Why would a player's payment fail?
A player's payment might fail due to:
Insufficient funds
Expired card
Bank declines
Other payment processing errors
Players are automatically notified via email when a payment fails. ✉️
What happens after a failed payment?
When a payment fails:
Players receive an automated email with a link to update their payment method.
If successful, you’ll get paid normally after the retried payment.
How do I know if my player's payment failed?
If a player's payment fails, you will receive 2 notifications:
An automated email
A notification on StartPlaying
You will also know if a payment has failed if it has a red Failed icon on your Payouts page.
Can I search for multiple failed payments at once?
Game Masters (GMs) can filter their Transactions for Failed Transactions.
Filtering this way will show you all past failed transactions, and does not separate out the transactions that the player has updated.
What should I do if my player's payment failed?
If a player's payment fails:
Reach out to your player to let them know the payment didn't go through.
Using language like:
“Hey! It looks like your payment for our last session didn’t go through. No worries, it happens! You can update your payment method here and StartPlaying will retry the payment for you.”
Waiting 24 hours for your player to pay
💡 Tip: Keeping it polite and helpful helps preserve your player relationships.
What if my player doesn't respond?
If you have waited 24 hours and your player has not repaid you, please email support@startplayinggames.com.
Let us know:
The name of the player
The name of the Adventure
The date of the session
Any other information you think might be important (ex: context, screenshots, etc.)
If we determine that the player has been defrauding you or other GMs on the site, we will help you with the cost of that 1 session.
❗ Note: If you allow your player to stay in the game and they continue to rack up debt in your game from session costs, we will not cover those. We will only cover that 1st session's cost.
It is your responsibility to notify us as soon as possible so we can fix the situation.
Can I refund my player's failed payment?
GMs are not able to refund or remove a player's failed payment.
This is because technically no money has been received by you, the GM.
But, good news - the Support Goblins can remove that payment for you! ✨
Email support@startplayinggames.com and we can remove a failed payment for your player.
Be sure to let us know:
The name of the player
The name of the Adventure
The date of the session
If my player has an issue with their card on StartPlaying, can they just repay me off-site?
No, do not have your players pay you off site.
Taking payment off site is a violation of our Terms of Service, and may be grounds for removal from StartPlaying:
Do not request, make, advertise or accept a booking or any payment outside of the StartPlaying Platform to avoid paying fees, taxes or for any other reason. This includes taking payment via Paypal, Venmo, Cashapp, or any other service from users who came from StartPlaying website, app, discord server, and/or engage with a game, part of split tables, messaged, or discovered you on StartPlaying.
If your player is having trouble with their card, please have them email us at support@startplayinggames.com.