How to Finish Your Stripe Setup and Get Paid

Most sellers get their stall up in about ten minutes. You name it, drop a pin on the map, add a few photos and list what you've got. Then there's one more step if you want to take payments in the app, and it's the one that trips people up. It's connecting with Stripe, and I'll be honest with you, it's the least fun part of joining. It's also quick once you know what it's after, so let me walk you through it.

What the Stripe step actually is

When a buyer pays for your produce in the app, by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, that money has to reach your bank account. SideStall never holds your money. A company called Stripe moves it, the same way a great many Australian businesses take card payments. Before Stripe can pay money into your account, the law says it has to check who you are and that the bank account is really yours.

That's the whole step. It isn't us being nosy and it isn't a credit check. It's the same identity check any business does before it's allowed to accept card payments.

Have these handy before you start

The whole thing goes faster if you've got a few bits next to you before you tap the button:

• Who you are. Your legal name, date of birth and home address.
• A photo ID. Your driver's licence or passport.
• Your bank details. The BSB and account number for where you'd like the money to go.

You don't need an ABN or a registered business. If you're just a person selling eggs at the gate, you set it up as yourself. If you do run a business, there's a spot for that too. One tip: take a clear, well-lit photo of your ID before you start, because that's the fiddliest bit to do on a phone.

The one bit almost everyone misses

Here's how it goes. In the app you turn payments on, it sits in your stall's settings near where you set your hours and pickup. SideStall then hands you over to Stripe's own secure page to fill in those details. You type them in, and then, this is the part people miss, you come back to the SideStall app to finish.

Nearly everyone who gets stuck gets stuck right here. They fill in the Stripe page, close the browser, and figure they're done. You're not quite done until you're back in SideStall and the payments screen says you're connected. So when Stripe tells you it's finished, pop back to the app and check it shows you're connected. That's it, you're taking payments.

You don't have to, and setting it up is free

Worth saying plainly: turning on payments is optional. Plenty of sellers take cash or a bank transfer at the gate and never touch this step, and that's completely fine. Your stall still shows on the map, locals still find you, you still take orders. There's no monthly fee to take payments either, on any plan including Free. You only pay a small SideStall fee plus card processing when a buyer actually pays you through the app, and a cancelled or refunded order costs you nothing.

What connecting Stripe unlocks is the good part. Buyers can pay before they arrive, and they can pre-order and reserve what they want, so you're not baking or cutting for someone who never turns up. The money lands in your bank on its own. For a lot of stalls that's the difference between a tin on a table and a proper little business.

Ready to give it a go?

New here? SideStall is a free app that puts your farm gate, roadside stall or honesty box on the map for the locals driving past. Get it for iPhone or Android.

Already listed and stuck on the Stripe step? Set up your stall and give it another go. It's usually five or ten minutes once your ID and bank details are next to you.

And if it still won't play nice, email me at hello@sidestall.au. I'd genuinely rather help you finish than have you give up at the very last step.