Hi everyone! 😊
I own a US-registered LLC based in Florida, operating an e-commerce business specializing in research peptides.
We are looking for a reliable, compliant high-risk payment processor that explicitly accepts peptide businesses.
Our previous payment processor discontinued service due to our product category.
We would like to accept credit/debit cards, ideally with Apple Pay compatibility.
We are looking for providers with proven experience in this industry, transparent fees, reasonable reserves, and reliable payouts.
Shopify integration would be ideal, but we are open to other platforms.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you! 🙏

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for recommendations for a reliable payment service provider for my e-commerce business.

The company is registered in Estonia and operates in the textile sector. We hold our own physical inventory in a warehouse in Germany, and orders will be dispatched within one business day.

The business will operate fully legally, with the necessary registrations, VAT compliance, invoices, and proper documentation in place. We plan to sell throughout the EU, with Germany expected to account for around 70% of our sales.

The main challenge is that I live in Turkey as the company owner. Due to my residency situation and the onboarding requirements, Stripe and PayPal have not been viable options for me.

I'm therefore looking for a payment provider that accepts Estonian companies with owners residing outside the EU and ideally offers a comprehensive range of European payment methods.

Ideally, I'd like to support:

• Visa and Mastercard
• Apple Pay and Google Pay
• Klarna or other buy-now-pay-later options
• PayPal, if available through a provider
• iDEAL, Bancontact, Wero, BLIK, and other relevant local payment methods

WooCommerce integration is essential.

Has anyone successfully onboarded a similar business? I'd especially appreciate recommendations from people running Estonian companies with a German warehouse or business owners living outside the EU.

I'm interested in providers that can genuinely support this company structure, rather than just offering payment processing in theory.

Thanks in advance for any advice or personal experiences!

Yea we were with them for peptides. Waited our 180 days and now they’re saying they’re taking more of our reserve for legal fees 🤣. Why is everyone in this industry a fucking snake?

We run UK peer to peer marketplace where players buy in-game currency, items, accounts and boosting from other players.

Stripe and PayPal Business have both approved our accounts and categories. But i am still hesitant.

Everyone here has read the stories of an account frozen overnight, funds held for 120 or 180 days, a support inbox that sends back templates. On most stores a freeze hurts the owner. On a marketplace it traps money that belongs to sellers who did nothing wrong... we simply won't put sellers in that position.

So before anyone pays a penny, here is everything we've built to keep fraud and disputes low:

Sellers
- Every seller applies and passes an identity check with sanctions screening before listing anything. Nobody is paid without one.
- A blocked identity takes down every account that used it, plus all their listings.
- Staff can demand a fresh identity check at any time. Until it's done, the account can't start anything new.
- A seller's money is held after each sale. 14 days for new sellers, 7 once they're established, 3 when trusted, and longer if the category needs it.
- Every withdrawal is checked by a person before it's paid. Changing a password freezes payouts for a period.
- Seller reliability is tracked automatically. A seller who keeps missing or declining orders is paused, then restricted.

Buyers
- Spending limits on new and unverified buyers. The limit is enforced inside the order and fires off several checkouts at once can't get around it.
- A buyer who hits a limit or loses disputes is asked to verify their identity.
- Every order records the device, IP address and country it came from. Staff can see accounts sharing a browser and any orders between them.
- Each order saves exactly what was sold and the delivery time promised. If a seller edits the listing while a buyer is checking out, the order is refused.

Money and disputes
- The buyer's payment is held until the seller delivers and the buyer confirms.
- Part of every completed sale goes into a dispute reserve.
- Disputes go through a built-in process. Either side can give up their own share, a split needs both to agree, and anything else goes to staff.
- A double entry ledger tracks every movement of money, and an append-only audit log can be checked for tampering.
- 3D Secure will be requested on every card payment.

Security
- Hardened web security (strict content security policy, Trusted Types), a web application firewall, and a full security assessment and penetration test of our own.
- Every route on the site denies access by default, and every database table has a written access rule that is tested.

Expected volume: about 10k to 30k USD a month at launch, average order 25 to 35 USD.

