Connecting Stripe to your shop

How payments actually flow

ShopTicket uses Stripe Connect. When a customer pays through your tracker, the charge goes directly into your Stripe account. ShopTicket never holds the money. Stripe pays out into your bank on its own schedule, which you can see in the Payouts tab of your Stripe dashboard once the account is connected.

We don't take a cut. Stripe's standard processing fee is paid by you out of each charge, the same as anywhere else Stripe is the processor. Their current rates are listed at stripe.com/pricing. That's between you and Stripe.

What to have on hand before you start

Stripe asks the same things any payment processor would. Gather these first so the flow doesn't stall halfway through:

• Business details. Legal business name, business type (sole prop, LLC, etc.), EIN if you have one, business address. If you're a sole proprietor without an EIN, your SSN works.
• Personal verification. Date of birth, last four of SSN, sometimes a photo of a government ID. Stripe is required by law to verify the people behind a business that accepts cards.
• A bank account. Routing and account number for the account you want payouts to land in. A checking account is fine.
• Website or social profile. Stripe asks where customers see your work. Your shop's ShopTicket intake URL (shopticket.dev/intake/your-shop) works if you don't have a separate site.

The walkthrough

1. 1

   From your dashboard, click “Connect Stripe”.

   It's on the “Get your shop ready” checklist on the main dashboard, and also on the Settings page if you dismiss the checklist. ShopTicket creates a Stripe Express account tied to your shop and redirects you to Stripe's hosted onboarding form.

2. 2

   Fill out Stripe's form.

   Business info, personal verification, bank account. Stripe will tell you what's required for your specific country and business type. Five to ten minutes if your paperwork is in front of you.

3. 3

   Stripe sends you back to ShopTicket.

   Once Stripe is satisfied, you land back on your ShopTicket settings page with “Stripe connected” marked. From here on, the “Pay” buttons on your customer tracker, quote, and milestone pages are live.

4. 4

   Test it with a real $1 charge if you want.

   Quote yourself a one-dollar order, pay it with your own card, refund it from your Stripe dashboard. Cheapest way to be sure the wiring works end-to-end before a real customer is on the other side.

If you stop midway

Stripe lets you save and come back. If you close the tab partway through, click “Connect Stripe” again from the dashboard or Settings and Stripe will pick up where you left off. Your shop won't accept card payments until Stripe marks the account as fully onboarded, but nothing else in ShopTicket is blocked. You can still take inquiries, send quotes, mark offline payments received, and ship orders.

You can also skip Stripe entirely

Plenty of shops never connect Stripe and use ShopTicket happily. If you collect by check, ACH, wire, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or any other method, your workflow is:

• Send the quote through ShopTicket as you normally would. The customer sees the quote page with line items and totals.
• The quote page tells the customer to expect a separate message from you with payment instructions instead of showing a Pay button.
• When the customer pays you by your method of choice, you click “Mark payment received”on the order. ShopTicket records the payment, updates the balance, and advances the stage. The customer's tracker reflects it immediately.

Pros of skipping: no processing fees, no KYC. Cons: more work on your end to chase a card or transfer, no automatic payment-received emails until you mark it.

What the customer sees, with and without Stripe

With Stripe connected: the quote page, the tracker, and the milestone pages all show a Pay button at the right moment. Customer clicks, pays by card, lands back on their tracker with a success banner. You get an email; they get a receipt.

Without Stripe:the same pages show a soft “your maker will reach out about payment” message instead of a Pay button. Everything else (progress photos, messages, documents, stage tracker) works identically.

If something gets stuck

• Stripe says the account needs more info. That means Stripe wants additional verification, usually a clearer ID photo, a second proof of address, or a tax document. Click “Connect Stripe” again from your dashboard to return to Stripe and finish.
• Your bank account got rejected. Double-check routing/account numbers and that the account name matches your business name. Joint or trust accounts sometimes need extra documentation.
• Payouts haven't arrived yet. New Stripe accounts often have a short rolling reserve while Stripe builds history. Check your Stripe dashboard's Payouts tab for the schedule and any holds.
• You want to change the bank account or business details later. Do it inside the Stripe dashboard (the “Manage Stripe” link from ShopTicket Settings opens it). ShopTicket reads your status from Stripe; it doesn't store your bank or KYC info itself.

Still stuck? Email hello@shopticket.dev and we'll walk you through it.