Payment Policy

All payments are processed by Stripe. For a Client's retainer, the Artist is the merchant of record — funds go directly to the Artist's own connected Stripe account, not to Charon. Charon is never in custody of a Client's payment at any point.

A retainer, set by the Artist, plus Charon's own service fee. Checkout shows both amounts separately before you pay, so it's clear what goes to your Artist and what goes to Charon.

Once an Artist accepts a request, the Client has 72 hours to pay the retainer before the offer expires and the date reopens. Nothing is charged if it expires.

Artists pay a monthly subscription to appear publicly and accept bookings — currently $30/month, billed automatically until canceled. Canceling stops future renewals; access continues through the period already paid for. No refund for a partial month. If a renewal payment fails, Charon retries automatically before the account goes private.

See the Ghosting & Cancellation Policy for when a Client's retainer is or isn't refundable. Where a refund is owed, it's issued back to the original payment method.

If a payment fails, the affected booking step doesn't proceed until it's resolved. For a Client's retainer, since the Artist is the merchant of record, any chargeback or dispute is filed against the Artist's Stripe account, not Charon's — see the Artist Agreement §5.