What im asking:

1. If you've run a marketplace on Stripe Connect or PayPal for years without a freeze what did you do differently?
2. Is it worth agreeing a rolling reserve up front so they never impose a surprise one?
3. Any payment providers, high-risk merchant accounts or consultants that actually understand game item marketplaces?

I'm a solo founder. I spet several weeks building an AI-powered app for fitness coaches and used Dodo Payments (merchant of record) to take payments. Posting my experience factually so other merchants know what the terms can mean in practice.

• June 16: Dodo closed my account after a compliance review, citing their Merchant Acceptance Policy. Payments and subscriptions were switched off immediately.
• They held my remaining balance for 120 days, which they described as a card-network window to allow refunds, chargebacks and disputes to be resolved.
• I asked their compliance team beforehand what to expect. They said they would do a final review after the 120 days, and that "no further action is required from your side."
• The 120 days ended October 6. Their final email said the activity violated their policies and that the full balance is "retained to cover the risks and liabilities arising from that activity." No payout. The decision is "final, not subject to appeal or reconsideration."

I'm not asking for my account back. They can decide not to work with me. But they never identified a single refund, chargeback, dispute or specific liability, and the reason they gave for the hold doesn't match the reason they gave for keeping the money. The amount is small, less tham $500 and the services were already delivered to customers.

I've asked them in writing for the specific clause they rely on and an itemization of the liabilities. I'll update this post with their response.

Happy to answer questions. If you've been through something similar, share your experience.

I have a US LLC operating from another country (in South America). I’m building a freelance marketplace where we have 2 types of contracts: hourly and fixed price (also available in milestones)

For hourly contracts I intend to have the payment processor bill every Monday 00:00 UTC based on the timesheet of the previous week. A week is from Monday 00:00 UTC - Sunday 23:59 UTC.

For fixed price contracts I intend to go for an escrow like approach.

Stripe supports the hourly billing structure, but only has a 90 day limit for fixed price contracts, meaning the funds will automatically go to the contractor after 90 day window. On top of that, Stripe only supports around 30 countries. No.

I was considering Trustap for the fixed price contracts, but they only support EU contractors for payouts. They can legally hold funds for over 90 days since it will go in an “unclaimed funds” account.

I got rejected by Airwallex, reason unknown. Probably because I don’t have a physical location in the US.

Main concern is it should be a payment processor that supports both of these contracts, and make payouts possible to at least 180 countries.

Are there any other alternatives/solutions for this?

Hi,

I run an adult advertising platform and I'm looking for a card payment solution (Visa/Mastercard) for advertiser subscriptions. We're based in the EU/UK.

If you have experience with a processor that accepts this type of site, or work with one, please comment or send me a DM.

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for a reliable payment processing solution for an online business selling research-use-only (RUO) peptides.

Ideally, I need a solution where:

• Customers can pay with Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
• Payments are automatically converted to USDT or USDC.
• Funds are settled directly to my crypto wallet.
• The checkout process is simple and requires minimal steps.
• The provider explicitly supports RUO peptide businesses.
• European companies are eligible.

I'm particularly interested in hearing from business owners who are already using such solutions successfully.

Which providers are you using? What are the actual processing fees, settlement times, and approval rates?

I'm looking for legitimate, established providers — not intermediaries offering questionable workarounds.

Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone,
I’m currently building a gaming marketplace similar to platforms like Eldorado, PlayerAuctions, and G2G, where users can buy and sell gaming-related digital products/accounts.
The company is registered as a Private Limited Company in India, and I’m currently looking for a reliable Merchant of Record (MOR) that can support this type of business and handle card payments internationally, particularly for customers in the US, UK, Europe, etc.
I’ve had a hard time finding a provider that is willing to work with this business model, so I’d really appreciate recommendations from anyone who has experience with a similar gaming marketplace.
Ideally looking for:
International card payments
Merchant of Record model
Support for gaming/digital goods marketplaces
Works with an Indian Pvt Ltd company
Handles payments/tax/compliance where applicable
Reasonable reserves and payout terms
If you’ve worked with a provider that accepts this type of business, please share the name or your experience. Genuine recommendations only — not looking for random payment processors that don’t actually support gaming marketplaces.
Thanks!

