How to accept cash, Venmo, or Zelle
Last updated February 11, 2025
While credit, debit, and Apple Pay transactions are our 🍞 and 🧈, you can now have customers pay you outside of Hotplate with cash, Venmo, and Zelle! These are called external or off-platform payments.
To start accepting external payments
- Go to Settings
- Under Checkout, toggle on Cash, Venmo, or Zelle
- Click the pencil icons to provide payment instructions, so customers know exactly how and where to send payment.
What your customer sees
At checkout, external payment methods appear right below Card and Cash App. If a customer picks one of these, the instructions are displayed on the order confirmation page along with a Payment Sent button for your customer to hit once they've paid.
Order tickets will say Payment Pending or Payment Sent, depending on whether the customer has clicked Payment Sent on their order confirmation.
Once you've checked that you received the cash / Venmo / Zelle payment, click Confirm Payment on the receipt. Careful, as this cannot be undone!
Important things to keep in mind:
- Payment Instructions are required! This helps make sure you get paid.
- You’re responsible for collecting and confirming payment from customers
- Refunding these orders through Hotplate is unsupported and you’ll need to issue refunds or resolve any payment disputes using the chosen external payment method.
- Please make sure to hit Confirm Payment on the order receipt for book-keeping and consistency.
External Payment FAQs
How do the fees work?
Payment processing: there is no payment processing fee for external payments since they take place outside of Hotplate.
Hotplate fee: The Hotplate fee still applies to orders with external payments, and it will be deducted from your payout balance. Customers will still see that fee calculated on their order receipt and included in the amount they owe you.
If you’ve changed the default split of fees, the full Hotplate fee will still be deducted from your payout balance, but the customer will pay you their portion of it. For example:
- If your customer pays 100% of the Hotplate fee (default) and the fee is $1 on an order, $1 is taken from your payout balance and given to Hotplate, and your customer pays you $1 in cash, Venmo or Zelle.
- If you split the fee 60/40 with your customer, and the fee is $1 on an order, $1 is taken from your payout balance and your customer pays you $0.40 in cash, Venmo or Zelle.
Can I turn cash/Venmo/Zelle on for a specific event only?
Right now, you can only enable external payments for your entire storefront, not specific Events. You can always choose to enable this setting, publish and run an Event, then turn it off after, but you can’t have different settings for Events running at the same time.
If you don't want to enable external payments from everyone, you can always create a Manual Order and accept cash or another payment method for it outside of Hotplate. The manual order will appear on your Prep and Packing tabs, but it will still be up to you to keep track and collect the payment from your customer.
What if a cash/Venmo/Zelle customer doesn't show up?
No-shows are no fun! Since these payments happen outside of Hotplate, you’ll be responsible for collecting the payments, and chasing down customers who order but don't show up. You can consider adding a note in your Payment Instructions that states you’ll only produce orders with payment sent ahead of the pickup time.
Can I delete a cash/Venmo/Zelle order?
No, once a cash/Venmo/Zelle order is placed, you cannot remove it.
Can I refund a cash/Venmo/Zelle order with money in my payout tab?
No, since these payments happen outside of Hotplate, there’s no way to send a refund and it’s up to you to manually send refunds through the chosen platform or resolve any payment disputes.
Can gift cards be purchased with cash/Venmo/Zelle?
No. This is for your protection! Since payments happen outside of Hotplate, it would be too easy for someone to buy a gift card, not send you the money, then use the gift card for a future Event.