Credit limit, platform credit and prepaid balance

Some United Pet Club services are billed as you use them — for example each business you add in Sales & Marketing and each message it sends or receives. These fees go on your platform fees, together with the Commission on bookings you mark as paid in cash. Your account can owe up to its credit limit before we charge your card on file. This limit only covers fees for our services — never your own sales.

Where

Finances → Billing (/dashboard/finances/billing), the Platform fees card, under your card on file. The Credit limit panel sits under your fee summary, one per currency you are billed in. It shows:

Item	What it is
Badge (top right)	where your account stands: Good standing, Retrying payment, Paused — pay what you owe or Prepaid only
Limit	how much you can owe before we charge your card. Set by our team under it means we fixed your limit for you
Owed	what you owe right now. A line such as + $0.30 usage not on your statement yet is today’s usage, which counts already
Prepaid balance	money you added in advance that has not been used yet
Platform credit	credit our team gave you that has not been used yet (only shown when you have some)

How the limit works

1. Fees add up on your account. Usage from today shows under Owed straight away.
2. When what you owe reaches your limit, we charge your card on file for the full amount. You see Fees paid by card on your statement.
3. If you never reach the limit in a month, we charge what you owe on the 1st of the next month, as long as it is at least $10 — smaller amounts carry over, and are still taken from your next payout if one comes first.

Your limit grows with you. Every account starts at $25. After 3 good months in a row it rises to $50, then $100, then $200, the highest. A good month is one where a platform-fee charge went through or you received a payout, and no charge failed. A quiet month doesn’t count either way; a month with a failed charge starts the count again. The panel tells you how far you are: Your limit rises to $50.00 after 2 more good months.

When a charge doesn’t go through

Badge	What happened	What still works	What to do
Good standing	nothing — all is well	everything	nothing
Retrying payment	your last charge was declined, or there was no card	everything. We try your card again 1, 3 and 7 days after the first failure; the panel says when the next try is	Pay … now on the Platform fees card, or replace your card under Finances → Billing before the next try. Paying stops the retries and keeps your limit
Paused — pay what you owe	every retry failed	your booking software and everything free. Paid services stop: adding businesses and sending messages in Sales & Marketing, marking bookings paid in cash, switching on platform video. Replies from businesses still arrive	Pay … now on the Platform fees card (or add prepaid balance, which pays what you owe first). Paid services stay off until everything is paid. Once it is, your account runs on prepaid balance
Prepaid only	you paid what you owed after a pause	paid services, but only while your prepaid balance (or platform credit) covers them. A card on file doesn’t count any more	add prepaid balance (below), or switch on auto top-up. To go back to a normal limit, contact us

We also tell you by email and with a Dashboard notice: Action needed: … in platform fees when a charge fails, Paid services are paused when every retry failed, your account now runs on prepaid balance once you have paid after a pause, and Auto top-up is switched off when an automatic top-up could not be charged.

Platform credit from United Pet Club

Sometimes our team gives a business platform credit — as a promotion, a gift, for testing, or to make up for a problem on our side. When you have some, the Credit limit panel shows Platform credit with the amount left, and a green Platform credit from United Pet Club box lists each credit: its name (Promotional credit, Gift credit, Testing credit, Goodwill credit or Platform credit), what is left of it ($40.00 left of $50.00), the date it runs until (until December 31) and any message from us.

• It pays fees for our services — Sales & Marketing usage, platform video, the Commission on bookings paid in cash or by transfer — before your card or your prepaid balance. You can use those services without a card on file while your credit covers them.
• It does not pay anything you owe from your own sales (refunds, disputes, shipping labels).
• Usage it covers doesn’t count towards your credit limit, so your card isn’t charged for it.
• On your statement each fee it paid shows as Paid with platform credit, next to the fee itself.
• It isn’t paid out or refunded. Credit with an end date lapses if any is left after that day.
• It doesn’t lift a pause: if your account is Paused, pay what you owe first.

Adding prepaid balance

The Prepaid balance card

A business in good standing adds funds, sets up auto top-up and gets refunds on its own Prepaid balance card on the same page: it picks $50, $100, $200 or $500, tops up automatically below $10 and can have unused money refunded to its card. See Prepaid balance. The steps below are how it works on a Prepaid only account.

