Payment and Refund Policy

1. About GigStage payments

GigStage allows audience members to support participating Artists through standalone tips, paid song requests, paid shoutouts, and other clearly identified audience-support features.

Stripe processes payments. GigStage connects the audience interaction, Artist account, Live Gig, and payment record. The Artist remains responsible for the performance.

2. Payment does not guarantee performance

Paid requests support the artist. Completion depends on the remaining gig time, queue volume, timing, and flow of the live event.

A payment does not guarantee a requested song, immediate or complete performance, a shoutout, exact wording, an extended event, a changed setlist, or interruption of the normal performance flow.

Mandatory consumer rights remain unaffected.

3. Standalone tips

A standalone tip is a voluntary payment intended to support the Artist.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, it is not payment for a particular song, does not guarantee a shoutout or additional service, and does not give the audience member control over the Artist.

4. Paid song requests

A paid song request combines support for the Artist with a request that the Artist consider a song.

The Artist may skip, delay, group, complete, or leave it incomplete. A song not being performed does not automatically create a refund entitlement.

5. Paid shoutouts

A paid shoutout combines support with a requested name or message.

The Artist may refuse, shorten, paraphrase, delay, or omit a shoutout because of time, inappropriate content, privacy, harassment, hate, defamation, safety, suitability, or performance flow.

6. Prices and currencies

Available amounts may include presets and a custom amount. Review the Artist, amount, currency, request or shoutout, optional name, notices, and payment method before authorization.

GigStage intends to support eligible Canadian-dollar and United-States-dollar payments depending on the Artist and transaction configuration.

A bank may impose separate currency-conversion or foreign-transaction fees.

7. Payment authorization

By completing Checkout, the audience member confirms authorization to use the payment method, accuracy of the information, the absence of fraud, review of the amount and currency, and understanding of the support-payment expectations.

Stolen credentials, unauthorized cards, misleading billing information, automated payment testing, and other payment abuse are prohibited.

8. Stripe processing

Stripe may approve, decline, delay, review, reverse, refund, or restrict a transaction according to its systems, payment-network rules, risk controls, and legal duties.

GigStage does not receive or store complete card numbers or card security codes. Stripe's records control the final technical status of a transaction.

9. Open and expired Checkout Sessions

Opening Checkout does not complete a payment. An open and unpaid Checkout Session may expire after its payment window, when a Live Gig ends, through automatic Live Gig ending, or through payment-security cleanup.

GigStage intends to use a 30-minute fallback lifetime for abandoned Sessions.

When a Live Gig ends, GigStage may expire associated Sessions that Stripe still reports as open and unpaid. Completed or processing payments are preserved.

10. Cancelled and unpaid Checkouts

A cancelled, abandoned, failed, or expired Checkout Session is not a completed payment, does not increase the Live Gig total, does not create Artist earnings, and does not create a refund transaction.

11. Requesting a refund

Send refund requests to support@gigstagelive.com and include enough information to identify the transaction, such as date, amount, currency, Artist, event, interaction details, receipt, and reason.

Do not email complete card numbers, security codes, banking passwords, or other sensitive financial credentials.

12. Artist discretion over ordinary refunds

Ordinary refund requests are generally decided by the Artist who received the support payment.

GigStage may send the request to the Artist using the Artist's private account email without revealing the audience member's private email address.

The Artist may approve a full refund, partial refund, or no voluntary refund. Non-performance alone does not require a voluntary refund.

13. Refunds GigStage may process

GigStage may process or require a refund without prior Artist approval where reasonably necessary to comply with law, correct a duplicate or technical charge, address confirmed unauthorized activity, follow Stripe or payment-network requirements, respond to lawful authority, prevent material harm, or correct an improper amount.

14. Full and partial refunds

A refund may be full or partial. The Artist balance or future payout may be adjusted, the related GigStage platform fee should be returned fully or proportionally where supported, and Stripe processing fees may remain payable.

The historical payment record remains visible with its refund status.

15. Refund confirmation

After a refund is initiated, GigStage should provide the audience member with the amount, currency, status, reference, Artist or payment context, date initiated, and processing guidance.

