Application fee

When a platform uses Stripe Connect, it sets an application fee that Stripe deducts from each charge automatically and routes to the platform. It is separate from Stripe's own card-processing fee, which covers the cost of moving the money.

So a single sale carries two distinct fees: the platform's application fee (Zillo's 3%) and Stripe's standard card-processing fee, which is paid to Stripe at its normal rate. Both come out of the transaction; the rest settles to the merchant.

Zillo's application fee is a flat 3% per sale with no monthly charge and no setup cost, and it is refunded automatically whenever the merchant refunds a customer — so the fee never outlives the sale it was charged on. There are no tiers or minimums to track.

Understanding the application fee is the key to comparing platforms honestly. A marketplace commission, a per-ticket fee, and a monthly subscription are all just different shapes of the same question — what share of each sale, or each month, the platform keeps. Zillo's answer is 3% of what you actually sell.