your marketing. The CAP guidance on betting tipster services expects it.
• At least one full season of tips. A short hot streak isn't a reason to charge, and quoting one as typical is what the ASA rules against.
• A written method: which races or matches you tip, your staking plan and how many tips a subscriber should expect.

New to tipping itself? Start with how to become a horse racing tipster.

Pricing a paid service

Price on what subscribers get, such as the number of tips, the sports and the reasoning, not on profit you hope they'll make. Tell them how many points a typical month involves, so they can size their own betting bank, and never suggest the fee will pay for itself.

Delivering the tips

• Email is the most reliable: it's yours, it's time-stamped and it reaches people before racing.
• Members' pages on your website keep tips and results together and let you show the record to non-members.
• Messaging apps are fast, but each has its own rules on gambling content, and you don't control the platform.

Whatever you use, send tips at a fixed time before the first race or kick-off, include the advised price and stake, and send the results after, including the losers. Consistent timing is part of what people pay for.

Taking payments

Check your payment provider before you build anything. Several list sports forecasting, odds making or tip selling as restricted or prohibited businesses, or need you to apply for approval first, and an account closed mid-season can freeze your subscribers' payments. Read the provider's restricted-business list, describe your service accurately when you apply and keep the approval in writing.

Keep your affiliate income and subscription income separately recorded too: both are taxable as self-employment income in the UK, and above the £1,000 trading allowance you'll need to file a Self Assessment return.

The UK rules for selling tips

• Advertising: the ASA's advice on tipster ads says not to state or imply tips are certain to win or a source of long-term income, and to back any profit claim with evidence, including the period, total stakes and the price basis.
• Consumer law: set out the price, what's included, how renewal works and how to cancel before anyone pays. Online services usually carry a 14-day cancellation right unless the customer expressly agrees to start straight away. New subscription rules under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 are due to take effect in January 2027, adding renewal reminders and easier online cancellation.
• Reviews: only genuine testimonials, with permission. Since 6 April 2025 UK law bans fake reviews and reviews that hide an incentive.
• No betting on customers' behalf: the Gambling Commission's view is that a tipster who places bets for customers in return for payment or commission needs a licence.
• Safer gambling: 18+ only, with support links such as GamCare on your site and in your emails.

This is general information, not legal advice. Take specialist advice before you take payments, and see our guide to UK affiliate rules for bookmaker offers.

Setting it up

The quickest route is to launch the free side first and add a paid tier later. With BettingWebsiteBuilder's sport templates you start with a finished tips site rather than a blank page:

• Horse racing tips comes with a daily tips card, a "How we pick our tips" page with a staking plan and results table, and Cheltenham and Grand National guides. See the live racing demo.
• Football betting tips comes with tip cards, an acca builder and a market guide. See the live football demo.
• Every site includes user accounts, a newsletter sign-up and bookmaker links you can rank and target by country.

It's free for 6 months during our beta, with no credit card required. The racing and football guides walk through the first weeks.

Common mistakes

• Charging before there's a record. Early subscribers who hit a losing run leave, and they tell people.
• Selling "guaranteed" or "sure-thing" tips. Those claims break the advertising rules and invite complaints.
• Hiding the losers. A results page that only shows winners loses trust the moment someone checks.
• Unclear renewals. Surprise charges lead to chargebacks, and too many can cost you your payment account.
• Relying on one platform. Build an email list and a website you own, so one account ban doesn't end the business.

Frequently asked questions

18+ only. Gambling can be addictive. This article is general information, not legal or financial advice, so check the rules for each market you target. If gambling is affecting you or someone you know, visit BeGambleAware.org.