Payments on Artful Gallery go through Stripe. AG uses three Stripe accounts (UK, US, DE) routed by your country of residence. Card details are stored only in Stripe — never on AG servers.
Three Stripe branches
- UK Stripe — UK + most "Rest of World" customers. Currency: GBP.
- US Stripe — North/South America (US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, etc.). Currency: USD.
- DE Stripe — EU + Switzerland, Norway, Iceland. Currency: EUR.
Your Country of Residence (set in its card in Settings) determines which branch processes your payment; the Billing Country card sets the currency you're charged in. Changing residency between orders may invalidate your saved card on the previous branch — see How to manage saved cards.
Payment flow
- Checkout — you enter card details (or pick saved card).
- Stripe creates a PaymentIntent scoped to the right branch.
- 3D Secure if needed — Stripe Elements handles SCA / 3DS challenges inline.
- Capture — once authorised, the payment is captured immediately.
- Webhook — AG receives a Stripe webhook confirming success.
- Order activation — the order moves from
embryonictonewstatus, kicking off production.
API order payments
If you're using the AG public API (/v1/orders), payments use your saved card (per How to manage saved cards). API orders fail if no card is on file.
API orders go through the same Stripe branches and use Idempotency-Keys to deduplicate retries safely.
Currency conversion
AG charges in the currency of your residency-driven branch — no FX conversion at checkout. If your card is in a different currency, your bank handles the conversion (and may add a fee).
Refunds
Refunds are issued to the original card. To request a refund:
- Contact AG support via the order's Contact Support button (Orders page).
- Pick the appropriate category (cancellation, damage, item lost, etc.).
- Support reviews and processes the refund through the same Stripe branch.
Refund timing depends on your card issuer — typically 5–10 business days.
Saved cards
A saved card is bound to one Stripe branch. Changing residency invalidates the saved card; you'll need to re-add it on the new branch.
To save a card without placing an order, use Settings → Saved Card → Add card which runs a Stripe SetupIntent (off-session) — no charge, just authorisation.
What's NOT charged at checkout
- Print credit — applied first, reducing the amount charged to your card.
- Discounts / promo codes — applied first, then the residual goes to card.
If your credit + discounts cover the full order, no card charge happens.