Question 1

What am I actually buying?

Accepted Answer

You are buying a permanent entry in our public registry: one UTC minute, recorded under your name, with your title, message and media attached. For $4.99 you get the record, not the moment itself. Nobody can sell or own real time, and we say so plainly in our terms.

Question 2

Is it really permanent?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Once a minute is paid for it stays assigned to you. We do not resell it, we do not expire it, and it keeps its own public page at buythetime.co for as long as the registry exists.

Question 3

Can somebody buy the same minute after me?

Accepted Answer

No. Every minute has exactly one owner and the database enforces it. While you are paying, the minute is held for 30 minutes so nobody can take it from under you.

Question 4

Do I need an account to buy?

Accepted Answer

No. You can claim a minute with just an email address. Create an account later with the same address and the purchase appears in your list automatically.

Question 5

Which minutes can I claim?

Accepted Answer

Every minute from the year 0 to the year 2100 that nobody has claimed yet — past, present or future. Minutes held by the Museum of Time are not for sale.

Question 6

How do I find a specific minute?

Accepted Answer

Type the date and time straight into the two fields on the homepage, or walk the timeline from a century down through decades, years, months, days and hours.

Question 7

How much does it cost?

Accepted Answer

A minute is $4.99. Add-ons are optional: a photo, a video, a voice recording, an AI-written historical context, or your own custom address for the page. The price is always calculated on our server and shown before you pay.

Question 8

Am I charged for media I do not upload?

Accepted Answer

No. A media add-on is only added to the total when the file is actually attached. Remove the file and the charge disappears with it.

Question 9

What is the AI historical context?

Accepted Answer

An optional short factual note about what was happening around your minute, generated after payment and shown on the page. It never invents events for personal minutes.

Question 10

What is a custom minute address?

Accepted Answer

Instead of the automatic address, your page lives at buythetime.co/m/ plus a word you choose, if it is still free. We check availability while you type.

Question 11

How do I pay?

Accepted Answer

Card payment is handled by Stripe inside the purchase form. We never see or store your card details.

Question 12

What happens if I abandon the payment?

Accepted Answer

The minute is reserved for 30 minutes and then released back to the registry. Nothing is charged.

Question 13

What if I want my money back?

Accepted Answer

Write to us and we will refund a recent purchase. EU customers also have the statutory right of withdrawal for digital content. Refunded minutes return to the registry as unclaimed.

Question 14

Can I change what the page says later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Sign in with the email you used and you can edit the title, message, link and media any time. Every change is written to a history you can review.

Question 15

Is my page public?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every claimed minute has a public page — that is the point of a public registry. Your email address is never shown; only the display name you choose.

Question 16

Can I dedicate a minute to somebody else?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Add a dedication during the purchase and the page shows it. Ownership stays with you.

Question 17

What if somebody posts something harmful?

Accepted Answer

Every page has a report link. We review reports and can hide or correct a record that breaks the rules.

Question 18

What is the museum?

Accepted Answer

A curated set of minutes from recorded history — from Vesuvius in AD 79 to the present — with an article, sources and, where a free licence allows it, a photograph.

Question 19

Can I buy a museum minute?

Accepted Answer

No. Museum minutes are kept as a public reference and are not for sale.

Question 20

So this is a novelty?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and we are open about it. Time cannot be owned, sold or transferred. What you get is a permanent, public, uniquely assigned entry in our database — a keepsake, not property over a moment.

Question 21

What happens to my data?

Accepted Answer

We keep only what the record needs plus your email for receipts and access. The privacy page lists every processor and your rights under GDPR.

Everything worth asking.

Buying a minute

Price and add-ons

Payment and refunds

Your record

The Museum of Time

The serious bit