Connecting Stripe & Accepting Deposits

To run a Deposit Protocol test (collecting real money), you must connect your own Stripe account. Validatr uses Stripe Connect to facilitate direct payments between your customers and you.

Security Notice: We do not hold your funds.

When a customer pays a deposit on your test page, the money goes directly to your Stripe account. Validatr never touches the funds. Refunds, disputes, and payouts are managed entirely within your Stripe dashboard.

1. Prerequisites

Accepting payments is a Premium Feature.

You must have unlocked the specific experiment (One-time fee).
You must have a valid Stripe account (or be ready to create one).
You must be in a Stripe-supported country.

2. The Connection Process

Once your experiment is upgraded to Premium, follow these steps:

Navigate to the Settings tab of your experiment.
Scroll down to the "Payment Integration" section.
Click the button labeled "Connect with Stripe".
You will be redirected to Stripe's secure login page.
Log in to your existing account OR fill out the form to create a new merchant account.
Once authorized, you will be redirected back to Validatr.

3. Test Mode vs. Live Mode

By default, your experiment will be in Test Mode.

Test Mode: Use Stripe's dummy card numbers (e.g., 4242 4242...) to test your checkout flow. No real money moves.
Live Mode: Real credit cards are charged. Real money moves to your bank.

To switch to Live Mode, simply toggle the "Live Payments" switch in your dashboard. Ensure your Stripe account is fully verified before doing this.

4. Fees & Payouts

Transaction Fees

Since you are using your own Stripe account, you pay the standard Stripe processing fees directly to them:

Stripe Fee: Typically 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction (varies by country).
Validatr Fee: 0%. We do not take a percentage of your deposits.

Payouts

Stripe automatically transfers funds to your connected bank account on a rolling basis (usually 2 days in the US/UK). You can view your payout schedule in your Stripe Dashboard.

5. Issuing Refunds

If your validation test fails (i.e., you decide not to manufacture the product), you must refund all deposits.

You can do this easily inside your Stripe Dashboard:

Go to Payments in Stripe.
Click on the transaction.
Click Refund.

Note: Stripe does not return the original processing fee (2.9% + 30¢) when you issue a refund. This is the cost of running the test.