What happens after I sell an animal?

Once a buyer checks out, the sale moves through a clear, buyer-protected flow. The short version: the buyer's payment is held by Creatures, and it reaches your Wallet the moment the buyer confirms delivery.

The flow, step by step

1. The buyer's payment is held. Creatures holds the funds securely through Stripe. The buyer has paid, but the money is not released to you yet.
2. Coordinate the handoff. Arrange transport or pickup with the buyer through Creatures messaging. If the listing offered Creatures transport or your own delivery, that is set up here.
3. Mark the animal shipped or picked up so the buyer can follow its progress.
4. The buyer confirms delivery. The held funds are released to your Creatures Wallet immediately. There is no separate holding period on this release.
5. Withdraw to your bank. After your first sale, this is available right away.

Your Sales hub is where you manage all of this: the sold listing, the handoff status, and the buyer's confirmation. From here you mark the animal handed over and watch for the buyer's confirmation that releases your funds.

Your first sale has a one-time 7-day hold

To protect the community from fraud and chargebacks, the first funds that ever land in your Creatures Wallet are held for 7 days before you can withdraw them. It is a one-time review: after it clears, all future withdrawals are available immediately. The funds still reach your Wallet right away when the buyer confirms; the hold only delays moving that first batch on to your bank.

Refunding a sale you made

If a sale should not stand, you can resolve it from the sale in your Sales hub rather than leaving the buyer to chase it. Open the sale and use the refund action. What you can do depends on the situation and where the sale is:

• Refund or cancel this sale returns the buyer's payment in full and reverses the sale. Issue a partial refund returns part of the price where that is the fair fix and the animal stays with the buyer. If a buyer asks to send the animal back, Offer a return refund sends them an offer they accept or decline within a set window.
• Before the animal has shipped or been handed off, you can do this yourself. Once it is in transit or delivered, the refund moves through Creatures support so the money and the records stay consistent. A sale already in dispute pauses refund actions until that is resolved.
• The buyer's money is returned the way they paid: any Creatures Credit and Wallet first, then the card portion back through Stripe. The sale shows Refund started while Stripe works, then Refund complete when it is done. If it needs a closer look it shows Refund needs review, or Refund needs help if the payment could not be returned automatically.

This is the held-funds protection working in reverse: because the buyer's money was held until they confirmed, undoing a sale cleanly is straightforward when it is the right thing to do.

Staying in touch with your buyer

A sale is often the start of a relationship, not the end of one. Creatures gives you a buyer pipeline to keep track of who bought from you and follow up afterward, so a happy buyer becomes a repeat one. See Your buyer pipeline.

Fees and disputes

A 5% seller fee is deducted (waived with Creatures Pro), plus any event consignment fee. The buyer separately pays a 5% buyer fee at checkout unless you chose to cover it. The sale income posts to your Creatures books automatically when it completes, so you do not re-enter it by hand; see Recording money in and out. If a buyer reports a problem instead of confirming, or opens a payment dispute, the funds stay held while it is resolved through the health-guarantee or dispute process. For the full payout flow and the timing details, see How seller payout works, and for the fee detail and Creatures Pro, see Seller fees and the Creatures Pro subscription.

Related information

• How seller payout works
• Getting paid when transport is involved
• Seller fees and the Creatures Pro subscription

Updated on: 23/06/2026