Payments for your online store

TL;DR

• Something's gone wrong with an order or a payout? The first list under Next Steps goes straight to the guide for that problem
• Setting up or changing your store? The second list covers providers, checkout, payouts, fees and overseas sales
• Lost a dispute even with tracking? Start with After a Lost Dispute
• Payout held? Start with the notice on Money Held or Frozen

You sell online, through Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe or a marketplace. Pick the line that matches what's in front of you, then open the guide for that task.

Next Steps

Something just happened

• I lost a chargeback, even with tracking: Check who decided and whether a step is left
• A chargeback just arrived: Find the deadline and what to do in the first 30 minutes
• What's the customer claiming?: Match your records to the claim on the notice
• I refunded them and a chargeback arrived: Match the refund and the case before another money action
• My payout's held or frozen: Start with what your notice says
• Verification keeps failing: Save the exact request and error before another upload
• Bots keep trying cards: Save example IDs and ask your provider to contain it
• Shopify flagged an order: Check its payment status and fraud analysis before shipping
• Someone changed my payout bank: Lock the processor account and report it
• Klarna or Afterpay appeared at checkout: Check the message separately from payment acceptance
• AI orders appeared in my Shopify store: Check why the order appeared and what it costs
• My processor raised my fees: Compare the notice with your signed fee schedule
• My fraud tool's bill went up: Check what counts as a screen and what your plan includes

Setting up or running the store

1. Processor comparison: Compare providers against your own sales
2. Shopify Payments: Check the provider behind your store, and the third-party gateway fee
3. Shopify first week or Stripe first week: Finish setup before live orders
4. Checkout conversion: Find what's stopping buyers from paying
5. Subscriptions and recurring billing: Start here when a renewal fails
6. Reconciliation: Match a payout to your sales and bank deposit
7. 1099-K: Check why the form doesn't match your sales
8. Selling internationally: Check costs, local prices and disputed duty charges
9. Switching providers: The short path for a hosted store, with no router migration
10. Use AI on a payment problem: Draft and check, with card numbers and customer details left out