You'll likely get your deposit back
A Knock deposit is refundable by default. It is a signal that you believe your message is worth the recipient's attention — not a payment for it.
Last updated July 2026
Three ways your deposit comes back
- The recipient refunds it. Legitimate, relevant messages get released — most recipients refund far more than they claim.
- The recipient releases it. The recipient releases legitimate messages — the release button sits in the very email they read.
- Time refunds it automatically. Any deposit that is never reviewed is refunded in full after 14 days.
When you don't get it back
You only lose the deposit if the recipient reviews your message and judges it unsolicited. That is a deliberate human action, taken message by message — not an automatic charge.
Paying a deposit places your message in the recipient's priority inbox. It does not guarantee a reply.
Curious how recipients are guided to use these outcomes? The same rules, from their side: the four verdicts.
Refunds the platform forces
- The recipient's alias is paused or deleted before your message is reviewed.
- The recipient never completes payout onboarding, so the deposit cannot be settled.
- The message is found to have been mis-priced or duplicated by our systems.
- A payment dispute is resolved in your favour by the card network.
- The recipient's account is suspended for abuse of the deposit mechanism.
Where the money sits meanwhile
Deposits are held on the platform balance, not in the recipient's account. Nothing is paid out until the recipient explicitly claims a deposit, and refunds are returned to the original card.