The confirmation must not expose private Artist email, Stripe-account, or banking information.

16. Refund timing

Card refunds commonly appear approximately 5 to 10 business days after issuance, depending on the bank or issuer.

A quick refund may appear as a reversal in which the original charge disappears rather than a separate credit.

GigStage cannot guarantee when a bank or card issuer posts the refund.

17. Stripe processing fees

Stripe processing fees are separate from the GigStage platform fee and may not be returned after a refund.

Currency-conversion, bank, and card-provider charges may remain.

Artist-facing refund information should explain the original payment, audience refund, GigStage fee returned, any Stripe fee believed to remain, and the resulting Artist net adjustment.

18. Disputes and chargebacks

A dispute may cause the disputed amount and a dispute fee to be withdrawn, exclude the payment from Artist totals, reduce or delay payouts, create a negative balance, or require evidence.

Responsibility depends on the Stripe Connect charge and account configuration.

19. Contact support before disputing

Where reasonably possible, contact GigStage before starting a chargeback.

This does not prevent a legitimate dispute involving unauthorized payment, fraud, duplicate charging, incorrect amount, technical error, material misrepresentation, or another valid reason.

A dispute must not be misused merely because a request was not played, was not immediate, was performed differently, a shoutout changed, the Live Gig ended, or the audience member changed their mind.

20. Dispute handling

GigStage, the Artist, or Stripe may accept or challenge a dispute and may provide transaction evidence, legal acknowledgement, timing, interaction details, and refund or support history.

The payment network, bank, issuer, or payment provider makes the final decision. GigStage does not guarantee that a challenge will be won.

21. Artist Earnings during disputes

GigStage should display Dispute open, Dispute won, and Dispute lost.

Open and lost disputes are excluded from available totals. Original Artist net may remain visible as historical context, while withdrawn or reinstated amounts are displayed separately.

22. Negative balances and payout adjustments

Refunds, disputes, chargebacks, and fees may create a negative balance or reduce future payouts.

Stripe may deduct funds, offset future payments, delay payouts, place a reserve, debit an external account where permitted, or recover funds from the platform depending on the payment configuration.

23. Fraud and payment abuse

GigStage may decline, restrict, refund, cancel, or investigate transactions associated with stolen credentials, repeated failures, automated card testing, suspicious activity, abusive refunds, excessive disputes, false information, manipulation, unlawful conduct, or payment-network warnings.

24. Artist responsibilities

• Complete and maintain Stripe onboarding.
• Review payment and payout notices.
• Respond promptly to refund and dispute requests.
• Avoid misleading performance promises.
• Maintain appropriate records and sufficient balances.
• Comply with applicable consumer-protection law.

25. GigStage platform fees

GigStage's standard pricing has no subscription fee and applies a 5% platform fee to eligible successful audience payments. Artists who qualified for an earlier introductory pricing offer keep that offer according to the pricing terms applicable to their account.

Stripe processing fees are separate. For an approved refund, the GigStage platform fee should be returned fully or proportionally where supported.

26. Taxes

Artists are responsible for tax records, tax treatment, corrections, and professional advice. GigStage does not provide tax or accounting advice.

27. Record retention

GigStage may retain payment identifiers, amount, currency, Artist and Live Gig references, interaction reference, transaction status, refund and dispute history, applicable legal versions, acknowledgement timestamp, and limited security information for reconciliation, support, fraud prevention, audits, enforcement, taxes, and legal compliance.

28. Privacy

Payment-related personal information is handled under the Privacy Policy.

GigStage will not ordinarily disclose private audience email to the Artist, private Artist email to the audience member, complete card details, Artist bank information, or private Stripe credentials.

29. Mandatory consumer rights

This Policy does not remove rights that cannot lawfully be waived. Where this Policy conflicts with mandatory law, the mandatory law applies.

30. Changes

Each version will display a version number, effective date, and last-updated date.

A payment remains associated with the version presented when it was authorized, subject to mandatory law.

31. Contact

Questions and refund requests may be sent to support@gigstagelive.com.