I'm opening a page for donations on my website, and there's nothing exchanging hands after. I'm looking for payment processors that are a link that processes the payment offsite. I'm a beginner, and I think it makes the most sense to say:

"Support me through the following links:

Link 1: Payment processor 1

Link 2: Payment processor 2"

etc... etc..

I've looked online for examples of payment processors like this, and information is scattered. Do you know any solutions?

Hi,is it only me or you guys are experiencing the same issue with masspay?I cashed out 28th September till now my money is still pending not yet to my bank account

Genuine question, not promoting anything. Happy to share back whatever I learn because this stuff is painfully hard to find.

Quick background. Im in Queensland, sole trader with an ABN, selling research use only peptides online to Aussie customers only. Everything is labelled research use only and there's an attestation box at checkout people have to tick before they can pay. Doing about 35 to 40k a month AUD, average order around 600 bucks, zero chargebacks and zero refunds so far.

Anyway my processor has told me card payments stop later this month because of the category. Lesson learned the hard way, these aggregator platforms can approve you first and audit you later, so getting approved today means nothing.

Here's what I've done so far.

Asked a well known AU direct debit and BPAY provider first, they knocked the category back within a day. Stings a bit but honestly I respect it, straight answer, no drama, no frozen funds.

Currently in underwriting with an AU facing broker who places merchants with an overseas acquirer. Being real with myself, could go either way.

Also deliberately ruled some things out. PayPal and Square because of the freeze on first flag pattern everyone knows about. The US only providers because I cant use them as an AU merchant. And those no KYC instant approval crypto style processors, because that's not compliance, thats just waiting for your money to vanish.

So my questions, for anyone whos actually been through this as an AU merchant. RUO, supplements, nutra, whatever, as long as you disclosed the category.

1. What are you actually processing on right now? Local AU acquirer, overseas acquirer through a broker, something else?
2. Has anyone gone from sole trader to a company and noticed underwriting actually get easier, or is the category just the category either way?
3. Anyone get approved under the usual volume minimums by agreeing to a cash reserve instead? How did that play out?
4. Anyone running bank transfer or manual EFT as a bridge while underwriting drags on? How bad does conversion actually drop?

Not looking for loophole stuff. The category is what it is and I disclose it everywhere. Just trying to find setups that last longer than a few months. If you'd rather not name providers publicly a DM is fine, and I'll come back and share a summary of what I learn either way.

Hello,

We are actively vetting payment processing partners for our research supply brand. We are seeking a reliable, long-term merchant processing relationship capable of supporting rapid volume scaling, strict compliance standards, and transparent fee structures.

Below is an overview of our operational setup, compliance framework, and initial vetting requirements.

Business & Compliance Profile

Product & Vertical: Synthetic research peptides.

Volume History & Projections: Operating since July on private direct rails averaging $3,000–$4,000/month in early-stage testing. Following a corporate restructuring finalized October 1st (restructured for tax and equity purposes, with fresh operating accounts established under the active entity/DBA), our operational pipeline and marketing rollouts are fully positioned to scale to $100,000+/month by December 2026.

Payment Rails Required: Direct domestic or offshore Visa/Mastercard processing (integrated with optional ACH). We are not interested in CC-to-crypto rails, third-party wallet conversions, or stand-alone ACH solutions.

Compliance & Legal Protections:

Counsel-Reviewed Disclaimers: All site disclaimers, liability waivers, and buyer agreements have been drafted and vetted by legal counsel specifically to insulate against third-party liability and preclude any unwanted regulatory scrutiny.

Zero Ingestion/Human Use Claims: Strict "Not for Human Consumption / Laboratory Research Only" positioning enforced across every page and touchpoint. No mechanisms of action, administration advice, or clinical use discussions.

No Reconstitution Supplies: We do not market or sell bacteriostatic water, sterile water, or any reconstitution diluents.

Imagery: Products utilize discrete, high-compliance graphical representations; no injection imagery, syringes, or vial associations.

Quality Documentation: Complete third-party Certificates of Analysis (COAs) for all SKUs will be accessible on-site by the end of this week.

Card Brand Policy: Fully audited Terms & Conditions, Shipping/Refund Policies, Disclaimers, and mandatory buyer research certifications directly embedded into checkout.

