Stripe is an online payment processor. Your Sharetribe marketplace is integrated with Stripe Connect with Custom Accounts to power payments and payouts between the customers and providers in your marketplace.
Customers can pay with their credit or debit cards. Providers can accept payouts directly to their bank accounts. You can hold payments in your Stripe platform account to delay the payout to the provider until the customer has received the goods or services they want. You can charge a commission percentage or fixed fee from the customer, provider, or both using Stripe.
What do I need to use Stripe?
To take Stripe Connect into use, you will need to create a platform Stripe account. You need to configure this account, including a series of onboarding and branding steps. Finally, you need to connect this Connect account to your Sharetribe marketplace. You do not need to do this while you are testing and building on Sharetribe in the Test environment, but you do need to complete this set up when you go live.
Your platform account and your sellers must be located in a Stripe Connect with Custom accounts supported country.
Do I need to set up a Stripe account to start using Sharetribe?
No -- your Sharetribe Test environment already comes with a test Stripe account, so you don’t need to set up your own until you go live. You can use this account to test payments, adding payout details, and working through test transactions. Using the provided test account can speed up testing and building.
You can add your own Stripe account in the Test environment if you want to test with your own Stripe dashboard or are customizing your marketplace with code.
Do my users need to create a Stripe account?
No - your end users do not need to create a Stripe account. Only you the admin must create an account with Stripe. Your end-users (customers and providers) use this account when using the payment system in your marketplace.
Customers pay by entering their payment card details. They do have the option to save these payment details in your marketplace.
Providers must add their payout details (bank account where to receive their earnings). These are added through a Stripe-hosted onboarding wizard. These details are stored to your platform (admin) account and are represented in your admin Stripe dashboard as "Connected accounts".
When are funds paid out to the provider?
After payment, funds are held in your Stripe platform account until a transaction is marked complete. Then, funds are transferred from your platform account to the provider's bank account.
The exact rules for payouts are determined by the transaction settings of a listing type. Purchase or Calendar booking are made up of different steps leading to a completed transaction.
How to charge a commission?
Charging a commission is built-in to your Sharetribe marketplace. Commissions can be charged to providers, customers, or both. Commissions are earned as soon as a payment is processed and transferred to your Stripe platform account.
How much does Stripe cost?
Stripe charges three types of fees when using Stripe Connect with Custom Accounts on Sharetribe: a payment processing fee (a percentage of the transaction plus a fixed amount), a monthly active account fee per provider who receives a payout, and a payout fee (a percentage plus a fixed amount for transferring funds) — all of which vary by country, currency, and card type.
Can I add my own payment gateway?
Stripe may not be suitable for your marketplace if you operate in unsupported countries or have unique requirements. You can integrate a payment system of your choice into Sharetribe by customizing with code.
Additional resources
You can learn more about Stripe from these articles: