Stripe and payments
Every ticket payment on Platypus runs through the venue's own Stripe account. This page covers what that means for buyers and for venues.
Why Stripe?
Card payments are serious infrastructure: vaulting card numbers, 3-D Secure, fraud screening, payouts. Platypus doesn't reinvent any of that. Every payment is processed by Stripe, and specifically by the venue's own Stripe account.
What that means for buyers
When you buy a ticket, your card details go to Stripe, never to Platypus. The charge is made by the venue itself: it's the venue's name on your statement, the venue's refund to give. Checkout runs on the venue's own pages (or embedded in the venue's website), card step included, with no redirect to a separate payment site; your tickets arrive by email as a PDF.
What that means for venues
- A Stripe account with charges enabled — free to create; Stripe's per-transaction fees apply, as with any Stripe business.
- Restricted API keys — you paste these into the Platypus admin, and Platypus verifies them before anything is stored (encrypted). Setup is a five-minute guided page: Stripe payments setup.
- Refunds — handled in your Stripe dashboard, where you keep full merchant control.
- Stripe's test mode — works end to end, so you can rehearse a purchase with a test card before going live.
Do free tickets need Stripe?
No. A free ticket type is claimable with no card step and no Stripe account — buyers confirm and their tickets arrive by email like any paid order, with no $1 AUD fee counted. Stripe is needed the moment any ticket type has a price.
Does Platypus touch the money?
No. Ticket revenue settles from Stripe to the venue's bank account directly. Platypus bills the venue separately: a flat subscription plus $1 AUD per ticket sold, free tickets never counted (subscription and billing).
Payment doing something unexpected? The setup guide's troubleshooting table covers the common failures, symptom first.