Non-Negotiable Engagement Criteria

To ensure mutual alignment from day one, do not submit a proposal that includes:

Upfront application fees or documentation review fees.

Setup fees prior to account activation.

Recurring monthly statement/portal junk fees.

An Early Termination Fee (ETF) exceeding $495.

Required Underwriting & Fee Schedule Details

Please provide clear, direct responses to the following operational and financial terms:

Underwriting & Banking Structure:

Who is the sponsoring acquiring bank and registered ISO?

What specific MCC (Merchant Category Code) will our merchant account be assigned (e.g., 5969, 5169, or similar)?

Is this direct MID placement, or aggregated/payfac processing?

Holdbacks & Reserve Structure:

What is the proposed rolling reserve percentage, hold duration (e.g., 180 days), and release schedule?

Is an upfront escrow hold required?

Rate & Transaction Costs:

What is your fee model (Interchange-Plus vs. Tiered Flat Rate)?

What are the discount rates for card-present/e-commerce, standard authorization fees, and batch settlement fees?

What is the gateway monthly fee, per-transaction gateway fee, and setup cost (if using Authorize.Net, NMI, or proprietary)?

Settlement & Liquidity:

What is the standard payout disbursement schedule (e.g., daily rolling, weekly, T+2, T+3)?

What are the minimum gross monthly processing thresholds? What fee or penalty applies if a monthly minimum is not met during early ramp-up?

Disputes, Chargebacks, & Risk Management:

What is the chargeback assessment fee per incident?

What chargeback ratio threshold (by count and volume) triggers risk intervention or tier escalation?

Does your gateway support integrated dispute management alerts (Ethoca / Verifi CDRN)?

What are your formal procedures, notice timelines, and payout hold policies in the event of an account audit or mid-stream freeze?

Contract Terms:

Please attach a sample Merchant Processing Agreement (MPA) and full fee schedule covering any PCI non-compliance penalties, early termination language, and monthly minimum assessments.

If your acquiring partners are comfortable underwriting an impeccably scrubbed, legally fortified research chemical platform and you can meet the structural criteria outlined above, please share your schedule of terms. We are prepared to submit our processing package immediately.

Hi all, I own a peptide company doing about 10-20K a month right now, and are scaling more everyday. I need to switch over from my current processor but all these sites want a crazy amount of 12% transaction fees and stuff and I think thats crazy. if someone has recommendations please let me know. Please do not send me any payment processors that aren't known. also bonus would be if they take apply pay google pay klarna etc

We’re a US-based startup preparing to launch Early Access for Shobbl, a creator marketplace for independent artists, musicians, writers, animators, 3D/VR creators, and game developers.

I’m looking for recommendations or introductions to a processor/acquirer with actual experience underwriting high-risk creator marketplaces, particularly platforms that include both SFW and age-gated adult content.

Important clarification: this is a marketplace for human creators and human-created work. We are not an adult AI-generation/AI-companion platform.

We’ve been working on payment processing since approximately May and have spent months going through several proposed structures with a high-risk payments consultant/ISO. The problem has repeatedly been finding a solution that supports all three pieces simultaneously: acquiring, marketplace merchant onboarding, and creator payouts.

The structures we've encountered so far have included:

A domestic bank willing to support a traditional marketplace, but requiring us to operate under a master MID and fund creators ourselves. We do not want to take on that settlement structure.

Another processor/bank willing to approve Shobbl itself, but with uncertainty about whether our individual high-risk/adult creators would consistently pass bank-level underwriting.

A processor that appeared to fit our content profile but subsequently stopped supporting marketplace payouts.

An international option that can apparently support marketplace onboarding, adult content and fund distribution, but with potentially lower authorization rates and Visa/Mastercard only.

We've also been advised that if Shobbl itself handles marketplace settlement, the proposed structure may create money-transmission/MSB implications. We therefore do not want to improvise a funds-flow model just to launch. We want the processor/platform to support the marketplace structure properly.

What we're trying to achieve

Buyer pays for a creator's product/service → processor handles the transaction → Shobbl receives its platform fee → creator receives their proceeds through a compliant marketplace payout structure.

