Shopify has stopped sending payments

[salescwbc]

Hi, We have been in business 8 years. 5 with Shopify as our website provider. Recently Shopify has stopped sending payments to us. I have been trying daily for ages now to get someone to help through their online help centre (theres no phone or direct help)but I am never getting any advice or even response as to whether there is a problem or not. The site can still take sales but Shopify is just not paying out with no contact , discussion or request for information.
Has this happened to anyone else and have you any advice on how to get this resolved.

 

[fisicx]

Hi @salescwbc and welcome to UKBF.

Sorry to hear of your problem but this is more common than you think and happens on all selling platforms.

All you can do is raise a ticket and wait. It usually takes a few months to get a resolution.

 

[Frank Wessely]

Have you checked with your Bank to ensure that there isn’t a problem at their end?

 

[antropy]

Hi, We have been in business 8 years. 5 with Shopify as our website provider. Recently Shopify has stopped sending payments to us. I have been trying daily for ages now to get someone to help through their online help centre (theres no phone or direct help)but I am never getting any advice or even response as to whether there is a problem or not. The site can still take sales but Shopify is just not paying out with no contact , discussion or request for information.
Has this happened to anyone else and have you any advice on how to get this resolved.

Well this is what can happen if you put your business in the hands of a big faceless company that controls and owns your website.

Consider a self-hosted option that you own and control to avoid this happening in future.

Paul.

 

[AlanJ1]

Well this is what can happen if you put your business in the hands of a big faceless company that controls and owns your website.

Consider a self-hosted option that you own and control to avoid this happening in future.

This can happen with ANY payment company and Amazon, eBay, Etsy etc.

I would of actually bet you would of posted this.

 

[Shopclicks]

This can happen with ANY payment company and Amazon, eBay, Etsy etc.

I think the broader message in this thread is the lack of communication from Shopify. At least Amazon tell you why they withhold funds and what you can do to fix it.

 

[AlanJ1]

I think the broader message in this thread is the lack of communication from Shopify. At least Amazon tell you why they withhold funds and what you can do to fix it.

Can't comment on the OP but I haven't had a problem in the past, especially with there live chat on the site.

I now have an account manager as we are + so have a first point of contact.

 

[thetiger2015]

I think the broader message in this thread is the lack of communication from Shopify. At least Amazon tell you why they withhold funds and what you can do to fix it.

I'd imagine they have done this but the email may have gone to a junk box or something. Remember that a Shopify store may also use Amazon / PayPal payments, so it's worth checking all of those providers are paying in to the bank account too.

The OP needs to check in the Shopify dashboard - on the home page, there will be a link to 'Next Payout'. This will take them to a screen with all of the previous payouts and anything outstanding, it will also tell them if anything is wrong.

If all of the outstanding payouts are marked as 'Paid' then the OP needs to check the bank details in settings/billing. If they are correct, then they need to check the bank statements to see if there's some sort of hold anywhere.

Shopify has Live Chat, so I'm not sure why that wouldn't connect them to a support team?

 

[fisicx]

Live chat just tells you to raise a ticket.

 

[antropy]

This can happen with ANY payment company and Amazon, eBay, Etsy etc.

Obviously. But if you're selling via your own website you can use multiple payment options and just switch off any that are causing you problems.

Of course Amazon and Ebay control your stores on their sites, but that's why you shouldn't build your business to rely on them either.

You should not build a website/business that can simply be turned off by a big faceless company that you cannot contact. I would have thought that was just common sense but it appears not ?‍

By all means sell on Amazon and Ebay, but make sure you also sell on your own website and on other channels too if you don't want to be at the whim and mercy of a company that does not care about you or need your business in the slightest.

Paul.

 

[AlanJ1]

Obviously. But if you're selling via your own website you can use multiple payment options and just switch off any that are causing you problems.

As you can with Shopify?

I have Shopify Payments (which I can switch to any other finance company). PayPal, Amazon Pay, Klarna, V12 Finance.

 

[antropy]

As you can with Shopify?

