Buy now, pay later · Payment methods
Sezzle for online stores: how it works and who can use it
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Sezzle is a buy now, pay later provider for shoppers in the US and Canada. Its Pay in 4 takes 25% at checkout and three more 25% payments every two weeks over six weeks; Sezzle also offers pay in 5 and monthly plans, and some plans carry a fee or interest. Sezzle pays the store upfront and handles the shopper's repayment, including chargebacks and defaults. Stores connect through platform plugins, a direct API or a virtual card, and Sezzle can save a shopper for future orders.
- Where it works
- US and Canada (orders in USD and CAD)
- Pay in 4
- 25% down, then three 25% payments every two weeks over six weeks
- Other plans
- Pay in 5 (20% down, four more every two weeks) and pay monthly; monthly APR 0% to 35.99% by credit and term
- Who carries the risk
- Sezzle, including chargebacks and defaults
- Payouts
- Orders become settlements, then withdrawals to your bank account
- Saved shoppers
- Customer tokenization for future orders (API v2)
What PlatformDTC does
PlatformDTC checkout does not offer Sezzle today. US shoppers can choose Klarna or Afterpay on one-time orders, and Canadian shoppers Klarna from C$1 to C$17,500 or Afterpay from C$1 to C$2,000; cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal work for everyone.
How a shopper pays with Sezzle
The shopper picks Sezzle at checkout, is redirected to Sezzle to choose an installment plan, completes the Sezzle order and comes back to the store. Sezzle's shopper page notes that a minimum purchase may apply and that some plans carry fees or interest, so the terms depend on the plan the shopper picks.
What it means for your store
Sezzle says it pays merchants upfront while it handles customer repayment, including chargebacks and defaults. Sezzle takes a fee on each order. In the transaction report, each order's net amount is the order total minus the Sezzle fee, orders become settlements, and settlements are withdrawn to your bank. Some accounts carry a rolling reserve, where part of the money is held and released later.
Refunds can be sent through Sezzle's order API, in full or in part, and refunds and disputes both show up in the transaction report. A store paid in two currencies gets separate USD and CAD sheets.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Sezzle interest-free?
- Not always. Sezzle's merchant page describes Pay in 4 as interest-free, but its shopper page shows a Pay in 4 example with a service fee, and its monthly plans range from 0% to 35.99% APR depending on credit and term.
- Does Sezzle work outside the US and Canada?
- Sezzle's merchant documentation covers orders in US and Canadian dollars only.
- What can US shoppers use on PlatformDTC instead of Sezzle?
- Klarna on one-time orders from $1 to $10,000, Afterpay from $1 to $2,000, or cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal.
Sources
- Sezzle merchant growth — Sezzle
- Understanding the Sezzle Transaction Report — Sezzle
- Sezzle API introduction — Sezzle
- Sezzle — Sezzle
Related
- Affirm — US and Canadian financing from pay in 4 to 36 monthly payments; orders from $35 to $30,000.
- Afterpay / Clearpay — Four interest-free payments every two weeks in the US, Canada, UK (as Clearpay), Australia and New Zealand.
- Zip — Australian line of credit (Zip Pay, Zip Money) and US pay in 4; the store is paid upfront.
- Alma — French-born pay in 2, 3 or 4 for euro shoppers; €50 to €5,000 orders on Stripe, store paid upfront.
- Riverty — Pay by invoice in 14 or 30 days, monthly invoice and installments, mainly in DACH, Benelux and the Nordics.
- Scalapay — Italian-born pay in 3, pay in 4 and pay later for shoppers in euro countries; euro only.
- Tabby — Gulf pay in 4 and longer plans in Saudi Arabia and the UAE; merchants receive the full amount in days.
- Tamara — Sharia-compliant pay in full or split in 2, 3 or 4 in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain; no interest.