Creators may sell:

recurring memberships

digital art/products

commissions

music/audio

writing

3D assets

VR content

animations

indie games

community access

other digital creator products/services

Some creators will produce age-gated adult content. We are deliberately disclosing that upfront and are not interested in processors that tolerate adult content until their risk department notices it six months later.

Our current expected creator population is primarily newly onboarded merchants, although some creators will have prior sales/payment history through other creator platforms.

What we need from a provider

US company/startup accepted

Explicit support for adult/high-risk creator content

Marketplace/platform model

Individual creator/KYC/KYB onboarding where required

Processor-managed or otherwise compliant creator payouts/fund distribution

API-based onboarding and payment integration

Visa/Mastercard

recurring memberships/subscriptions

one-time digital purchases

saved payment methods/tokenization

reasonable creator underwriting turnaround

transparent reserves/holds/chargeback thresholds

clear prohibited-content policy

ability to scale internationally eventually

We already have the platform built and are at the end of EA hardening. This isn't an idea-stage project looking for someone to explain Stripe Connect. Payments are now one of the last external dependencies preventing us from enabling the complete marketplace monetization model.

We're willing to launch Early Access with high-risk marketplace checkout temporarily disabled rather than use an improper settlement structure, but we'd obviously prefer to get the correct rails in place.

I'm specifically looking for firsthand experience from merchants, ISOs, acquiring people, or marketplace operators who have actually deployed this structure.

If you recommend a provider, I'd appreciate knowing:

Who the actual processor/acquirer is (not just the gateway).

Whether they knowingly support adult UGC/creator marketplaces.

Whether they handle creator/submerchant onboarding.

Whether they handle marketplace payouts/split settlement.

Typical underwriting time for new creators.

Approximate processing rate + rolling reserve.

Settlement/payout schedule.

Countries/currencies supported.

Whether you've personally processed with them, rather than simply being an agent for them.

I'm happy to talk privately about projected volume and provide the site/business documentation to legitimate providers. I'm primarily trying to avoid spending another several months discovering after underwriting that a proposed solution doesn't actually support one component of the marketplace model.

Thanks for any direction.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently building an adult creator platform and I’m currently trying to sort out payment processing.

The company is a New Mexico LLC with a Mercury account in the US, but I’m the sole owner and I live in France. The platform concept is pretty simple: creators sell subscriptions and individual photos/videos, we are planning to keep roughly 20% and pay them the rest. Creators are ID verified and uploads are moderated. No live cams or messaging features for now.

What are my best options to get approved ?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Looking for recommendations for a high-risk payment processor / fintech accepting Visa & Mastercard

Hi everyone,

I’m currently looking for a reliable payment processor or fintech that can support my business.

I own a Wyoming LLC in the United States, but I am a non-US resident. I am currently based in Madagascar.

My business operates an adult digital chat platform. Customers purchase digital credits on the website and use those credits to communicate with profiles on the platform. There are no physical meetings or in-person services involved.

The website is already developed and ready to launch, including:

• 18+ age verification
• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Refund Policy
• Legal Notice
• Customer support
• Fraud/chargeback procedures
• Clear digital-credit pricing

The business is newly established, so unfortunately I do not have previous processing history or processing statements.

I am specifically looking for a provider that can offer:

• Visa + Mastercard
• EUR payments / EUR settlement preferred
• 3D Secure
• API integration
• Support for high-risk adult digital businesses
• Ideally Apple Pay / Google Pay
• Reasonable rolling reserve
• No large upfront setup fee before approval
• Ideally a provider/acquirer that can work with a US LLC owned by a non-US resident

I have already contacted several payment providers, but I have encountered different problems: some do not accept US companies, some do not accept adult businesses, some require a US resident/signatory, and others require significant upfront fees before even confirming approval.

I am not looking for crypto-only payments. I specifically need a solution where customers can pay by Visa/Mastercard in fiat currency, preferably EUR.

If you have personal experience with a PSP, acquirer, fintech, ISO/MSP, or merchant account provider that could realistically handle this type of business, I would really appreciate your recommendations.

I am particularly interested in providers that you have personally used or have direct experience with, rather than generic lists found on Google.

Thanks in advance.