How a payment works

The buyer pays the shop’s own Stripe account. Cove Tales does not take the card into its account, and it does not pay the shop later. Stripe does.

Cove Tales keeps 1.5%. The shop chooses whether that comes out of the shelf price or is added for the buyer. The default is the shop.

The card fee, 2.9% + 30¢, comes out of the shop. That is the same fee the shop would pay on its own site. It is not added on top for the buyer, and it is not higher because the card is a debit card.

A refund is issued by the shop from their desk. The 1.5% comes back with the refund. A dispute opened at the bank still lands on the shop.

The shop honors this card. It does not expire and it does not lose value. Cove Tales does not keep a balance. After one purchase, a balance under $5 can be taken in cash at the counter.

Until a shop connects a bank account, the pay page is a preview. The card is not sent to a bank. How shops collaborate.