SalesThumb connects payments directly (a "Standard" merchant model). What that means in practice: each shop has its own payout account (see How to connect payments to your SalesThumb shop if you haven't set this up yet), payouts go directly to your bank on your processor's standard schedule (details in Payments — payouts, fees, and disputes), and SalesThumb never touches your money.
How it differs from "merchant of record" SaaS
Some shop-management tools act as the merchant of record — your customers pay them, and they remit to you weekly. That model has issues: - You don't have direct dashboard access to your own payments - Payouts are weekly (or worse), not daily - If the vendor goes down, your payments freeze - If you ever leave, getting your data + account back is messy
Our model is the opposite. You own the payout account. You get all the standard dashboard tools (refunds, disputes, payouts, analytics). SalesThumb just hands the payment flow to your account.
What we do on your behalf
- Create a checkout link tied to your account on quote acceptance
- Pull a deposit at booking time
- Generate an invoice link with your branding
- Trigger refunds on your behalf when an operator approves one in SalesThumb (see Refund and customer credit handling)
- Sync payment status back to the customer record
What we don't do
- Hold your money
- Change your deposit timing — that's set by your processor, not a SalesThumb toggle
- See your other transactions (we only have scoped access to the ones we created)
- Bill you a separate platform fee — SalesThumb's cut is bundled into your all-in processing rate, not billed as a second line item
If you ever leave
Your payout account stays with you 100% intact. Customer payment history, payout records, dispute resolution — all of it. Disconnect SalesThumb in Settings → Integrations and we lose access immediately.