Payout holds and reserves: why processors keep part of your money, and how to plan

Shopify Payments

Shopify describes fixed and percentage reserves; its example is 10% for 120 days. Triggers it lists include long billing cycles, high chargebacks or refunds, long delivery times such as custom orders and pre-orders, and sudden increases in volume (reserves). An account can also be put on hold until missing details are fixed (account holds).

Whop

Whop holds part of a balance against refunds and disputes; it says reserved funds stay yours. Triggers it names include a new account or little sales history, high refunds or disputes, unresolved cases, long delivery such as pre-orders, and sudden changes in sales. Its rolling example is 10% for 90 days, and its balance page shows each hold and its release date (reserves).

How to plan for one

• Keep cash for a few weeks of fulfilment, so a reserve never stops shipping.
• Ship and add tracking quickly; slow delivery is a named trigger on both.
• Grow ad spend in steps rather than in one jump.
• Answer refund requests before they become disputes.

Where CheckoutSwitch fits

CheckoutSwitch gives your Shopify store a checkout page of its own. Shoppers pay inside Whop's payment box, into your own Whop account, and every payment becomes a paid Shopify order. Your theme, products and cart stay as they are.

Every payment is checked against its order every 15 minutes. If our plan ever stops, your store falls back to Shopify's own checkout with the same cart.

It costs $49 a month for your first store and $29 for each store after it, and 0% of your orders. Whop's own card fees (from 2.7% + $0.30 per domestic card) are paid to Whop, not to us. Your first store has 7 days free.

We don't hold your money and we can't lift a reserve: with CheckoutSwitch your payments sit in your own Whop account under Whop's rules.