Maybe if it's just their payments they're withholding, but the point is they can do anything they want to your website deliberately, accidentally, or automatically and there's nothing you can do about it and they won't even talk to you about it.

Paul.

 

[Shopclicks]

I have Shopify Payments (which I can switch to any other finance company). PayPal, Amazon Pay, Klarna, V12 Finance.

From Shopify:

• Are there any transaction fees?​

  There are no transaction fees for stores using Shopify Payments.
  If you choose a third-party payment provider, there will be additional fees of 2%, 1% or 0.5% for our Basic Shopify, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify plans, respectively.

 

[antropy]

From Shopify:
If you choose a third-party payment provider, there will be additional fees of 2%, 1% or 0.5% for our Basic Shopify, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify plans, respectively.

So if you don't let Shopify to handle all your money and withhold it at their whim, they charge you big fees on top of your fees? ?

Yet some people think this is fair and ok and a sensible way to run a business ?‍

Paul.

 

[AlanJ1]

It's all negotiable on transactional fees.

they won't even talk to you about it.

And again, personally never experienced this across all levels of being on Shopify.

Again both of you don't like Shopify, and I probably wouldn't put a "normal" store onto Shopify only on Shopify + for various different reasons.

However what Shopify can offer for a small customer with little/small/medium web experience for the price they offer imo far outweighs wordpress/opencart etc.

 

[antropy]

And again, personally never experienced this across all levels of being on Shopify.

Maybe you haven't but the OP is experiencing it right now.

However what Shopify can offer for a small customer with little/small/medium web experience for the price they offer imo far outweighs wordpress/opencart etc.

Until they hold your money and go quiet for no reason.

Paul.

 

[AlanJ1]

Maybe you haven't but the OP is experiencing it right now.


Until they hold your money and go quiet for no reason.

Paul.

Have a good evening Paul, you are referring back to the same point on everything. Again as I said above you and your company push Open Cart (no problems here) and have a vendetta against Shopify. Hardly makes you impartial though.

 

[antropy]

Have a good evening Paul, you are referring back to the same point on everything.

Because you're not taking on board the OP's problem.

Again as I said above you and your company push Open Cart

Because we're all for open source and very much against "vendor lock-in": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_lock-in

and have a vendetta against Shopify. Hardly makes you impartial though.

I've been a Shopify shareholder for many years and we have built a few sites with it, so we speak from experience.

Paul.

 

[lumencreative]

I have to say, being on Shopify+ (as seems to be the case of @AlanJ1) is a far cry from using the standard Shopify platform.

I came on here looking for advice on whether to build our new website with Shopify or Prestashop and I'm still none the wiser lol.

 

[antropy]

I came on here looking for advice on whether to build our new website with Shopify or Prestashop and I'm still none the wiser lol.

Why only those two?

Paul.

 

[lumencreative]

Why only those two?

Paul.

Simply because Prestashop is what I have experience with and Shopify strikes me as the easy option... I shall start my own thread though

 

[antropy]

Simply because Prestashop is what I have experience with and Shopify strikes me as the easy option... I shall start my own thread though

Almost 13 years ago I reviewed some of the open source shopping cart platforms and Prestashop and OpenCart came out on top. All these years later it seems they're still the best of the self-hosted open source platforms: https://www.antropy.co.uk/blog/shopping-cart-review/

So perhaps when you start this new thread consider OpenCart as well

Paul.

 

[japancool]

Almost 13 years ago I reviewed some of the open source shopping cart platforms and Prestashop and OpenCart came out on top. All these years later it seems they're still the best of the self-hosted open source platforms: https://www.antropy.co.uk/blog/shopping-cart-review/

So perhaps when you start this new thread consider OpenCart as well

Paul.

I've never even heard of AlegroCart.

 

[antropy]

I've never even heard of AlegroCart.

Seems it's still around!

AlegroCart - Free open source E-Commerce shopping cart

Free open source E-Commerce shopping cart solution, MVC Design, modular template system, PHP, MySQL database, multiple languages, Ajax add to cart, SEO urls, RSS feed

alegrocart.com

Paul.

 

[lumencreative]

Almost 13 years ago I reviewed some of the open source shopping cart platforms and Prestashop and OpenCart came out on top. All these years later it seems they're still the best of the self-hosted open source platforms: https://www.antropy.co.uk/blog/shopping-cart-review/

So perhaps when you start this new thread consider OpenCart as well

Paul.

Hi Paul,

I've actually used OpenCart in the past but it was a few years ago...I'll definitely give it another look.

 

[thetiger2015]

Because you're not taking on board the OP's problem.


Because we're all for open source and very much against "vendor lock-in": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_lock-in


I've been a Shopify shareholder for many years and we have built a few sites with it, so we speak from experience.

Paul.

The OPs problem is very unusual. We've had Shopify stores for years, never had an issue that wasn't resolved swiftly over live chat or, when using Plus, by our account manager. Shopify may not be able to fix the OPs problem, if the issue lies outside their system e.g. the bank rejecting payments due to it being an overseas issue perhaps?

Vendor lock-in? Sorry, but you get that with ANY website that isn't controlled by your own in-house tech team. Unless you have an understanding of building websites and server setups, you'll be needing third party tech support and that can cost a lot of money, depending on your project.

We were 'locked in' to Magento, because our platform had a customised theme and bespoke extensions. This meant we couldn't use any other developer. They wouldn't touch something that's been built by a third party.

You could say the same with Shopify, if you're customising it a lot, then it will be outside of their tech support. No different to any other website in the world. If you stray from the path, you'll need a guiding hand.

Sometimes, what is perceived as a limitation of Shopify is actually a blessing. For business owners at least. No server access? No problem. They handle all that, they handle the security, they handle payment stuff. If I'm selling biscuits, I don't particularly need to know anything about virtual servers or site speed, I just need to sell more biscuits than other people.

 

[japancool]

We were 'locked in' to Magento, because our platform had a customised theme and bespoke extensions. This meant we couldn't use any other developer. They wouldn't touch something that's been built by a third party.

That's why, as with any IT project, you need documentation so another developer *can* take it over if needs be.

 

[antropy]

I've actually used OpenCart in the past but it was a few years ago...I'll definitely give it another look.

If you'd like a demo setup feel free to get in touch: [email protected]

Paul.

 

[antropy]

Vendor lock-in? Sorry, but you get that with ANY website that isn't controlled by your own in-house tech team. Unless you have an understanding of building websites and server setups, you'll be needing third party tech support and that can cost a lot of money, depending on your project.

We were 'locked in' to Magento, because our platform had a customised theme and bespoke extensions. This meant we couldn't use any other developer. They wouldn't touch something that's been built by a third party.

Even with Magento you would be able to switch to other developers unless your previous ones had locked you in somehow with their licencing. That's not a fault of Magento (even though it's overly-complex) it's a fault of your developers. Good developers will build things in a way that can be taken over by future developers easily and as @japancool says they should provide documentation and a handover if required.

Sometimes, what is perceived as a limitation of Shopify is actually a blessing. For business owners at least. No server access? No problem. They handle all that, they handle the security, they handle payment stuff. If I'm selling biscuits, I don't particularly need to know anything about virtual servers or site speed, I just need to sell more biscuits than other people.

There are pros and cons of Shopify. Being very locked-down and locked-in can be a benefit if you're happy for them to have full control. They'll make sure it runs ok but in return they'll say what you can and can't do in terms of functionality, what you can sell, and how much they charge. While they're building a user-base their policies are relatively fair. You wait until they think they're too big to fail and have got enough people locked-in like PayPal and they'll start whacking up fees to eye watering levels.

Paul.

 

[Mr D]

Well this is what can happen if you put your business in the hands of a big faceless company that controls and owns your website.

Consider a self-hosted option that you own and control to avoid this happening in future.

Paul.

As opposed to having a company handling payment processing for you?

If no sales then yes would consider website to be a potential issue. For non payment the fact a big company owns the website would be irrelevant.

