Hey, I’m Kayla. I run a small indie studio and a classy toy shop. Nothing wild. Just tasteful content, live workshops, and a few subscriptions. And yes, I take payments online. That part was harder than it should be.
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You know what? I learned the hard way that not all payment companies want adult. Stripe and PayPal smiled, then froze my funds. Twice. That felt awful. So I went looking for adult-friendly merchant account help. I tried a few. I kept notes. Here’s what happened.
What I Sell (So You Get The Picture)
- Subscriptions: $14 and $29 monthly
- One-off sales: $19–$79, mostly toys and digital bundles
- Audience: mostly US, some EU
- Volume: about $25k–$60k per month, pretty steady, with weekend spikes
Nothing huge. But enough to trigger risk rules if a team isn’t ready for adult.
What Didn’t Work First
I started with Stripe. It ran fine for three weeks. Then a bot hit my site, I got a few friendly fraud claims, and boom—account closed. Funds held for 90 days. I had orders in limbo, support tickets stacked up, and a pretty sad coffee.
So I went adult-friendly. Three names kept coming up: CCBill, PaymentCloud, and Segpay. I used all three, for different jobs. Here’s my lived take.
CCBill — The “Safe Starter” That Just… Works
CCBill was my first adult-friendly setup. They know the space. Their team asked for real things, like:
- Age and content policy
- Refund rules (mine is 7 days on digital, 30 on physical, unopened)
- Proof all models are 18+
- Clear terms on every checkout page
Onboarding took 9 days for me. Not fast, not slow. I made coffee and scanned a lot of PDFs.
My rate with them was higher than I wanted. Think “ouch but fair for adult.” Payouts were weekly. They held a small reserve on top. I expected that.
But the good parts? Strong. Their FlexForms checkout lifted my sub sign-ups by around 8% the first month. People liked the simple upsell flow. When a Saturday night traffic spike hit (thanks, a tiny TikTok), their fraud filter blocked a wave of junk orders, and I only had two chargebacks that week, not ten. That saved me fees and gray hair.
The rough edges: the hosted pages felt old-school, and I had less control over design. The CCBill brand shows up, which some buyers don’t love. And the fee stack adds up if you run low prices.
Would I use it again? Yes—for fast, steady subs and a clean start.
PaymentCloud — My Main Merchant Account (Lower Fees, More Control)
A bit later, I wanted my own merchant account with a gateway. That’s where PaymentCloud helped. They’re a high-risk provider, and they placed me with a bank that allows adult. I used the NMI gateway with their setup.
Onboarding was heavier than CCBill. They asked for everything and then some:
- Fulfillment plan for toys (tracking numbers, packaging photos, the whole thing)
- Clear proof of content rights
- A chargeback plan (I added 3D Secure, AVS, and Ethoca alerts)
It took 12 business days to go live. Rates dropped though. Mine went to 5.2% + $0.25 per sale, with a 10% rolling reserve for the first six months. Funding came in about two days after batch close. That felt good.
Real moment: one Monday, my orders doubled after a collab stream. My MID hit velocity limits and a block kicked in on new sales. I messaged my rep, Jen, and she raised the limits in 30 minutes. Sales picked back up before lunch. I breathed again.
I like PaymentCloud for control. I can brand the checkout, test price points, and run my own dunning emails. My chargeback rate sits under 0.6% now. Before, it hovered near 1%. That’s the line most banks watch.
The trade-offs: you must keep clean records. Refund fast. Ship fast. Answer tickets. Adult is high-risk. If you treat it loose, your account will feel it.
If you want the no-filter, day-by-day notes from that whole testing marathon, I turned them into a full case study you can skim any time.
Segpay — My EU Helper (Surprisingly Handy)
I added Segpay for EU cards. Some folks in Germany and Spain couldn’t pay through my US setup. Segpay handled that better for me.
Setup took about a week. They had solid compliance folks. They also helped with 3D Secure step-up on EU cards, which cut declines right away. My EU approval rate jumped from 71% to 83% in the first month. Not huge, but real money.
Like CCBill, Segpay’s fees run higher than a direct merchant account. But they were super stable, and the team actually answers email. I know that sounds small. In a crunch, it’s not.
The Money Stuff I Wish Someone Told Me
- Expect a reserve. I had 10% held for six months with PaymentCloud. With CCBill and Segpay, there was a hold too. It’s normal.
- Keep chargebacks under 1%. I aim for 0.6% or lower. Use clear receipts, fast refunds, and real product photos.
- Use 3D Secure for EU. Yes, it adds a step. It also saves sales.
- Show clear terms on checkout. Make the cancel button easy to find. It hurts to say, but it helps trust—and churn drops.
- Don’t stack too many small transactions. Banks see that as risky. Batch add-ons or raise the AOV with bundles.
If you ever need a reminder of why secure, ethical payment rails matter, the folks at Pay For Your Porn break it down in plain language.
Little Wins That Mattered
- I switched my $1 trial to $2.50 and added 3D Secure on trials. Trial fraud dropped by half.
- I added a “We bill as [Descriptor]” note next to the pay button. Chargebacks dipped the next month.
- I moved VIP buyers to ACH for big orders. Lower fees. Fewer declines.
- I made my refund policy easy to read. Fewer angry emails. Happier mornings.
Pros And Cons, Plain And Simple
CCBill
- Pros: Fast to launch, great for subs, strong fraud tools
- Cons: Higher fees, dated forms, brand shows on checkout
PaymentCloud (with NMI)
- Pros: Lower fees for me, branded checkout, quick support, stable funding
- Cons: Heavier underwriting, reserve for months, more homework for you
Segpay
- Pros: Solid for EU cards, helpful team, good fraud checks
- Cons: Fees on the higher side, hosted feel
So, What Do I Use Now?
I keep PaymentCloud + NMI as my main lane. I run CCBill for a few legacy subs that still love their flow. Segpay handles EU cards on a separate path. It’s a small stack, but it’s steady. And steady wins.
If you’re just starting, I’d say:
- Need something live fast? CCBill is safe.
- Want lower fees and more control? PaymentCloud is worth the paperwork.
- Selling to the EU a lot? Add Segpay.
This space can be touchy. Still, with clear terms, clean support, and tools that fit adult, you can build something real. I did. And I sleep a lot better now.