Understanding Payment Fees
How payment processing fees work in Gilded, who pays them, and how to keep them low.
Your client pays exactly what you quoted — no markup, no added line items. Stripe's processing fee comes out of your side, and Gilded never takes a platform cut, on any plan. Quote $3,000 and your client is charged $3,000.
How Fees Work
Stripe charges a processing fee based on how your client pays. It is deducted from the payout, so what reaches your bank is the payment minus the fee:
- Card: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
- ACH bank transfer: 0.8% per transaction, capped at $5.00
- Zelle or Venmo: no Stripe fee — the money never touches Stripe (your own account may charge; see below)
What This Costs You
The gap between card and bank transfer is large, and it grows with the payment:
| Payment | Method | Client Pays | Fee | You Receive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,500 | Card | $1,500.00 | $43.80 | $1,456.20 |
| $1,500 | Bank transfer | $1,500.00 | $5.00 | $1,495.00 |
| $3,000 | Card | $3,000.00 | $87.30 | $2,912.70 |
| $3,000 | Bank transfer | $3,000.00 | $5.00 | $2,995.00 |
| $5,000 | Card | $5,000.00 | $145.30 | $4,854.70 |
| $5,000 | Bank transfer | $5,000.00 | $5.00 | $4,995.00 |
On a $9,000 wedding split into three payments, that is roughly $261 by card against $15 by bank transfer.
Keeping Fees Low
The single best thing you can do is steer clients toward bank transfer. It is offered alongside card on every payment page, costs your client nothing extra, and saves you the difference above. A line in your agreement's payment terms — "bank transfer preferred" — does most of the work.
If you have set up Zelle or Venmo in Settings → Payments, those appear on the payment page too, and no Stripe or Gilded fee applies — the money never passes through either. Do check your own account, though: Venmo charges on payments to a business profile, and some banks charge for Zelle on a business account. You confirm receipt yourself once the money arrives.
What Your Client Sees
One number, whichever method they choose — nothing for them to question, and no reason for them to weigh one option against another on price.
Next Steps
Head back to Requesting Payments to learn how to send payment requests, or revisit Setting Up Payments if you have not set one up yet.