How buying works: payments, held funds, and protection

This is the article to read first if you want to understand how money moves when you buy on Creatures. The short version: you pay at checkout, Creatures holds the funds, and the seller is only paid once you confirm the animal arrived. That hold-and-confirm step is the heart of buyer protection on Creatures.

The flow, step by step

1. You pay at checkout. You complete payment for the agreed price (plus the buyer fee and any add-ons), using a card, a bank transfer, your Creatures Wallet, or Creatures Credit. What you pay for the animal becomes its cost basis in your finances, the starting value you measure profit against later.
2. Creatures holds the funds. Your payment is held safely by Creatures. It does not go to the seller yet. This is what protects you: the seller has every reason to deliver as promised, because they have not been paid.
3. The animal is delivered. You pick it up, the seller delivers it, or Creatures-arranged transport brings it, depending on the listing.
4. You confirm delivery. When the animal has arrived and is what you expected, you confirm delivery from your purchase.
5. The seller is paid. Confirming delivery releases the held funds to the seller's Creatures Wallet right away. There is no fixed waiting period after you confirm; the release happens at that moment.

The single most important thing to remember: the seller is not paid until you confirm delivery. Confirming is the action that releases the money, so only confirm once you actually have the animal and it is as described.

The buyer fee

Creatures charges a buyer fee of 5% of the purchase price, added at checkout on top of the animal's price.

• What it is: a service fee that funds buyer protection, secure payments, and the platform. It is the only fee you pay as a buyer: there is no separate payment-processing or credit-card surcharge, so paying by card costs you nothing extra.
• What it means for you: you see the fee itemized at checkout before you pay, so there are no surprises. Some sellers choose to cover the buyer fee for you, in which case checkout shows it as covered.

Your payment methods, in brief

You can pay with any of these, each covered in its own article:

• Card (debit or credit): immediate.
• Bank transfer (ACH): lower cost, but takes a few business days to clear before the purchase is confirmed.
• Creatures Wallet: your real-money balance on Creatures, usually from previous sales.
• Creatures Credit: promotional credit applied as payment.

If you have Wallet or Credit, Creatures applies them automatically before charging your card or bank. See Paying with Wallet, Credit, and ACH for the order and the details.

Why "held funds," not a wire to the seller

Paying through Creatures is what makes the protection possible. If you paid the seller directly, the money would be gone the moment you sent it. By holding your payment until you confirm delivery, Creatures keeps it buyer-protected the whole way: if the animal never ships or arrives in a state you reasonably did not agree to, the funds are still held while it is sorted out. See The health guarantee and if your animal arrives sick for what happens if something is wrong on arrival, and Paying outside Creatures for exactly what protection you give up if a seller asks you to settle up off the platform.

Related information

• Buying at a fixed price
• How auctions and bidding work
• Receiving your animal and confirming delivery

Updated on: 23/06/2026