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Take payments with Venmo

About 5 minutes. Free for personal transfers; a business profile charges a small fee.

1. Decide which kind of Venmo account to use

A personal account is what most small instructors use. Transfers from friends and family are free, and the money is in your Venmo balance immediately. Venmo's terms expect business income to go through a business profile, so if classes are a real part of your income, add a business profile. It charges a small per-transaction fee and gives you a public profile page and basic records. You can have both under one login.

2. Find your username

1. Open the Venmo app and tap Me (bottom right).
2. Your username is under your name, starting with an @. For example @Conejo-Capoeira.
3. Tap it to copy it, or write it down exactly, including any hyphens and capitals.

If you added a business profile, switch to it first. The username you want is the one clients should be paying, not your personal one.

3. Put it into your dashboard

1. Sign in to your dashboard and go to My Account → Settings → Getting Paid.
2. Find the Venmo box and tick Accept Venmo.
3. Type your username into Venmo username. Leave the @ off, so Conejo-Capoeira, not @Conejo-Capoeira.
4. Optionally add a note for clients, for example "put the class date in the note".
5. Press Save Venmo.

4. Check it

The Getting Paid page will now say your booking page is live. Open your own website, click Book a Class, tick a class, fill in your own details and choose Venmo. The last screen should show an Open Venmo to pay button with the correct amount and a note naming your business and the class date. If the amount or the username is wrong, come back and fix it before telling anyone the page is open.

5. Getting paid, day to day

1. A client books and sends the money in Venmo.
2. You get an email, and the payment shows in Dashboard → Payments under Waiting for you to confirm.
3. Check it actually arrived in Venmo, then press Received. That is what adds it to their balance. Nothing is credited until you do.
4. If it never comes, press Never came. Their spot stays booked; only the money is written off.

Common problems

• The Venmo button does nothing on a laptop. Expected. The link opens the Venmo website, which asks them to use the app. On a phone it opens the app directly.
• No button, just an amount. Your username is blank or has not saved. Check step 3.
• Payment arrived with no note. Clients can edit the note before sending. Match it up by name and amount, or ask them to include the date next time.