Ecommerce website with Stripe: how the checkout actually works

The path one order takes

The buyer adds items, opens the cart and chooses delivery or pickup. The cart asks the server for a quote, and the server prices the lines, shipping, discount and tax from its own tables. At checkout the stock is held, an order is created as pending payment, and the buyer is sent to Stripe Checkout. When Stripe confirms payment, the order becomes paid, stock is committed, an order number is assigned and the receipt goes out.

• Stripe Checkout vs payment links

Who holds the money

Payments are destination charges on your own Stripe account, connected through Stripe Connect in your account settings. Stripe pays out to your bank on your Stripe schedule. The platform takes a fee from each payment, 2 percent on Starter, 1 percent on Pro and 0.5 percent on Pro+, and Stripe charges its own fees to your account on top. Refunds are made in your Stripe Express dashboard, and the order updates when Stripe reports them.

• What Stripe Connect is

Tax settings

Set a tax label such as GST or VAT, a rate up to 50 percent, whether your prices include tax, and whether shipping is taxed. With exclusive tax, Stripe Checkout shows a separate tax line. Individual products can be marked as having no tax. These settings apply the rate you choose; working out which rate applies to you is a question for your accountant, as the settings screen itself says.

Delivery and checkout fields

Ship orders uses your shipping zones and rates; offer pickup uses your pickup locations. A Stripe checkout for shipped orders collects the address for the chosen country. You can ask for a phone number, let buyers add a note, and require a terms of sale box linked to your own page. Order emails can set a reply to address and a line of footer text.

• Store shipping rates
• Discount codes

What the buyer never controls

The browser sends only product ids and quantities. A buyer who edits the page cannot change a price, because the server builds the Stripe session from its own numbers and checks the lines add up to the total. Checkout only redirects to checkout.stripe.com, and the thank you page polls the order status until the payment settles, so a slow bank transfer method still ends on the right screen.

How it works, in three steps

1. Step 1

   Connect Stripe

   Account settings, Payments, finish Stripe onboarding until the status reads active.

2. Step 2

   Set tax and delivery

   In the store settings choose the tax label and rate, then shipping, pickup or both.

3. Step 3

   Switch the store on and publish

   The cart and checkout appear on the published site; the first paid order lands in Orders.

Limits worth knowing

• The store and Stripe payments need a paid plan.
• Platform fee per payment: Starter 2%, Pro 1%, Pro+ 0.5%, with Stripe fees on top.
• Refunds are issued in your Stripe Express dashboard, not in the store screens.
• Stripe is the only gateway; there is no PayPal or cash on delivery flow.

Questions people ask

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