Keep taking cards for your vape shop and get paid the day you sell.
Platforms and processors have dropped vape and e-cigarette sellers with two weeks’ notice, or held their balances for up to six months. Railbed takes your buyers’ cards and settles every sale as USDC to a wallet you control, with no chargebacks and nothing for anyone to freeze.
- Live in under a minute
- No setup fee
- No chargebacks
Press the card to run an example sale.
- Settles to
- Your own wallet, as USDC on Polygon
- Chargebacks
- None. A settled payment can’t be pulled back from your wallet
- To start
- An email and a payout wallet. No setup fee, no monthly fee
- Buyer ID checks
- The card provider decides. Smart Routing tries the least likely first
Why card processors turn vape shops away
Vape payment processing tightened sharply in 2026. The card networks already treat online tobacco sales, e-cigarettes included, as high risk. This year state attorneys general pressed payment companies about illegal e-cigarette sales, and the platforms and processors vape shops relied on left the category or narrowed it.
- 8 JulyShopify’s 2026 deadline for removing every vape productReuters
- 180 daysHow long one retailer’s money was frozen when PayPal left vapeVapestorm
- 5–15%Rolling reserves at high-risk vape merchant accountsTheFinRate
…shut down our account without warning
The biggest change came from Shopify. On 24 June 2026 it told merchants it no longer supports the sale of electronic nicotine products and gave them until 8 July to remove every one, or risk product suspension or store termination. The rule covers the store, whatever checkout it uses, and California’s attorney general’s office told Reuters the ban applies globally.
The processors had already drawn their lines. Stripe’s prohibited and restricted businesses list puts e-cigarettes and e-liquid in its restricted tier, along with herbal and vitamin e-cigarettes, and since 22 September 2026 it limits US e-cigarette merchants to products the FDA has authorized. PayPal’s acceptable use policy prohibits cigarettes and requires pre-approval for e-cigarettes, which vape sellers report it doesn’t grant. Square’s payment terms rule out internet, mail and phone orders of age-restricted products such as tobacco.
The card networks sit underneath. Online tobacco sales carry merchant category code 5993, and Mastercard makes the acquiring bank register every non-face-to-face tobacco merchant, e-cigarette sellers included. In April 2026, 13 attorneys general wrote to Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover, and a coalition of 25 plus New York City asked the networks, Stripe, PayPal, Block and others for meetings about illegal e-cigarette sales.
What happens in practice
- In November 2020, PayPal closed vape merchants’ accounts. One UK shop said that after 11 years, PayPal “shut down our account without warning”. Another retailer had its money frozen for 180 days.
- Vape shops in Greece, Slovakia and Switzerland have asked on Shopify’s forums for any gateway that would take them, the Greek shop after Stripe and Adyen turned it down.
A specialist high-risk merchant account is what’s left. Published vape pricing runs from 3% to 6% of each online sale plus per-transaction fees, with setup fees of $500–2,000 and rolling reserves of 5–15% held for 90–180 days. Underwriting asks for licences and permits, owner ID, three months of bank statements and your processing history.
Exits like these drop lawful stores along with everyone else, in every country they reach. Whoever sits between your sale and your payout holds your money, and when they leave, your balance can stay with them for months.
How Railbed fixes it
Railbed is card checkout for vape and e-cigarette stores that never holds your money. Buyers pay with the card they already have, and each sale settles as USDC straight to a wallet you control, usually minutes after they pay. When a platform or processor changes its rules, there’s no balance of yours for it to keep.
| What goes wrong today | With Railbed |
|---|---|
| Platforms and processors leave the category, sometimes with two weeks’ notice | If it’s legal where you sell it, we don’t judge it. Money you’ve been paid is already in your wallet |
| A closed account means a balance held for up to 180 days | Each sale settles to your own wallet as soon as it’s paid |
| Chargebacks cost a fee each, and vape accounts are told to stay under 0.5% | No chargebacks. A settled payment is final, and disputes stay with the card provider that charged the card |
| Licences, statements and processing history before the first sale | An email and a payout wallet. No credit check |
| One acquiring bank decides which buyers’ cards go through | Smart Routing sends each buyer to the card provider most likely to approve them |
| No gateway in your country will take vape | Prices in USD, EUR, GBP, CAD or AUD, with card providers ranked for each buyer’s country |
| Leaving Shopify means rebuilding checkout too | Railbed for WooCommerce, or a buy button on your own site |
An independent, licensed card provider charges the buyer’s card and buys USDC with it, and the USDC is forwarded to the Polygon wallet you saved in Railbed. Nobody in that chain can recall it afterwards, so no chargeback can reach you. If a buyer disputes the charge, that’s between their bank and the card provider that charged them.
Signing up takes about a minute with a business name, an email address and the public address of a Polygon wallet you control. You can check every sale yourself, because each settlement is a public Polygon transaction.
How a sale works
A buyer passes your age gate, fills a cart on your WooCommerce store and chooses to pay by card. The order waits as Pending payment.
Railbed’s checkout opens and the buyer enters an email address. Smart Routing sends them to the card provider most likely to approve their card.
The buyer pays on the provider’s page, in a new tab. The provider decides whether to ask for identity details. Light checks such as name, date of birth and address are common, and large or unusual payments may need more.
The provider buys USDC with the card payment, and it’s forwarded to your wallet on Polygon. Railbed checks that the right amount reached the right wallet before it marks the payment Paid.
WooCommerce moves the order to Processing and sends its usual emails, and you pack and ship. The buyer’s checkout tab shows the result.