 

[Mr D]

So if you don't let Shopify to handle all your money and withhold it at their whim, they charge you big fees on top of your fees? ?

Yet some people think this is fair and ok and a sensible way to run a business ?‍

Paul.

The third party can withold it at their whim. Look at Paypal - plenty of businesses caught out over the years by them holding funds for 6 months or more.

 

[Mr D]

Obviously. But if you're selling via your own website you can use multiple payment options and just switch off any that are causing you problems.

Of course Amazon and Ebay control your stores on their sites, but that's why you shouldn't build your business to rely on them either.

You should not build a website/business that can simply be turned off by a big faceless company that you cannot contact. I would have thought that was just common sense but it appears not ?‍

By all means sell on Amazon and Ebay, but make sure you also sell on your own website and on other channels too if you don't want to be at the whim and mercy of a company that does not care about you or need your business in the slightest.

Paul.

Yes you can stop using companies that cause you problems. Of course that doesn't get you your money owed any quicker.
Shame about customers wanting to use that company eh?

Paypal for example, well known company used by lots of customers. You choose to stop using it how many customers will go elsewhere?

 

[lumencreative]

The third party can withold it at their whim. Look at Paypal - plenty of businesses caught out over the years by them holding funds for 6 months or more.

I agree with this but I guess Antropy was referring more to the likes of a merchant provider (such as worldpay or AIB) who are much less likely to do so as they are more regulated than the likes of PayPal who just seem to get away with doing whatever they darn well please.

 

[Mr D]

I agree with this but I guess Antropy was referring more to the likes of a merchant provider (such as worldpay or AIB) who are much less likely to do so as they are more regulated than the likes of PayPal who just seem to get away with doing whatever they darn well please.

I've not heard anything about AIB but have heard of delays with worldpay. Nothing as bad as paypal.
As a customer I prefer paypal, I use worldpay a couple of times a week or so.

 

[Byzantium]

Sometimes, what is perceived as a limitation of Shopify is actually a blessing. For business owners at least. No server access? No problem. They handle all that, they handle the security, they handle payment stuff. If I'm selling biscuits, I don't particularly need to know anything about virtual servers or site speed, I just need to sell more biscuits than other people.

Hoorah ! Again, hoorah !

They just don't get it do they ? Not everyone wants to get under the bonnet with feeler gauges and start tinkering with the timing on a Ford pinto engine because "you can" when to 99.999% of the rest of the population, all they care about it turning the key, it starting and driving them to their destination.

However, I wonder what the correlation is between those who say all other platforms or technology is crap and those who are profiting from selling an alternative way of managing the same thing but which needs them to invoice you every month for retuning an engine that doesn't need retuning.

 

[fisicx]

Whilst shopify may remove the need to maintain the technology it wouldn’t fix the problems you have with your site.

And even with shopify you would need to monitor and adjust the content, structure, AdWords, landing pages and so on. This is a continual and constant requirement for any website.

This isn’t tinkering under the bonnet. This is about making sure your business grows. You can’t just fire and forget a website, it needs maintenance. Even shopify.

 

[antropy]

all they care about it turning the key, it starting and driving them to their destination.

Sure, give up all control to another company if you want. But don't complain when they do things you don't like

Paul.

 

[Byzantium]

Sure, give up all control to another company if you want. But don't complain when they do things you don't like

Paul.

Step down from the pulpit a minute and consider that whilst you may be giving up some control to the ogre that is the big company, there is nothing to stop you from moving your website to someone else very quickly if you want.

Getting into bed with Shopify or someone else doesn't mean that you forever forego the option to move to another provider or to a more bespoke arrangement.

Maybe a bit of hand holding is fine for some, perhaps for many.

 

[fisicx]

Actually that’s not correct. Moving your site away from shopify or similar isn’t easy and often impossible.

Once within their grasp you can’t just pull the data and drop it into another platform.

Even moving from your Wordpress site to shopify is a challenge.

Moving between self hosted platforms is a lot simpler.

As I keep saying, your problems aren’t the platform you are using, it’s the site itself.

 

[LPB 123]

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