Guide · Own-site sellers
Selling off-platform: the real cost of taking cards yourself
Run your own paid site and you become a "high-risk merchant", which is a formal card-network category with its own processors, its own fees and its own paperwork. Three companies handle adult businesses credibly. This is what they charge.
Verdict
Most first-time off-platform sellers should start with Segpay for its fast onboarding, or CCBill if you want the industry's most established name and openly published rate tiers. Verotel suits EU-facing businesses. Budget 10–15% of revenue plus an annual registration fee. If that math doesn't work for you, staying on-platform at 20% with zero admin is a perfectly good answer.
| Processor | Transaction rate | Annual / fixed fees | Reserve | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCBill | 10.8% – 14.5% (adult tiers, volume-based) | US$1,000/yr high-risk registration (US$500 for dating) | Varies by account | Industry default since 1998; publishes rate tiers openly — rare in this market. |
| Segpay | ~4% – 15% + per-transaction fee (risk/volume dependent) | US$950/yr Visa + US$500/yr Mastercard registration | Varies by account | Payment-facilitator model; fastest approvals (days after KYC). US/EU licensed. |
| Verotel | 15.5% (Basic) · 13–14% (Premium, volume-based) | €500/yr (Basic) · Premium requires ≥€1,000/week processing | 10% rolling, held 6 months (Basic) | Dutch EMI licence; publishes rates; operating since 1998. |
Why 10–15% when Stripe charges 3%?
Because Stripe won't take you (it's in writing), and the companies that will are carrying costs Stripe refuses to touch. Visa's Integrity Risk Program charges roughly US$950 per high-risk merchant per year. Both card networks run chargeback-ratio programs with escalating fines, and adult merchants generate more disputes than average. The premium isn't gouging. It's what the risk actually costs. And treat any offer of "adult processing at 5% flat, no reserve, instant approval" as the scam it usually is.
The terms that actually hurt (read these before the rate)
- Rolling reserve: a slice of revenue (Verotel Basic: 10%) held back as a chargeback buffer, often for six months. It's still your money, just later. Plan cash flow around it.
- Chargeback thresholds: stay under the card networks' dispute ratios or face fines and termination. Clear content descriptions, recognisable billing descriptors and fast refunds are cheaper than disputes.
- Payout schedule and minimums: weekly or fortnightly is typical; check wire fees to Australian accounts.
- Content compliance: expect age-verification (2257-style records), model releases, and content rules from the processor itself, not just the platform. This paperwork is a condition of keeping the account.
Should you sell off-platform at all?
Do the sums first. Off-platform you keep roughly 85–89% of revenue, minus the fixed fees and your own admin time. On-platform you keep 80% and do nothing. Off-platform only wins when you already own an audience that clicks your links, and enough volume that the fixed costs stop mattering. As a rough line: under about US$2,000 a month off-platform, the registration fees, reserve drag and admin time eat the fee difference, so stay on-platform and revisit later. Above it, the independence starts being worth real money. No platform can ban you, the customer list is yours, and you set your own prices.
Changelog
- — First published. Rates and fees verified against published pricing and industry sources; marked where providers negotiate case-by-case.