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I finally found the solution to a problem that was killing me. Before I found it, I asked an SO question about it, and had even started a bounty on the question. Can I now post a self-answer and, if no better answers get posted before the bounty expires, award myself the bounty?

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    Sha Dow Wiz Ard's answer is right. Just one extra note: old Meta posts may imply that you can award bounties to yourself. It was possible to do that a long time ago, but the behavior was deemed not useful and was removed.
    – Pops
    Mar 5, 2012 at 21:40
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    @Pops thanks, I added that to my post. By the way, when you posted the comment it was less than a year after the change was done, not really "long time ago". ;)
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    Nov 26, 2013 at 12:12

1 Answer 1

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No, you can't assign the bounty to yourself.

However, you can add your own answer and accept it so that other people will know that's what solved the problem.

If the answer is good enough, it will get upvotes then it may even earn a separate bounty at some point from another user who finds it exceptionally useful.

Worth to mention that in the past it was possible to grant ourselves a bounty (example), resulting in +[rep] to show besides the answer but no actual reputation gain which was just confusing. It was removed back in July 7, 2011. (Four months before this question was asked)

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  • Is this still valid? I asked a questions and started a bounty then I was the only one to answer and got one upvote but didn't get awarded my bounty when it expired... (stackoverflow.com/questions/20004821/…)
    – Lawand
    Nov 26, 2013 at 11:57
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    @Lawand sorry, the answer became confusing after title was changed. Original title of the question was "Where should I ask questions about use of Stack Exchange sites". Reworded my answer to fit the edited question now. As for your question, we can't grant ourselves a bounty and it did not change since writing this answer.
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    Nov 26, 2013 at 12:04
  • @ShaWizDowArd: Thanks for the clarification :)
    – Lawand
    Nov 26, 2013 at 14:28
  • @ShadowWizard What about the case where you've answered the question after creating the bounty and it's the only new answer and it has more than two upvotes. Does the "default behavior" result in half the bounty being returned to you?
    – Peter Alfvin
    Oct 8, 2014 at 20:00
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    @Peter nope, answer written by the bounty owner is not candidate for the automatic reward. In such a case the bounty will just expire into the void.
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    Oct 8, 2014 at 21:12
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    @ShadowWizard does that mean the point are lost? Seems wrong after working hard to find and post an answer.
    – David Balažic
    May 11, 2015 at 14:59
  • @David indeed, in such case the points are lost. Many discussions were started here on Meta to address this, personally I agree with the current behavior. You pay in advance for the chance to get what you want, kind of paying for advertising something.
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    May 11, 2015 at 15:06
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    @ShadowWizard but it is not a chance. An actual answer was received (and given). Points should be given (and received) IMO, just as always. Also as I understand there is an option of 50% awarded points, so it is not like "free meal" as some complain.
    – David Balažic
    May 11, 2015 at 15:09
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    @David even so, this will cause massive abuse and undermine the value of bounties in general. Like I said, if the answer is really good, points will be given by upvotes. 5 of them will cover the standard bounty amount.
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    May 11, 2015 at 15:11

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