Credit card processing for adult toy websites
Are you trying to sell adult sex toys on your company’s website but need to find credit card processing that works with your website’s existing shopping cart? Tower Payments can help.
To accept credit cards on your adult toy – or sex toy – website, you will need the right payment gateway and high-risk merchant account. Unfortunately, finding sex-toy-friendly high-risk credit card processing with fair terms and honest pricing is challenging even when you are familiar with the territory. This is especially true when you have a specific shopping cart like Shopify, Wix, or WooCommerce in mind to integrate with your adult toy credit card processing.
With more than 20 years of industry experience behind Tower Payments, we have deep expertise in high-risk e-commerce merchant accounts, online payment gateways, and high-risk shopping cart compatibility.
So, if you’re ready to launch your adult toy site, please click Start at the bottom of this page, and we will get to work for you!
Questions about sex toy credit card processing?
We’re happy to talk to you about your business and help you set up credit card processing. We will answer your questions, provide pricing in writing, and even assist with shopping card integration one-on-one. We sometimes find that a brief, no-pressure conversation allows us to explain a credit card processing integration that works with your adult sex toys and the shopping cart of your choice.
If you’re still looking for more information, below we’ve brought together some insights from our years of experience helping adult toy website owners thrive.
Do Shopify Payments, PayPal, or Stripe allow adult toys?
Shopify Payments, Stripe, and PayPal allow some sex toy websites and prohibit others from using their services. Unfortunately, it depends, and that is the problem. Many business owners find themselves in the terrible position of losing their payment gateway without notice due to violating allowed-use policies. Worse yet, many businesses have had their money held and their payment processing accounts shut down. If this has happened to you – let us help. Click the Start arrow at the bottom of this page to begin.
Why do Shopify Payments, Stripe, and PayPal prohibit some sex toys?
Unfortunately, most businesses that provide products or services that are sexual in nature are considered high-risk by most big processors, banks, and aggregators.
Like PayPal, Stripe, Shopify Payments, and WooCommerce Payments, most online credit card processors have allowed-use policies either refusing their services to adult merchants altogether or restricting sales significantly enough to cause an adult toy site website owner real concern.
For example, PayPal mentions that “certain sexually oriented materials or services” are prohibited. Stripe takes it a step further, stating that “obscene materials are not allowed.” Processors like Shopify Payments and WooCommerce Payments are “Powered by Stripe” and generally follow its terms and prohibitions.
Here are some important questions you must ask yourself. Do you want to trust 100% of your website’s cash flow to Stripe or PayPal’s vaguely worded prohibitions? Are you confident that your adult toy advertising or packaging would not be considered “obscene imagery” by someone deep inside a “big tech” compliance department?
We strongly advise all adult toy merchants to seek out credit card processing specifically catered to and underwritten for their industry. A quick online search of “my credit card processor shut me off” will make it clear that shutdowns, held funds, and unpleasant surprises do happen. Let us help you get set up correctly the first time. Read more about us, or click Start at the bottom of this page to begin.
Why adult toys sites are considered high-risk
The case of adult toy businesses being classed as high-risk is peculiar. Often, they are considered high-risk because of their social connotations. While this is marginally oversimplified, it is accurate to say that more traditional credit card processors deem adult toys along similar lines to more high-risk adult industry niches.
Social impact of adult products and payment processing restrictions
For companies such as PayPal, Stripe, or Square, there is a fair bit of confusion online as to why they shy away from adult toys. Whether it be their shareholders, potential financial risks associated with a slightly elevated chargeback risk, or whether it is prohibited because they can’t reconcile the industry with their brand, the motivations seem thin. But, regardless of the reason, the fact is that most large merchant account providers either vaguely or explicitly prohibit the adult toys business. Luckily, we can help.
How to reduce chargebacks on your adult toy website
Chargebacks are a major concern for any online business, but they are particularly prevalent in the adult toy industry. Chargebacks occur when a customer disputes a transaction with their credit card company, and the funds are returned to them, leaving the merchant without payment for the sale. Chargebacks can be costly for businesses, resulting in lost revenue, fees, and even account termination.
To reduce chargebacks for your adult toy website, it is important to have clear and accurate product descriptions, provide excellent customer service, and have a clear refund policy. It is also important to be vigilant about fraudulent purchases and to use a reliable fraud detection system.
At Tower Payments, we understand the unique challenges faced by adult toy businesses, and we offer high-risk credit card processing solutions that can help reduce chargebacks. We can offer top-of-the-line fraud detection systems and chargeback management tools to help you stay on top of any potential issues.
If you are an adult toy website owner looking to reduce chargebacks and improve your payment processing, contact us today to learn more about our high-risk credit card processing solutions. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate the complex world of high-risk credit card processing and find a solution that works for your business.
More on chargeback rates and adult toys
Unfortunately, there are still remnants of embarrassment or caution involved for many people when purchasing sex toys. There may even be a lingering social stigma working against your adult toy products. Buyers might deny having purchased their credit card company, even though they intentionally made the purchase. Whatever the motivation, there is a relatively higher chance of chargebacks for adult toys and products. High chargeback rates are one of the most common reasons why any industry is determined to be high-risk.
