Troubleshooting
A buyer can't pay
Why checkout might refuse a buyer, and what to check.
- Do you ask for a check before the first payment? If you require a verified phone or an ID checked by PerfectPal, the buyer must have it first. Their request page tells them how. See Ask buyers for a phone or ID check.
- Do you ask for a signed contract before deposits? The buyer must sign the contract you sent first.
- Has the payment request been cancelled or already paid? Open the request and check its status.
- Someone else checking out? On a buy-now listing, another buyer's checkout can hold the last units for a few minutes. The page says Someone is checking out and updates by itself.
- Out of stock, or below the least per order? Check the listing's quantity.
- Did you block them? A block stops new buy-now orders.
- Are your card payments still active? See I can't take card payments.
- Card declined? That's between the buyer and their bank. They can try another card.
Updated October 19, 2026
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- Refund termsSay what you keep if a buyer backs out, in plain terms buyers accept before paying.
- Refund a paymentRefund all or part of a card payment on a request or an order, and what happens to the fees.
- PerfectPal's feesHow PerfectPal's fees on card payments work, who pays them, and where to see the current amounts.
- Let buyers pay in fullLet buyers pay the whole price by card themselves once you've approved or matched their request.
- Ask buyers for a phone or ID check before they payRequire a verified phone, or an ID checked by PerfectPal, before a buyer's first card payment on a request.