Card payments. Online card payments are processed by Stripe. A Provider that accepts online payments for bookings, packages or e-shop orders must have a Stripe Connect payment account that Stripe has activated; Stripe verifies the Provider's identity and business details itself. These payments are made directly to the Provider's Stripe account: the Provider is the merchant of the payment, and Stripe pays the money out to the Provider's bank account on Stripe's own schedule. Through Stripe, HobbyDetective receives only the service fee and, on e-shop orders, its commission. Stripe's processing fees are charged to the Provider's Stripe account and are calculated by Stripe on the whole amount charged, including the service fee and any registration fee. Disputes and chargebacks are handled by the Provider through its Stripe account. Payment-processing services for Providers are provided by Stripe and are subject to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, which includes the Stripe Services Agreement; by accepting card payments through the Platform, the Provider agrees to be bound by those terms, as modified by Stripe from time to time, undertakes to give us accurate and complete information about itself and its business, and authorises us to share that information and its transaction data with Stripe for the payment service. We do not store complete card details.

Service fee. On every online card payment made through the Platform — bookings, package purchases (and every automatic package renewal) and e-shop orders — the Customer pays, on top of the price, a “Service fee” of 5% of the amount of the payment, capped at €2 per payment. The fee is calculated on the amount paid by card, including any registration fee; on e-shop orders it is calculated on the value of the goods after any discount or coupon, excluding delivery, and in an order with products from several Providers the fee and its cap are calculated separately for each. The service fee includes VAT, is collected by HobbyDetective for the use of the Platform, is not part of the Provider's price and is always shown as a separate line before the payment is completed. An auto-renewing package keeps, on each renewal, the service fee shown when it was bought. When part or all of a payment is refunded through the Platform, the same share of the service fee is refunded to the Customer with it. Where a Provider makes a refund directly through Stripe, the amount refunded is set by the Provider and the corresponding share of the service fee is returned to the Provider.

Payments outside the Platform. Payments in cash, by card at the Provider's premises, by IRIS or by bank transfer are made directly to the Provider, are not processed by HobbyDetective and remain the parties' responsibility. They can be chosen at checkout only for Providers on a plan that includes them and only where the Provider has enabled them; auto-renewing packages are payable by card only, and e-shop orders may be settled outside the Platform only by IRIS or bank transfer. Where IRIS or bank transfer is chosen, the Platform shows the Provider's account details only to the Customer who has completed the booking, purchase or order, and allows that Customer to report that they have sent the amount. That report is a statement by the Customer and is not proof or confirmation of payment: HobbyDetective does not collect, hold or verify the money, and the booking, package or order remains unpaid until the Provider confirms receipt. For bookings and e-shop orders the Provider sets a deadline for sending the money, which is shown to the Customer and, for bookings, never falls after the start of the session; if it passes without the Customer having reported sending the money, the booking or order may be cancelled automatically and the place or reserved stock released. A booking or order whose payment the Customer has reported is not cancelled automatically; it stays pending until the Provider confirms receipt or the matter is settled between them. A package purchased this way has no deadline: it remains pending, and cannot be used, until the Provider confirms receipt or the Customer withdraws the purchase. Refunds of money paid outside the Platform are governed by the Provider's cancellation policy and are made by the Provider; HobbyDetective cannot refund amounts it never received. The service fee applies only to card payments processed through the Platform and is not charged on payments made outside it. Providers are responsible for their taxes, invoices and accounting obligations, including the documents they issue to Customers.

Provider platform fees. Current subscription prices and commission rates are shown on the Premium page and in the provider panel; commission rates include VAT. The commission on bookings and packages is not deducted from the Customer's payment. For every booking (including any balance of a booking of which only part was paid online), package sale and package renewal that is paid — through the Platform, or by an offline method that the Provider records in the Platform as received — HobbyDetective charges the Provider a separate platform fee at the booking commission rate of the Provider's plan when the payment is settled (for offline payments, when the Provider records it), calculated on the amount the Customer paid for the booking or package, excluding the Customer's service fee and any registration fee, which carries no commission. Sessions paid with package credits and free bookings are not charged. The Provider is notified of each fee and pays it to HobbyDetective within the period shown (currently 14 days), from the “Platform fees” page of the provider panel, by card, IRIS or bank transfer; a payment by IRIS or bank transfer counts as made once HobbyDetective confirms receipt. If the Customer is refunded through the Platform, an unpaid fee is reduced accordingly and a fee already paid becomes a credit against later fees; for money received outside the Platform, the fee is adjusted when the Provider records in the Platform that the payment was returned. Unpaid fees remain owed to HobbyDetective. Package subscriptions bought before separate platform-fee billing was introduced continue to have the commission withheld from each renewal payment, at the rate that applied when they were bought. Commission on e-shop orders paid by card is withheld from the payment through Stripe, at the rate of the seller's plan when the order is placed, on the value of the goods after discounts and excluding delivery, and is returned in proportion when the order is refunded; e-shop orders settled by IRIS or bank transfer carry neither commission nor the service fee.

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