MVP: Manual charges with Stripe?
I have a service that I hope to build out as a proper SaaS product, but in order to get feedback quickly I'm looking to simulate the service via email initially. I've signed up for Stripe, and was hoping to create transactions manually while in the MVP stage, and then migrate to
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Go for PayPal at this stage. It has links, buttons, invoices as manual charge options that work well, are highly customizable and can fit well into any flow.
Create a manual invoice in Stripe and send them a link to it. Each invoice will have a special link. They’ll be able to add a payment method, all hosted by Stripe. No need to take that info over phone/email.
@narthur Alternatively, you can use Wave accounting (free accounting software), which includes a Stripe integration. I use this for the occasional one-off invoices. It also helps to keep track of your cash flow (important for tax time).
PayPal is easier for this. Just do an invoice. You don't even need a live site, just an email address.
Are you planning on taking their credit card info manually?
If you want to you can setup a stripe form (https://stripe.com/docs/payments/checkout/client) and enter their credit card info in for them manually. That seems like a pain in the butt for both you and the customer. Why not just create the Stripe checkout form, generate the link and send it to them manually for them to enter?
Yeah, that's what I went with. I'm charging $1 for people to join the alpha, at which point Stripe has their payment details so presumably I can create new charges later.
Thanks for helping me think through this!
No problem!