What is a payment link?

1. You create the link with a payment provider, entering the amount and a description.
2. You send it to the customer in a chat, text or email.
3. The customer opens it and pays on the provider's page.
4. The provider confirms the payment and later sends the money to your account, usually after fees.

Providers that offer hosted payment pages or links include Stripe and PayPal, and regional ones such as WiPay in Trinidad and Tobago and DimePay for Jamaica. Which one suits you depends on your country and bank, so check each provider's current terms and fees.

A gift shop gets a message asking for two hampers at $42.50 each for a customer who cannot come in. The owner creates a link for $85.00, sends it, and the customer pays that afternoon. If the provider charges a fee of 3 percent, that is $2.55, so the shop receives about $82.45. The owner should price with the fee in mind, or the margin shrinks.

• Ignoring fees. Check the provider's percentage and any fixed charge.
• Delivering before confirmation. Wait for the provider's confirmation, not only the customer's word.
• Reusing a link. Create one link per order, so you can tell payments apart.
• Forgetting the record. The sale still needs to be written in your books.

Shopkeepa does not create or process payment links. When a customer pays this way, you record the sale and choose the matching payment type, such as card or other, in the point of sale. Shopkeepa is pre-launch.