You can add prepaid balance at any time — you have to on a Prepaid only account.

1. On the Credit limit panel choose Add prepaid balance. (On a Prepaid only account it is already open.)
2. Read the notice Prepaid balance is not refundable: it pays your platform fees as they come due and stays on your account until it is used.
3. Pick $100, $200 or $500, or type any multiple of $100 under Other amount. Another amount shows Prepaid balance is added in multiples of $100.00.
4. Choose Add $100.00 prepaid balance (the button shows your amount), enter your card in the secure form and confirm with Pay $100.00 — not refundable.
5. You see Confirming your payment…, then Prepaid balance added — thank you. It shows here in a moment.

Auto top-up

Under Add prepaid balance is the Auto top-up switch. With it on, whenever your prepaid balance (less what you already owe) drops below $20, we charge your card on file $100 and add it to your prepaid balance. The panel says On: when your prepaid balance drops below $20.00 we charge your card on file $100.00 (not refundable).

• You need a card on file to switch it on (Add a card on file to switch on auto top-up …). If your balance is already low, the first $100 is added right away.
• It works in good standing too — handy if you’d rather pay ahead than be charged when you reach your limit.
• If a top-up is declined or your card is gone, auto top-up switches itself off and the panel says so: Auto top-up was switched off because your card was declined. Fix your card under Finances → Billing, then switch it on again.
• Switch it off at any time. Prepaid balance already added stays (and is not refundable).

How prepaid balance is used. It pays what you owe first, the moment it arrives, and then each new fee as it is added — before your card is charged. On your statement it shows as Paid from prepaid balance.

Prepaid balance is never refunded

Prepaid balance can only pay United Pet Club platform fees. It is not refundable, it can’t be moved to another account, and it is never paid out with your earnings — even if you stop using the services. Add only what you expect to use.

Paying now

Pay … now on the Platform fees card pays everything you owe in that currency with your card, and saves the card for the next month-end charge. Before you confirm, the payment step shows what you are paying: when your profile is in Canada, Subtotal, the GST or HST line (for example HST 13%) and Total, and the button reads Pay (total) now. Your receipt lists the same lines. If the tax on one of your fees is still being worked out, you see We could not work out the tax on these fees right now. Nothing was charged. Please try again in a moment.

On your statement

These lines can appear in the Statement of the Platform fees card:

Line	What it is
Prospecting usage	one line a day with Sales & Marketing activity; the line under it counts what you were charged for, e.g. Prospecting 2026-10-05: 3 prospect(s) added, 12 message(s) sent, 2 received
Commission — booking paid outside	the Commission on a booking you marked as paid in cash or by transfer. See Marking a booking paid in cash
Stripe Payout Fees / Stripe Payout Fees — monthly fee	Stripe’s charges for a payout to your bank, at Stripe’s cost: 0.25% + $0.25 per payout, and $2.00 once in a month with a payout. See Fees
GST 5% on … / HST 13% on …	the GST or HST on the fee it names, when your profile is in Canada, e.g. HST 13% on Prospecting 2026-10-05: …, HST 13% on the commission on an order, HST 13% on the instant payout fee, HST 13% on the Stripe Payout Fees. It’s charged with the fee, by card or from your balance. See Taxes on United Pet Club fees
GST 5% returned on … / HST 13% returned on …	tax given back with a fee that came back to you, for example after a refund or a dispute you won
Paid from prepaid balance	platform fees paid from your prepaid balance
Paid with platform credit	platform fees paid with credit our team gave you

If something went wrong

“Paid services are paused” when I add a business or send a message. A charge for your platform fees failed several times. Choose Pay now in the message, or Pay … now on the Platform fees card. The section works again as soon as nothing is owed.

“Add prepaid balance” when I add a business or send a message. Your account is on prepaid billing and the balance is too low for what you owe plus this fee. Add prepaid balance, then try again.

I paid, but the badge says Prepaid only. That is expected: after a pause, paying what you owe switches paid services back on, on prepaid billing. Contact us to ask for your credit limit back — it starts again at $25.

Can I get my prepaid balance back? No. Prepaid balance is never refunded or paid out; it stays on your account for future platform fees.

Why did you charge my card in the middle of the month? What you owed reached your credit limit. That keeps the amount small; your limit rises as you have good months.