What Stripe Charges for Card Processing
A plain read of Stripe's own pricing page: the per-sale rates, the add-ons for keyed and foreign cards, and what it says it never charges.
Stripe charge fees are the cuts Stripe takes when a customer pays you with a card. Its pricing page lays them out as a percentage of each sale plus a flat amount, with add-ons for certain cards. Here is what that page says, in plain terms, for a US small business taking card payments.
What Stripe's pricing page says it charges per transaction
Stripe's pricing page says its standard online rate is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards. That applies when a customer pays through your website or app and the card was issued in the US.
The page also says in-person card payments cost 2.7% + 5¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards. That is what you pay when a customer taps or inserts a card on your reader in person. Want to see how a counter sale plays out on other sheets? We worked through a $40 sale in a forty dollar sale at the counter.
So the fee on any sale depends on how the card reaches you. A card typed in by hand costs more than a card read in person. Stripe's page says the fee per sale depends on how the customer pays.
What Stripe's page says about setup, monthly and hidden fees
Does Stripe charge account or monthly fees? Stripe's pricing page says its standard plan has no setup fees, monthly fees, or hidden fees. The page repeats this in stronger words: Stripe does not charge setup fees, monthly fees, or hidden fees like closure fees.
The page also says all fees for businesses on standard pricing are listed on its website. Standard pricing is pay-as-you-go, so you pay when you get paid and nothing in a slow month.
There are two things the page flags as taxed or priced apart. Stripe says it must charge tax on some products and services. Where your business sits, and its tax status, decides the tax. It also says two products cost extra. These are Stripe Radar for Fraud Teams and Stripe Connect with platform-controlled pricing. Those are extra products, not part of the basic card rate.
What Stripe's page says about manually entered and international cards
Two add-ons raise the per-sale cost. Stripe's pricing page says a card keyed in by hand adds 0.5% to the online card rate. So a card keyed in over the phone costs more than the same card typed into your checkout page.
Foreign cards cost more too. Stripe's pricing page says international cards add 1.5% and currency conversion adds 1%. The two can stack. A card issued abroad, billed in a currency you do not use, carries both add-ons on top of the base rate.
If most of your sales are domestic and in person, you may never touch these add-ons. If you take phone orders or sell to buyers overseas, they will show up often. Look at your own mix of sales before you guess what you pay.
What Stripe's page says about refunds
When you give money back, some fees come back to you and some do not. Stripe's pricing page says the payment processing, Connect and currency conversion fees from the original transaction are not returned. The percentage and the flat amount you paid on the sale stay gone.
On top of that, refunds can carry their own fee. Stripe's pricing page says businesses on standard pricing may face fees for refunds when bank transfers are used. For other payment methods, the page says there are no fees for issuing refunds. A business on a custom fee schedule can also be charged for refunds. Each one's own fee schedule with Stripe decides it.
The point to remember: a refunded sale still costs you the fee. A bank transfer refund may cost more. Price your returns with that in mind.
What Stripe's page says about custom pricing
Stripe's pricing page says it has custom pricing for businesses with large processing volumes. Eligibility for it differs by market. Custom packages are for businesses with big sales volume or unusual business models.
The page also says Stripe offers volume-based discounts based on volume tiers, commitments, and product usage. If your sales grow, it may be worth reading that section of the page and asking Stripe directly what your volume would earn.
A note on confirming current prices
Every number above comes from Stripe's published pricing page, and published prices change. Check the page the same day you sign up, rather than earlier. Stripe's page says its dashboards, tools, and APIs give you transparency into your costs. You can check what you really paid after you start.
Payout timing is covered in paying to be paid tonight.