Payments

01Who can change this

Only the server owner can change where the money goes. Other admins can see how payments are set up, but they can't change the PayPal email or connect a different Stripe account. That way nobody on your team can quietly send your sales to their own account.

02PayPal

1. 1Open Store → Payments.
2. 2Type the email address you log in to PayPal with.
3. 3Turn on Accept PayPal and press Save PayPal.

That's it. When a player pays with PayPal checkout, the money lands in that PayPal account. A PayPal Business account is best, but a personal account works too. At the basket, PayPal shows extra ways to pay when they are available for that player, such as a card or Pay Later. You do not set those up yourself.

When you save, Surge asks PayPal whether that account can receive payments. If the email has a typo, the account isn't confirmed yet or PayPal has limited it, you'll get a message saying what to fix and nothing is saved. If PayPal can't be reached at that moment, the email is saved anyway and you'll be asked to do a small test purchase to be sure.

Because PayPal pays you the full amount directly, Surge keeps a running total of the fees your store owes. When that total reaches the price of a sale, that one PayPal sale is paid to Surge instead of you. The player still gets their order like normal. Surge never takes more than what's owed, and these sales are marked Paid to Surge to cover fees in Orders. You can see how much is owed right now under How the Surge fee works with PayPal.

03Stripe (cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay)

Stripe is not switched on for stores yet. Use PayPal for now. When we turn Stripe on, this is how it will work.

1. 1Open Store → Payments.
2. 2Pick the country your bank account is in.
3. 3Press Connect with Stripe. Stripe opens in the same tab.
4. 4Sign in to Stripe or make a free account, then fill in your details and bank. It takes about five minutes.
5. 5Stripe sends you back to Surge. The status changes to Taking payments once Stripe has everything it needs.

If Stripe still needs something, you'll see Setup not finished with a Continue Stripe setup button. Press Check again after you've finished on Stripe's side.

With Stripe, the Surge fee is taken automatically on each sale and the rest is paid out to your bank on Stripe's normal payout schedule.

04Good to know

• You can use PayPal, Stripe or both. Players pick at checkout. PayPal checkout can show more than one method on the same screen.
• Turning a payment method off hides its button straight away. Turning both off means nobody can check out.
• Disconnect Stripe only removes the link from Surge. Your Stripe account and its money stay yours.
• Surge never sees card or bank details. PayPal and Stripe handle every payment.
• Sometimes PayPal holds a payment for a while to check it. The order shows as not paid yet and is delivered on its own as soon as PayPal releases the money. If PayPal declines it, the order shows as Payment failed and the buyer isn't charged.
• If you see a yellow note saying Surge is in test mode, payments aren't real yet. Don't open your store to players until it's gone.