Jo has lost count of how many times she’s been asked on her lives: “Do you take Afterpay?”
She sells preloved womenswear on Facebook Live and TikTok Live from Melbourne. Her lives are busy enough now that she’s opening her own shop, and she wants buyers to pay at checkout instead of by bank transfer. (Jo is a composite of the sellers I talk to, not a real client.)
Her first question: which payment gateway should I use?
For a small WooCommerce shop, the simplest answer is Stripe. One account takes credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and it can switch on Afterpay (Clearpay in the UK) too. Afterpay’s own plugin (an add-on you install on your shop) is the other way in.
Here’s how to choose, how to set it up, and the settings that matter for how you sell.
Which payment gateway should a small shop use?
A payment gateway is the service that takes the money at checkout and pays it into your bank account. For a small shop selling in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada or the UK, these are the three to know.
Stripe: one account for cards and Afterpay
Stripe has an official WooCommerce plugin, takes credit and debit cards, and can add Afterpay in all five of those markets. Payments land in one account and arrive in one payout.
If you only set up one gateway, make it this one.
PayPal: an extra option some buyers trust
Some buyers would rather pay with PayPal than type card details into a shop they’ve just found. Mel, who sells vintage on Etsy and eBay from the UK, keeps PayPal next to Stripe for exactly that reason. (Mel is a composite too.)
“My eBay buyers already have PayPal. When they find my own shop, it’s the button they trust.”
PayPal has its own pay later options, but they aren’t Afterpay, and they aren’t offered in every market (see the pay later table below).
Square: worth a look if you also have a counter
Square makes sense when you sell in person as well as online. Carla runs a boutique in Austin, and she uses Square for the till and the website, so one system keeps the money and the stock together. (Carla is a composite as well.)
Square’s WooCommerce plugin can keep stock levels in sync with the till, which stops a dress selling twice. Its payment options vary by country, so check what it offers where you are.
Pay later options by market
Stripe and PayPal both let buyers pay in instalments, but what’s on offer depends on the country your business is in.
| Market | Through Stripe | Through PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Afterpay | Pay in 4 |
| New Zealand | Afterpay | None listed |
| US | Afterpay | Pay in 4, Pay Monthly |
| Canada | Afterpay | Pay in 4 |
| UK | Clearpay | Pay in 3, PayPal Credit |
Once a payment clears, Stripe’s standard timing pays it into your bank (a payout) within 2 business days in Australia and the US, 3 in Canada and the UK, and 4 in New Zealand. Your first payout takes longer: Stripe says 7 to 14 days.
Either way, you get the full amount upfront. Afterpay or PayPal collects the instalments from the buyer. Afterpay also covers the loss if a buyer doesn’t repay.
Before you start
Have these three things ready, and the setup takes an afternoon instead of a week:
- A WooCommerce shop on HTTPS. The padlock in the address bar. Your host may include a free certificate.
- A Stripe account in your country. Verified with your business details and the bank account you want paid into.
- Stock Afterpay allows. Afterpay doesn’t cover everything: pre-orders and alcohol are among the exclusions, so check Stripe’s list if you sell anything unusual.
Selling across the Tasman, or the border?
Afterpay through Stripe works for buyers in the same country as your business. An Australian shop’s buyers in New Zealand will see credit and debit cards at checkout, but not Afterpay.
If a lot of your buyers are in another country, ask about this before you promise Afterpay on a live.
Two ways to add Afterpay
You can add Afterpay through Stripe or through Afterpay’s own plugin. They end up looking similar to buyers, but they’re run differently behind the scenes.
| Through Stripe | Afterpay’s own plugin | |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts | Your Stripe account | A separate Afterpay merchant account |
| Approval | Switch it on in Stripe | Apply to Afterpay and wait for approval |
| Payouts | With your card payments | Separately, from Afterpay |
| Refunds and reports | One dashboard | Two dashboards |
Pick Stripe if you want one account, one payout and one place to check refunds.
Pick Afterpay’s plugin if you already have an Afterpay merchant account (a seller account with Afterpay itself), or you use a different gateway for cards and don’t want to move.
Step by step: credit card and Afterpay through Stripe
The menus move around a little with each plugin update, so here are the steps in plain terms. You’ll find each one under WooCommerce, then Settings, then Payments.
1. Install the Stripe plugin and connect your account
Add Stripe’s official plugin from the WordPress plugin directory (Plugins, then Add New, then search for “WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway”), then activate it.
Open its settings and connect your Stripe account. It sends you to Stripe to log in and approve the connection, then brings you back.
Skip this and nothing else works: the shop has nowhere to send the money.
2. Turn on credit and debit card payments
Card payments may already be on once you connect. Check they’re enabled, and that the shop’s currency matches your Stripe account’s country (Australian dollars for an Australian account, for example).
If they don’t match, a payment method can quietly fail to show at checkout. Afterpay through Stripe, for example, only works for buyers in your own country.
3. Turn on Afterpay
In the plugin’s payment methods, switch on Afterpay (or Clearpay in the UK). Some versions send you to Stripe’s dashboard to switch it on there as well. Through Stripe, you don’t need a separate Afterpay account.
