Storefront uses a number of methods to ensure an order is created only after a successful payment.

If you see an order on your View Orders page, rest assured that payment was successfully received from your customer (even if they attempted to pay before and were declined for any reason).

Curious about how Storefront validates credit card payments? Here's the process:

• Every time your customer makes a change to the checkout page (adds a person to a SKU, applied a discount, etc), the Storefront will automatically validate their order. They'll see a live total and payment button on the bottom left of the page if the order is valid, or an error message if it is not. For example, an invalid order might be one where no people are selected, one where discounts exceed the purchase price, or where the purchase is below our $15 minimum purchase amount.
• When your customer clicks the payment button, they'll be asked for their credit card details. After they enter their details and click payment again, Storefront will attempt to validate the payment method and amount. This is the most common time for a payment to be rejected.
• After your customer's card details and payment are validated, Storefront will receive their details and attempt to process payment. In very rare cases, a card may be validated, but a few seconds later become invalid due to the card issuing bank "changing their mind" about the transaction. This can happen if the card issuing bank feels that the charge may be fraudulent (e.g. stolen card), or if the card has exceeded its credit limit.
• Only after a payment has been confirmed to have been processed, your customer's order is saved.

There are many reasons a card or payment might be declined. Here is an explanation from Stripe (Storefront's payment processor):

"Declines can happen for a variety of reasons. When we submit a charge to your customer’s bank, they have automated systems that determine whether or not to accept the charge. These systems take various signals into account, such as your customer’s spending habits, account balance, and card information like the expiration date and CVC.

Since these signals are constantly changing, a previously successful card might be declined in the future. Even if all of the card information is correct, and your customer previously had a successful payment, a future charge can still be declined by a bank’s overzealous fraud systems."

If you have any questions about your Storefront rejecting a specific payment, please get in touch with us!