Stripe: Not Just For Zebras Anymore

Hi everyone. For those of you I haven’t met, my name is Reilly and I’m a product manager at Bonanza. I lurk behind the scenes, researching new features and working closely with our designers and developers. Don’t worry, Grace is fine! She’s passing me the blog baton this week to announce a feature I’m so excited to share with you.

Even though we hope that selling on Bonanza provides plenty of joy and fulfillment, we know you’re not with us just for giggles- you’re here to make money. It’s critical for us to ensure a frictionless experience for  the most fundamental aspect of online selling: making sales. To that end, we’re thrilled to announce our integration with Stripe, a payments platform that provides smooth solutions for business of all sizes.

Why Stripe?

We know that you, our dedicated sellers,  have been interested in offering additional payment providers to your customers.  Providing more payment options to buyers often invites a higher rate of conversion. We  also know you’ve been seeking a solution that will allow buyers to check out easily with a debit or credit card.  In our 2017 Seller Survey, 31% of participating sellers voted to add Stripe to our offerings — 18% more than the next most popular payment provider.

Although Bonanza is based in the US, we value our international markets deeply. We recognize that our site hasn’t always catered to that different set of needs. When choosing a payment provider, we wanted to make sure to offer one that would be seamless for as many global users as possible.

Taking into account all this valuable feedback, our way forward was clear, and we can’t wait for you to try it out.

So, how will this work?

You can create a Stripe account by visiting your Payments & Purchases settings. If you’re already using Stripe on other platforms, even better — you can connect your existing account and manage payments from Bonanza sales directly on Stripe.  New sellers joining Bonanza will be able to opt in during the booth activation process.

Once your account has been connected and verified by Stripe, you’ll be all set to accept payments. Buyers will be presented with a Stripe option during the checkout flow, and funds will be distributed directly to your Stripe account. You’ll also receive an email notification when a payment is received.

What is it going to cost me?

Stripe will charge an initial fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, similar to what you pay on PayPal. Depending on volume, that rate may be negotiable over time, so we encourage you to reach out to Stripe's support team to discuss your options. There are no additional fees from Bonanza, aside from the final value fees you’re familiar with, which will be billed as usual — nothing about the Bonanza billing process will change.  

When you receive your first Stripe payment, there will be about a 7-day verification window while they confirm your bank details before payout. For subsequent payments, US sellers will be paid out on a rolling 2-day schedule, so you’ll never be waiting long for those funds to arrive to your bank. International payout schedules vary by country, so we recommend reviewing their documentation to confirm the schedule for your region. 

In the event you need to issue a refund or manage a dispute, you can do that directly from Stripe’s dashboard. Here are a couple more resources in this area:

• Refunds: https://stripe.com/docs/refunds
• Disputes: https://stripe.com/docs/disputes

Are there any restrictions on who can use Stripe?

Stripe is available to sellers based in over 20 countries, and can process payments from a variety of payment methods like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and more. Buyers can pay with any supported currency, and Stripe will convert the funds to your currency. You can review supported regions or sign up to be notified when your country is available.  

Initially, checkout via Stripe will be offered to sellers who have a Gold membership or higher. We want Stripe to be a simple payment solution for our sellers, free of application or additional processing fees. In order to help make that happen, we’ve absorbed the costs associated with offering Stripe into our paid memberships. Membership costs will not increase.

Please visit our help documentation or reach out to our award-winning support team with any additional questions, concerns, or feedback as you give Stripe a try. We couldn’t have accomplished this integration without your input, and we want to make sure that any future improvements or expansions are pursued with your best interests in mind.

Do you have a question unrelated to this post? Contact support or visit the Help Center.