This is the question almost no crowdfunding app answers honestly, so we will. Fundcap uses the charge-now model: your buyers pay at checkout, and if the campaign misses its goal you refund them. The refund itself is free to issue. The processing fee on the original charge usually is not returned to you.
Why the fee is not returned
When a customer pays, the payment provider takes a processing fee, commonly around 2.9% plus a fixed amount per transaction. On many providers, including Shopify Payments in a lot of regions, refunding the order returns the customer's money but does not return that processing fee to you. The provider already did the work of moving the money, so they keep their cut.
What that costs, with real numbers
Say a campaign collects $4,000 across 80 orders and then misses its goal. You refund all $4,000 to your backers. If the processing fee was roughly 3%, you are out about $120 in fees you cannot recover. That is the true cost of a failed all-or-nothing campaign under this model.
Is that a reason not to run one?
Usually not. Around 3% of a campaign that failed is a cheap price for finding out there was not enough demand before you spent money on inventory. Compare it to a Kickstarter-style platform that takes 5% to 10% of the money on a campaign that succeeds. But it is your money, so you should know about it going in, not discover it in a one-star moment later.
How to check your exact fee
- Look up your payment provider's refund policy for your country. Search for "does [provider] refund processing fees."
- In Shopify, the fee on each order is visible in the order's timeline and in your payouts.
- If keeping fees on failed campaigns matters a lot to you, a deposit or partial-payment model (coming to Fundcap) reduces the amount at risk, because you charge less upfront.
Fundcap shows this same warning inside the app before you run a failed-campaign refund. We would rather you trust us than be surprised.