How I lost 2,000$ with my first side hustle
End of 2021 I started campaignkit.cc. An Email validation service. I build the first version within a week and put it online. Started some advertisements on Reddit and Twitter. First people started to use it.
Next step: Accept payments for the service
I signed up for a Stripe account and build the integration. I wanted to be different than other services and used metered usage without asking for an upfront payment. You could signup for an account, link your credit card and start using the service. You'd get the first bill based on your usage after 30 days.
So far so good.
I ran a Google Ads campaign and got constant sign-ups which led to my first two or three paying users within a week or two. It was a great feeling! My first paying users! It got even better when I realized that those users are using the service constantly.
After 30 days the first payments were collected. And I got my first small payout. It was an incredibly exciting feeling! A big milestone for me. A further payment failed for the first time but went through on the second try. It was something around 2,000$ based on the usage. I had some doubts about this payment, but since Stripe Radar helps to protect against fraud I trusted that this is all right.
How I was wrong!
The day after I received a dispute about the transaction. I checked the case and started to reach out to the user. Without success. So it looked obvious, that this was a fraud. I accepted the dispute.
Stripe stopped the payouts in the meanwhile. I never received this money in my bank account. At the same time, they withdrew the same amount from my bank account. According to them to cover the dispute. Again, I've never received the payout for this money.
I stayed relaxed, and contacted Stripe support with this case. To my surprise, it ended with the suspension of my account. 7 months later, I still try to get my money back from Stripe without any success.
This is how I lost 2,000$ with my first side hustle thanks to credit card fraud.
👉 I learned a lot from this!
- Ask for upfront payments
- Ask for smaller amounts to reduce risks
- Know your customer (proactively reach out to suspicious accounts)
I changed the model now. You have to buy credits upfront. Also, the maximum amount is capped. I also replaced Stripe with Paddle. Since then I never had cases like this.
Hope this story helps others to learn from my mistakes. And I'm also thankful if someone has some tips on how to get this solved with Stripe.