Age restrictions and legal gray areas for online sex toys
Sex toys have far fewer restrictions than other adult industry niches. Most notably, a sex toy business does not need to formally register as an adult business with Visa and MasterCard – unlike a true adult website. This does not mean there are no restrictions or regulatory concerns.
There are multiple laws in place for adult-oriented products. Unfortunately, local governments often establish these regulations, which can make the adult toy industry hard to navigate.
With state and local laws in mind, plus the addition of age restrictions, the risks involved are considerable enough for major credit cards and banks to deem the adult toy industry high-risk. In reality, though – many industries are far more regulated than online sex toys – yet have fewer challenges accepting credit cards online. Regardless, seeking a qualified attorney’s advice is ALWAYS the best practice when selling adult-themed products online.
What shopping carts work with adult toy payment gateways?
Even with the restrictions and hurdles we’ve just discussed – chargebacks, legal gray areas, and hesitant merchant service providers, there are still plenty of alternative credit card processing solutions that work perfectly for online adult toy businesses. We’ll help your sex toy business choose the payment gateway and merchant account that works best for you.
If needed, we’ll provide you with quick tips for website platforms and shopping cart solutions that we know from experience will work for adult toy credit card integrations.
Below, we look at full-service e-commerce platforms, as many prefer a more robust solution. Additionally, we’ll quickly outline our favorite open-source solution. Open-source setups are more flexible and offer a greater range of freedom when creating your adult toy e-commerce store. For those with some website experience or support, we generally recommend an open-source solution like WooCommerce/WordPress.
Complete e-commerce platforms that work for adult toy sales
When it comes to complete e-commerce platforms for adult toys, two are the most popular. If you’ve been selling high-risk products for a while, you’re likely to have come across these brands. The two we have in mind are Shopify and BigCommerce.
Shopify high-risk credit card processing for adult toys
Shopify makes it very easy to get a great-looking e-commerce site set up with little to no coding experience. However, as an adult toy business, you may need a specialized processing setup. Unfortunately, Shopify’s out-of-the-box payment system, Shopify Payments, isn’t always ideal for your business type. So, of course, we strongly recommend double-checking their terms and conditions for yourself.
At Tower Payments, we offer adult toy credit card processing services that integrate smoothly with Shopify. With our fair, honest processing costs and up-front, clear terms combined with the ease of use and fantastic features of Shopify – your adult toys website will be in great hands.
Please see our dedicated article on how to process credit cards for adult toys with Shopify if you’d like to know more. If you’d like to get started now, click Start at the bottom of this page. We look forward to helping your business grow!
BigCommerce high-risk credit card processing for adult toys
BigCommerce is similar to Shopify in many ways. It offers an all-in-one, hosted solution in addition to numerous extensions and add-ons that support sales tax calculation, shipping, fulfillment, and accounting.
One area where BigCommerce shines is its wide-open integration with high-risk payment gateways. Few complete solutions offer BigCommerce’s flexibility. You can read our BigCommerce adult toy payment processing page to learn more.
WooCommerce credit card processing for adult toys
While many great shopping carts and e-commerce platforms work for a wide range of high-risk businesses, some are more suited to specific business types than others.
As we mentioned, Shopify is an excellent solution for adult toy sales. However, you might prefer an open-source solution like WordPress with the WooCommerce plugin. The good news is that WooCommerce is a great open-source platform that integrates perfectly with Tower Payment’s high-risk credit card processing for adult toys.
The WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is a great way to process credit cards for online adult toy sales. Both WooCommerce and WordPress are built on an open-source foundation. This means that you’re basically free to use the software as you see fit – within reason. There’s simply less red tape when you choose WooCommerce and WordPress.
If you’re ready to start processing high-risk payments for your adult toys through WordPress and WooCommerce, get in touch with us today. We look forward to making receiving online payments the last thing you need to worry about.
Is it a good time to sell adult toys online?
Yes. Adult toys have become far more accepted over the years. Only until recently, items made for this purpose could not be marketed as such. Often sex toys were sold under the guise of facial massagers or vaguely labeled as beauty products.
The sex toy industry has boomed dramatically over the last two decades. The social connotations attached to any adult industry make the sector “high-risk” in terms of payments. However, there are excellent credit card processing options out there. We can help you start accepting payments for your various adult toy products through our “sex toy recommended” high-risk merchant accounts. We will be able to provide you with insight and expertise. Allowing you to accept credit cards on your adult toy e-commerce site – with confidence – is our #1 goal.
You need high-risk credit card processing for an adult toy website
High-risk merchant accounts allow you to accept and process credit card payments for your adult toy products with less fear of an unexpected, unfair shutdown due to your industry type. If you’re setting up your adult toy online store, finding high-risk credit card processing with clear, fair rates can be very challenging. At Tower Payments, we specialize in credit card processing for adult toy websites.
We can help your sex toy site accept credit cards
Over the years, Tower Payments has helped thousands of high-risk businesses get their payment processing up and running. Our expertise is in credit card processing for high-risk industries. With Tower, you will partner with a team familiar with the high-risk finance environment and who also cares about your business.
High-risk credit card processing is what we do. Click the Start arrow below to begin.