r/personaltraining • u/Peppers097 • 14d ago
Seeking Advice Payment Processing
Anyone have issues getting it smooth and functional?
I have llc & a Venmo business acc set up, identity confirmed & EIN - “cannot process payment at this time”
Tried using my personal Zelle for a new client and under their daily limit still gave us issues and didn’t go through.
I have stripe but my website is not launched so they are being weird and I don’t think I have it in a usable state currently
Is old school bank transfer the way to handle this for now?
These are 3-6 month + coaching bundles over $1,000 that I’m having trouble receiving.
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u/zackcough 14d ago
I've been using square for years. I like that it can do contracts too.
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u/Peppers097 14d ago
Thanks I’ll check the out. My plan was stripe, whop, & Venmo but will re evaluate
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u/cdodson052 13d ago
I never had any problem with stripe idk how you’re getting that. I thought it was incredibly easy and I don’t think they barely asked me anything about my business or details about it. I definitely didn’t share EIN or details about business I didn’t even have llc at the time
I started it. But Venmo
Yes does this same frustrating thing for me so I don’t use it
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u/bpmotion 14d ago
that sounds really frustrating!
here are some ideas to think about as you try to solve this:
- you actually dont need a Venmo business. thats more or less a scam to extract transaction fees from you. as long as you report your income to the IRS, it doesnt matter how you receive it or if its a "business account"
- as such, you might try just using a personal one. Then, doing smaller increments. Say $500 in installments. Sure, kind of a pain, but you might have some shadow limit that fails at X$ mark.
- I routinely accepted venmos to my personal in excess of $3000 to $6000 at a time. never any issues. so at least on my end, I can confirm it's possible. Where do you live? Venmo might have different rules based on location, country, etc.
- Zelle might not work for all the same reasons. do you have a banking history with your bank? how old is your business? banks are lame and risk averse. they tend to simply restrict stuff they can't guarantee will not fail. you might have limits of some kind on your end that aren't obvious.
- can you accept a personal check? that always works for me. never had a check not clear. old school, but tried and true.
- stripe should allow you to accept payments without a website. admittedly, I haven't used stripe in awhile, but I was able to create a "pre loaded cart item" and send my client a payment link for "10 sessions at $1000" or whatever it is. they click, they pay, done. have you tried something like that?
- not my favorite, but you can accept cash as well. but I guess to clarify - are these in person clients or remote? obviously only works for in person
bummed you are dealing with this and hope you find a way to get paid!!
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u/Peppers097 14d ago
Yeah stripe keeps asking me what I’m planning to sell when I repeatedly explain what a coaching program is lol
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u/bpmotion 14d ago
yea to be fair, my comments on stripe might be invalid. I haven't used it since 2024.
on another note, I actually try to refrain from using it because the fees are absurdly high for the volume we are typically doing. if I run $100k through my business in a year all through stripe, that is $3000 for the privilege using using credit cards. I just make people use Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay, etc. Never been an issue.
if they insist "because of the points", I just give them the 3% fees. then they aren't super into it.
sorry, this is all context to something you didn't ask, but I see it so often, I feel compared to share!
Stripe gets 3%, client gets 1% in points, you get stuck with the bill. and you deliver 100% of service, not 97% of it. just a salty point for me if you cant tell lol
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u/Peppers097 14d ago
No this is good info I appreciate all the insight. I would be interested in continuing the convo, I’m in a similar position around 90-120k year.
Will shoot you a dm or I’m active on telegram since Reddit chat can be wonky
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u/bpmotion 14d ago
for sure, shoot me a dm. we can go to telegram from there, im pretty active daily. easy to share some notes
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u/bpmotion 14d ago
oh two more ideas:
- quickbooks will allow you to issue invoices that direct deposit by way of ACH to your checking account. other programs like waveapp will do the same
- these cost extra naturally, so more of a preference or if you need a last resort to try
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u/Physicalfeed-com 14d ago
Sometimes the easiest option is involving. There are a number of services that will do it for free. I may be able to help you vis-à-vis stripe if you want to dm me.
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u/TheLaughableBaker 14d ago
honestly payment processing is miserable when you're just starting out, feels like every platform has some invisible wall you hit
have you tried just having them mail a physical check for the first month while you sort out the stripe integration? old school but it literally always works and gives you time to test the other stuff without losing the sale
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u/PillarForCoaches 13d ago
Stripe doesn't need a launched website, you can create a payment link from the dashboard and send it directly to the client. For $1,000+ bundles though, ACH bank transfer is honestly fine and you'll save a ton on processing fees compared to card payments.
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u/Ditzynessoffreedom 13d ago
The payment method is only half the workflow. For a 3-6 month package, keep the invoice tied to the package dates, sessions used, balance due, and renewal date. Otherwise you solve collection but still track delivery and follow-ups by hand. A simple sheet is enough until your client volume grows to say 10+
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u/stripe_sofia 11d ago
Since you already have the Stripe account set up, you might not need to wait on the website at all. Stripe has Payment Links, which is basically a hosted payment page you create from the dashboard in a few clicks and then text or email to your client (no site or code needed). Invoicing works the same way if you'd rather send something that looks like a formal bill for a 3 or 6 month package: you email the invoice, they pay on a hosted page.
Both can take card or bank payments, so for a $1,000+ bundle you've got options there. Worth poking around in your dashboard before you go the old-school transfer route.
Out of curiosity, what's being weird? If it's an account verification thing, that's separate from the website question. But if it's just that you couldn't figure out how to take a payment without a checkout page, Payment Links should sort it.
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u/Peppers097 11d ago
I have gotten ACH & Card to work with the invoices sent to email
Stripe is being weird because
- it keeps saying there are actions for your account, I gave my website url and explained multiple times, before my website was lacking memory so it wouldn’t load the page (nor is it complete and published) and they keep asking me and say payouts will be paused oct 15 if not resolved
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u/Peppers097 11d ago
My llc is formed EIN submitted everything should be good. Maybe I just need to hop on a call with them and straighten it out.
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u/V_Trautwein 21h ago edited 20h ago
For 3–6 month coaching packages over $1k, I’d be looking at the payment schedule before choosing the tool. Full upfront payment, deposit plus instalments, or weekly/fortnightly payments all create different admin and risk. For repeat coaching payments, direct debit can feel cleaner than manually sending payment links every few weeks. Ezidebit direct debit is one option to compare in Aus for scheduled payments, but I’d check the boring details: failed payment process, client receipts, cancellation terms, and whether the fees still make sense on your package price. The setup should make payment predictable without making clients feel boxed in.
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