Connecting Stripe for Payouts

Spartera uses Stripe Connect to pay sellers. Before you can sell anything in the marketplace — assets or endpoints — your company needs a connected Stripe account. This guide walks you through what that means, why it's required, and how to set it up.

Video Walkthrough

Prefer watching to reading? Here's a 3-minute walkthrough of the full setup flow:

The video uses Stripe's test mode for demonstration — your real setup will collect real banking and tax info.

Why Stripe?

Spartera handles the marketplace, the credits, and the buyer experience. Stripe handles the parts of paying you that we can't do directly — and that no software company should do directly:

Identity verification (KYC) — Stripe collects and verifies your government ID, date of birth, and SSN/EIN per US financial regulations
Tax info collection — W-9 (US) or W-8BEN (international) forms
Bank account setup and verification — including ACH micro-deposits
Sanctions and AML screening — required by US Treasury and Stripe's banking partners

Without Stripe, we couldn't legally pay you. With it, we don't have to see, store, or process any of that sensitive information ourselves — Stripe does, and we just send your earnings to your verified account once a month.

Who Sets It Up

Stripe Connect is configured at the company level, not per-user. Only company admins can connect or disconnect Stripe.

If you're a data analyst or engineer on a team and you don't see the Marketplace Settings panel on the Account page, ask your company admin to set it up.

How Long It Takes

About 3 minutes. Stripe will ask for:

Phone number (for SMS verification)
Business type (sole proprietor, LLC, corporation, etc.)
Business address and tax ID (EIN or SSN)
Personal info for the account owner (name, DOB, last 4 of SSN)
Bank account routing and account numbers

You only do this once. After verification, your account stays connected until you explicitly disconnect it.

Connecting Your Account

Dashboard → Account Settings → Marketplace Settings → Connect Stripe Account

When you click Connect Stripe Account, you'll be redirected to a secure Stripe-hosted form. Fill it out, submit, and Stripe will redirect you back to Spartera.

What You'll See on Spartera

The Marketplace Settings panel reflects your current connection status. There are four states:

State	What It Means	What Shows
Not Connected	Stripe hasn't been set up	Dashed border, "Connect Stripe Account" button
Setup Incomplete	You started onboarding but haven't finished	Yellow warning, "Continue Stripe Setup" + "Remove & Start Over" buttons
Connected — Pending	Submitted, but Stripe is still reviewing	Green panel, no "Fully Verified" chip yet
Connected — Fully Verified	Stripe approved everything; ready for payouts	Green panel with "Fully Verified" chip

You can sell in the marketplace once your account is Fully Verified. While in Pending, your products will not appear in the marketplace — Stripe needs to confirm everything before money moves.

If You Don't Complete the Stripe Form

If you click Connect Stripe but close the tab without finishing, your status will stay at Setup Incomplete. No problem — click Continue Stripe Setup any time to pick up where you left off. Or click Remove & Start Over to clear it and try fresh.

What Stripe Tells Us

Once connected, Spartera receives only the information needed to operate the marketplace:

Your verified status (whether payouts can be sent)
Your Stripe account ID (for sending earnings)
Your account type and partial bank info (last 4 digits, for display)

We never receive:

Your full bank account number
Your SSN/EIN
Your government ID images
Any of the documents you uploaded to Stripe

All of that lives at Stripe and is governed by their privacy policy.

Getting Paid

Once verified, your earnings accumulate in real time as buyers process your assets and endpoints. Payouts happen once per month:

Earnings from the prior month are paid out within 5 business days of month end
Payouts go via ACH directly to the bank account you connected
Minimum payout is $25.00 — earnings below this roll over to the next month
You receive a PDF payout report by email
Itemized breakdown is available in your Seller Dashboard

→ See Credit System and Revenue Sharing for details on the 80/20 split and earnings tracking.

Disconnecting Stripe

You can disconnect Stripe at any time from the same Marketplace Settings panel.

What Happens When You Disconnect

Immediately:

All your active marketplace listings (assets and endpoints) are pulled from the marketplace
New buyers can't discover or purchase your products
Buyers who already have endpoint API keys may continue to receive responses for a short period — this is a known behavior we plan to address. Until it's fixed, treat disconnect as "stop selling everything" rather than relying on it as a kill switch

Preserved:

Your earnings history is never lost. All transactions processed before disconnect remain on your account
When you reconnect (Stripe or a different account), pending earnings can be paid out
Your products are deactivated, not deleted — you can re-enable them after reconnecting

Cannot happen:

We cannot send you any payouts while Stripe is disconnected. The only way for us to pay you is through a connected, verified Stripe account
Pending earnings from before disconnect won't be lost, but they also won't be sent anywhere until a Stripe account is reconnected

When to Disconnect vs Deactivate Products

Disconnect Stripe only if you're permanently leaving the platform or replacing your Stripe account.

If you just want to stop selling temporarily (e.g., during data quality work, or while reorganizing your catalog), don't disconnect Stripe — instead, toggle off sell_in_marketplace on your individual assets and endpoints. That keeps payouts flowing for past sales while pausing new ones.

# Pause an asset without disconnecting Stripe
curl -X PATCH https://api.spartera.com/companies/{company_id}/assets/{asset_id} \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_spartera_..." \
  -d '{"sell_in_marketplace": false}'

Common Questions

Can I use a personal bank account?
Yes, if you're operating as a sole proprietor. Stripe will treat you as an individual and use your SSN for verification.

Does my Stripe account need to be in the US?
Spartera currently supports US-based sellers. International seller support is on our roadmap. If you're outside the US and want to sell, contact us.

Can I have multiple Stripe accounts?
One Stripe account per Spartera company. If you operate multiple businesses, create separate Spartera company accounts.

What if Stripe rejects my account?
Stripe will email you specific reasons. Common issues: ID document mismatch, business name doesn't match registered entity, address not verifiable. Fix the issue in your Stripe Express dashboard, and your status will update automatically.

What happens if my bank info changes?
Update it directly through your Stripe Express dashboard. Spartera doesn't need to know — Stripe will route future payouts to the new account.

Can I see my Stripe account from the Spartera UI?
You'll see a masked account ID (e.g., acct_1ABC•••••••) once connected. To manage details, log into Stripe Express directly.

My Stripe is connected but my products aren't showing up. Why?
The most common cause: Stripe is still verifying you (Pending state, no "Fully Verified" chip). Marketplace listings activate once Stripe confirms your account. Wait a few minutes and check the page again, or contact support if it's been more than 24 hours.

Troubleshooting

The Connect button does nothing.
Check your browser's popup blocker — Stripe's onboarding form opens via redirect, and some blockers interfere. Try a different browser or disable blockers for this site.

I see "Setup Incomplete" but I thought I finished.
Stripe may need additional information they didn't ask for the first time. Click Continue Stripe Setup to see what's missing.

I disconnected and want to use the same Stripe account again.
Just click Connect Stripe Account again. If you use the same email, Stripe will recognize your existing Express account and reconnect quickly.

My status is "Connected — Pending" but it's been a week.
Most accounts move from Pending to Fully Verified within minutes to hours. If you've been pending for more than 48 hours, log into your Stripe Express account directly to check for any flagged requirements, or contact [email protected].

Selling Insights — How to package and sell your data
Credit System — How earnings and payouts work
Revenue Sharing — The 80/20 split explained
Publishing to Marketplace — Going live with your first asset