Stripe is for software companies. You have a counter.
Stripe is a phenomenal developer platform. If you're building an app, use it. But say you run a shop, a cafe or a service business. Then you pay a developer-platform premium. And most of your payments happen in person.
Compare against my real numbersWhere Stripe shines
Developer tooling
The best payment APIs in the industry, full stop. Custom software belongs on Stripe.
Online-first features
Subscriptions. Marketplaces. Payments all over the world. Stripe built all of it for online business.
Where the broker wins
In-person rates for in-person sales
Card-present sales cost the networks less. A proper merchant account prices them that way. Stripe's flagship rate treats most volume like e-commerce.
Counter hardware that belongs there
Real terminals and POS systems, put in by someone local. Not a reader bolted onto a laptop.
A managed fee program at your counter
Surcharging exists on Stripe in some states, but it is a do-it-yourself setup. We build dual pricing or surcharging at your counter, keep it compliant, and train your staff. That is where your fees go away.
Someone to call
Stripe support leads with email and is built for developers. Ours is a person in Federal Way.
Building software? Use Stripe. Running a business with a door? Get in-person pricing for in-person sales.
Compare your next step
- Ways to lower your processing fees
What a broker changes that a flat-rate app does not.
- Interchange-plus pricing
It makes the markup visible for in-person card sales.
- What our clients say
Real Seattle-Tacoma businesses we work with.
- Get a free rate analysis
See your real numbers before you decide anything.
Fair questions
We use Stripe online and a register in-store. Is that wrong?
It's common and fixable: keep Stripe where it shines if you like, and put the counter volume on card-present pricing. We'll show the split math.
Can you match what Stripe does online?
For standard online selling, yes. We use proper gateways at a cost we negotiate. For custom software platforms, Stripe is genuinely the right tool. We'll say so.
Is Stripe's pricing negotiable?
At very large volume, somewhat. A normal local business just takes the listed rate. Merchant accounts work the other way. You can bargain them down at exactly the volumes where Stripe can't.
How disruptive is moving the in-store side?
A terminal swap and an afternoon. Your online stack doesn't have to change at all.