It's actually kinda cool, going around the web, reading articles on my favorite blogs, and for once, leaving a tip. It makes me feel good.

I love the internet

At least be honest: tip Tipjoy and any site you chose while you're on it. Tipjoy does take a cut, right?

We take a small cut. Smaller than other services, like PayPal. We're open about this: http://tipjoy.com/faq/14/#q14

I stress the bookmarklet not because of our cut, but because it will grow our userbase -- people receiving lots of tips without being Tipjoy users will probably soon become users to claim the tips.

edit: I should also mention that our effective cut is small when you consider that tips can be recycled back into the community. Tip receivers can tip other things for essentially zero overhead. We take our small cut when someone cashes out.

Cool, allowing tips to be used inside the system to fund other tips is a good touch that also have the side effect of encouraging even more generosity.

how does a site that does not use tipjoy ever find out that someone tipped them? Is it one of those if they login they'll find out things?

We actively seek out people that have received money that aren't users. We're thinking about ways to automate this, but making it personal is probably going to be the most effective.

You can search for a domain, url, or email here to check if it's been tipped: http://tipjoy.com/domainSearch/

If it has, you need to authenticate that you own it through one of a few methods.

Does the tip get debited only after the intended recipient receives it?

No, when the tipper gives it. Also, someone only receives the money into their account when the tip is paid, but they are shown the level of unpaid tips.

I expect a number of blog posts of people saying "hey folks, pay your tips!". We're deploying some friendly ways of encouraging it too.