Try the whole flow in Test mode first. Payments are simulated and no card is charged.
Fees and getting paid
Railbed shows every fee before anyone pays. Fees come out of the USDC that arrives: the card provider’s own fee and exchange spread, which the buyer sees on the provider’s page, a 1% network fee, and the Railbed fee shown in your dashboard. The fee is locked when the buyer starts paying.
Set prices in USD, EUR, GBP, CAD or AUD. Settlement is always USDC on Polygon, straight to your wallet. To pay suppliers from a bank account, send USDC to any exchange or off-ramp you use and withdraw it there. Many merchants keep part of their revenue in USDC.
Refunds are your call. Railbed can’t reverse a settled payment, so for a return or a damaged delivery, refund the buyer yourself in a way you both agree, or offer store credit. Refunds you record in WooCommerce show on the order in Railbed.
What we ask of you
If it’s legal where you sell it, we don’t judge it. Our acceptable use policy welcomes vape and e-cigarette stores whose products are legal where they and their buyers are, sold only to adults of legal age. Run your own age gate at checkout, because a card provider’s identity check on a buyer doesn’t replace it.
Railbed compared with a vape merchant account
| High-risk vape merchant account | Railbed | |
|---|---|---|
| Approval | Days to weeks of underwriting | Under a minute |
| To apply | Licences and permits, owner ID, three months of bank statements, processing history | An email and a payout wallet |
| Pricing | About 3–6% of each online sale, plus per-transaction and setup fees | The card provider’s fee, a 1% network fee and the Railbed fee, all shown before payment |
| Payouts | On the processor’s schedule | Each sale, to your own wallet, as soon as it settles |
| Chargebacks | A fee for each, and a 0.5% ceiling advised for vape | None. A settled payment is final |
| If you’re dropped | Balance held, up to 180 days in PayPal’s 2020 vape exit, and a possible five-year MATCH listing | Settled funds are already yours |
| Your industry | A restricted category the bank must register with Mastercard | Welcome if it’s legal where you sell |
| Card approvals | One acquiring bank decides | Smart Routing across several card providers |
Questions
Shopify told me to remove my vape products. Where can I move my store?
To WordPress with WooCommerce, or to your own site. Railbed for WooCommerce adds card checkout to a WordPress store, and a custom site can use the API or a buy button. Railbed’s Shopify connection isn’t a way to stay, because Shopify’s rule covers the products on its platform, whatever the checkout.
Stripe, PayPal or Square closed my vape shop’s account. Can I use Railbed?
Yes. A past closure or a MATCH listing doesn’t rule you out, and there’s no processing history to send. If what you sell is legal where you and your buyers are, you can sign up today and test your checkout tonight.
Do my customers need crypto or a crypto wallet?
No. Buyers pay with the card they already have. The conversion to USDC happens after they pay, and only you need a wallet.
Will buyers be asked for ID when they pay?
Sometimes, and the card provider decides. Light checks such as name, date of birth and address are common, and large or unusual payments may need more. That check is about the payment, so it doesn’t replace your own age verification.
Can Railbed freeze my money?
No. Every paid sale settles straight to a wallet you control, so there’s no balance with Railbed to hold. If an account breaks our acceptable use policy, we can stop new payments, but we can never touch USDC that has already reached your wallet.
What happens if a buyer disputes a vape order?
No chargeback comes back to you. The card provider that charged the buyer’s card handles the dispute under its own rules, and a settled payment can’t be pulled back out of your wallet. A provider may decline future payments from a buyer who disputes.
Can I sell e-liquid and pod subscriptions?
Not as automatic renewals. Railbed doesn’t charge cards on a schedule, so each refill is a payment the buyer chooses to make. Sell refills a month or a quarter at a time, or send a payment link when a buyer runs low. Buyers who reorder on purpose don’t dispute charges they forgot about.
Can I take payments from buyers in the UK, Europe, Canada or Australia?
Yes. Price your checkout in USD, EUR, GBP, CAD or AUD, and Smart Routing ranks the card providers available in each buyer’s country. Settlement is always USDC to your wallet.
How do I get the money into my bank?
Send USDC from your wallet to any exchange or off-ramp you use, then withdraw to your bank account. You choose when and how much.
Sources
- Reuters via The Spokesman-Review: Shopify tells users to remove vapes from online stores, 10 July 2026, checked 5 October 2026
- Stripe: Prohibited and restricted businesses, last updated 22 September 2026, checked 5 October 2026
- PayPal: Acceptable use policy, checked 5 October 2026
- Square: Payment terms, last updated 30 July 2026, checked 5 October 2026
- Mastercard: Security Rules and Procedures, registration of non-face-to-face tobacco merchants, copy hosted by Moneris, checked 5 October 2026
- Georgia Attorney General: Letter from 13 attorneys general to Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover, 14 April 2026
- Payments Dive: State attorneys general target e-cigarette payments, 4 May 2026
- Ecigclick: PayPal bans vape payments, 25 November 2020
- Vapestorm: Why we are changing our payment method, 7 March 2021
- Shopify Community: vape shops in Greece, 10 December 2024, Slovakia, 20 November 2023, and Switzerland, 18 July 2023
- Unison: Vape shop payment processing, 18 March 2026
- TheFinRate: Vaping and e-cigarette merchant accounts in 2026, 20 May 2026
- PayKings: Head shops and vape merchant accounts, 3 September 2026
Last updated .
Stop asking permission
to get paid.
Set up in under a minute. Your first payment can settle today.
- Live in under a minute
- No setup fee
- No chargebacks
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