4. Check what buyers see, then save
Check the name each payment method shows at checkout. “Credit or debit card” and “Afterpay” are clearer than anything technical.
Save, then open your checkout in a private browser window (Incognito in Chrome, a Private Window in Safari) to see it the way a buyer will.
Settings that matter for how you sell
The defaults are a fine start. These are the settings worth checking for a shop like yours.
For every shop, however you sell
Check these three whether you sell live, on marketplaces or from a shop counter.
Afterpay order limits
Afterpay only shows at checkout for orders inside its limits, so a very small or very large cart won’t offer it. These are Stripe’s limits in each market:
| Market | Afterpay order range |
|---|---|
| Australia | A$1 to A$4,000 |
| New Zealand | NZ$1 to NZ$4,000 |
| United States | US$1 to US$2,000 |
| Canada | C$1 to C$2,000 |
| United Kingdom | £1 to £1,200 (Clearpay) |
Order confirmation emails
WooCommerce sends them by default. Check they haven’t been switched off, so buyers hear back the moment they pay.
Afterpay refunds
Afterpay refunds have to be made within 120 days of the order and can take up to 10 business days to reach the buyer. Put that in your returns policy so nobody’s surprised.
For live sellers
Two settings decide whether you can match each payment to the buyer who claimed it. Still weighing up whether your lives need a shop at all? Start with what changes when live buyers check out on your own shop.
Match every order to its tally
If you sell with price codes, make sure those code products are visible and can be added to the cart. Buyers can’t pay for what they can’t find.
Then add one required field at checkout: the buyer’s TikTok, Instagram or Facebook username. That one field is how you match each order to the DM tally you sent.
Without it, you’re back to guessing which “J Smith” claimed what.
The express checkout trade-off
Apple Pay, Google Pay and Link (Stripe’s saved-details checkout) can show express buttons that skip parts of the normal checkout. Depending on how your checkout is built, a required username field may not be collected when a buyer pays that way.
So you have a choice to make:
- Keep express buttons if faster checkout matters more and you can match orders by name and email.
- Turn them off on the product and cart pages, or entirely, if knowing whose tally each order belongs to matters more.
Whichever you pick, test it with a real order and check the username arrived.
Marketplaces and shops
Marketplace sellers: leave guest checkout on, which lets buyers pay without making an account. A first-time buyer who found you on Etsy or eBay shouldn’t need one.
Physical shops: add click and collect as a shipping option, so local customers can pay online and pick up at the counter.
Test it before your next sale
A test order costs a few dollars and saves you a live full of buyers who can’t pay. Do these four checks:
- Place a real low-value order with a credit or debit card, then refund it.
- Place one with Afterpay (you’ll need an Afterpay account of your own), then refund it.
- Check the confirmation email arrived, and that it reads well on a phone.
- Check Stripe shows both payments and both refunds.
Do this every time you change a payment setting, and once before every big sale. The Black Friday checklist for small shops has the rest of the pre-sale checks.
What your customers see
Once it’s set up, paying is the same quick routine for every buyer.
Live buyers get your DM tally, add their price codes to the cart and pick credit or debit card or Afterpay. Afterpay sends them to log in and choose their plan, then back to your shop.
Everyone else checks out as on any online store. Either way, the confirmation email goes out straight away and the order lands in your shop, paid.
Afterpay pays you upfront, so you ship as usual.
Rather not set it up yourself?
Here’s the whole job in order:
- Pick your gateway (Stripe is the simplest).
- Set up and verify your Stripe account.
- Install the plugin and connect it.
- Turn on credit and debit cards, then Afterpay.
- Check the settings for how you sell.
- Test with real orders, then refund them.
If the settings, the express checkout trade-off and the test orders sound like more than you want to deal with, that’s part of every shop I build. I set up credit card, debit card and Afterpay checkout and test it end to end before your first sale. See what’s included in a store setup.
FAQ
Quick answers to what sellers ask me most about shop payments.
Do I need a separate Afterpay account if I use Stripe?
No. When Afterpay runs through Stripe, you switch it on in your Stripe account and the payments arrive with your card payments. You only need an Afterpay merchant account for Afterpay’s own plugin.
Does Afterpay work in the UK?
Yes, as Clearpay. It works the same way, and you switch it on in Stripe in the same place.
Can I use the same provider in my physical shop?
In some countries, yes. Stripe and Square both sell card readers there, and Square’s plugin can keep stock in sync between the till and the website. Check what’s available where you are before you buy hardware.
When does Stripe pay me?
Stripe says your first payout takes 7 to 14 days. After that, payouts follow your country’s standard timing: 2 business days in Australia and the US, 3 in Canada and the UK, and 4 in New Zealand. Stripe’s payouts page shows the current timing for your country.
Is Afterpay safe for me as the seller?
Yes. Buyers log in to their Afterpay account to pay, which cuts down on fraud, and Afterpay covers losses if a buyer doesn’t repay. Now and then Stripe may ask you to hold a shipment while it checks an order, so reply quickly if that happens.