How helpagoth works

Positions are ordered strictly by cumulative total paid, converted to a USD-equivalent figure. There is no editorial placement, no waiting list and no way to request a position — rank is arithmetic, and the board recomputes itself the moment anyone moves.

Taking rank #1 is the only position that carries a premium: your total must reach at least 5% above the current #1’s total. Below that, every position needs only a single cent more than the row beneath it, so you can join at any amount and land wherever that amount puts you.

Payments accumulate. Paying twice adds to your existing total rather than creating a second listing, so climbing is incremental.

You can pay in US dollars, Indian rupees, euros or pounds sterling. Because positions have to be comparable, every amount is converted to a USD-equivalent figure at the exchange rate on the day you paid — and then that figure is fixed permanently to your listing.

This matters more than it sounds. If conversions were recalculated at today’s rate, a currency movement could demote someone who had done nothing, weeks after they paid. Fixing the figure at payment time means the only thing that ever changes your position is somebody paying.

Every listing chooses at payment time whether to be public or anonymous. A public listing shows the display name, links, photo and message you supplied. An anonymous listing still holds its rank and still counts toward the total, but publishes no name — the board simply shows the position and the amount.

Anonymity is enforced when the board is read, not merely hidden in the page, so an anonymous name is not sitting in the data waiting to leak.

Brands can buy a tile in the sponsors rail, in whole multiples of 5 in their chosen currency. A sponsor tile is not a leaderboard listing: it earns no rank and does not affect anyone’s position.

Sponsor payments are also the one place on this site where the money has a stated destination — they go toward the cost of running it, meaning hosting, payment processing and the domain. More about sponsor tiles.

It is not a charity, a fund, a fundraiser or a crowdfunding campaign, and it is not registered as a trust, society or non-profit organisation. A payment buys a promotional listing and nothing else. It is not tax-deductible, no tax-exempt receipt is issued, and nothing here should be read as a promise that money is applied to any particular person, cause or purchase.

Payments are final and non-refundable, except where you have a refund right under applicable law or where something failed technically. Everyone paying or listed must be 18 or over. The Terms and Conditions are the operative version of all of this.

The pay-to-hold-a-public-rank format is not original to helpagoth — sites like outbid.lol have run the same basic idea. helpagoth applies it to one specific scene, with a leaderboard built around goth and alt-fashion listings, a sponsors rail for brands in that space, and a showcase rail anyone can add themselves to for free.

helpagoth is operated by Akshat Singh Rathore, based in Bangalore, India. The way to reach us about anything — a payment, a listing, a complaint or a data request — is by message on X at @artial_martist.