Payment Terms

This page explains how payments work on Ink Deposit, who processes them, and how security and disputes are handled. For refund eligibility and cancellation windows, see our Refund Policy and Cancellation Policy.

1. Who Processes Payments

All payments on Ink Deposit are processed by PayFast (Pty) Ltd, a licensed South African payment gateway. Ink Deposit never uses Stripe, Yoco, or any other processor.

• —We do not collect, see, or store your card number, CVV, or full banking details
• —PayFast is PCI DSS compliant for card data handling
• —Every transaction is signed with an MD5 signature verified server-side using a private passphrase, so payment notifications cannot be forged
• —Payment confirmation ("ITN" — Instant Transaction Notification) is verified by our server directly with PayFast before any booking is marked as paid

2. What You Are Paying

• —Deposit: The amount the artist has set to secure a booking slot. This is what Ink Deposit processes through PayFast.
• —Booking fee: A flat R30 added to the deposit at checkout. It is shown as its own line, and in the total, before you pay. It is not part of the deposit the artist receives, and it is not converted to studio credit if you later cancel.
• —Commission: Separate from the booking fee, and paid by the ARTIST rather than by you: a percentage of the deposit is retained by Ink Deposit before the artist is paid out — see Commission Tiers in our Artist Agreement.
• —Final session price: The remaining balance for the full tattoo, beyond the deposit, is settled directly between you and the artist at the session unless the artist uses the platform's final-payment feature.

3. Payment Security

• —All payment pages are served over TLS (HTTPS) encryption
• —PayFast checkout happens on PayFast's own domain, outside of Ink Deposit — we redirect you there and receive only a signed confirmation back
• —Duplicate payment notifications are detected and ignored (idempotency) so a network retry cannot charge you twice or double-credit a payout
• —Rate limiting is applied to booking and payment endpoints to prevent automated abuse

4. Currency & Pricing

All prices, deposits, and payouts on Ink Deposit are in South African Rand (ZAR). If you are paying from outside South Africa, your bank or card issuer may apply its own currency conversion and foreign transaction fees — these are outside Ink Deposit's control.

5. Failed & Pending Payments

• —If a payment fails or is cancelled before completion, your booking slot is not confirmed and is released back to availability
• —If PayFast reports a payment as "pending" (e.g. an EFT still clearing), your booking is held provisionally until confirmation is received
• —We do not charge you again automatically for a failed payment — you would need to restart the booking process

6. Chargebacks & Bank Disputes

If you dispute a charge directly with your bank or card issuer (a chargeback) rather than requesting a refund through Ink Deposit or the artist:

• —PayFast will notify us of the dispute and may hold the disputed funds pending resolution
• —We will provide booking records (confirmation, session details, communications) as evidence to PayFast/your bank if the charge was for a legitimate, delivered booking
• —A chargeback for a booking where a valid cancellation or refund was already available to you through our Refund Policy may be contested
• —We strongly encourage contacting us first at support@inkdeposit.com — most payment issues are resolved faster this way than through a bank dispute

7. Artist Payouts

Artists receive payouts of the deposit amount minus platform commission, according to their dashboard payout settings. See the Artist Agreement for commission tiers and payout terms specific to artists.

8. Questions About a Payment

If you have a question about a specific charge, include your booking reference code (shown on your confirmation page and email) when contacting us — this lets us locate the exact transaction quickly.