--- title: The cart and checkout description: The cart holds everything you have configured; checkout turns it into an order. This article covers reviewing the cart, choosing the currency you pay in, applying a promo code, using account credit, choosing how to pay, and the terms you… url: "https://rackhelm.com/documentation/cart-and-checkout/" updated: "2026-09-24" category: "Client Portal: Account & Billing" --- # The cart and checkout The cart holds everything you have configured; checkout turns it into an order. This article covers reviewing the cart, choosing the currency you pay in, applying a promo code, using account credit, choosing how to pay, and the terms you may be asked to accept before the order can go through. ## Your cart Open **Cart** in the sidebar or go to `/cart`. Each line shows: - The product name and the billing cycle (or **One-Time**). - Any configuration values you entered, and any addons with their prices and setup fees. - The unit price — the recurring price plus every setup fee — the quantity, and the line total. - A bin icon to remove the line. Addons bought for an existing service appear as their own line, marked *For Service: *, priced against that service's cycle. The **Summary** panel shows the subtotal and a **Checkout** button. Discounts and credit are applied on the next page, not here. > **Tip:** You can fill a cart before you have an account. When you sign in or register, the items follow you into your account — you do not need to add them again. ### Currency If your provider sells in more than one currency, a **Currency** selector appears in the cart summary, and another in the site header. Changing it reprices the cart; your new orders and invoices are then raised in that currency. Services you already have keep the currency they were bought in. The currency also decides which payment methods you will be offered at checkout: Square takes payments in one currency only, and PayPal only in the currencies PayPal supports. If the selector is missing and the summary reads "Prices are in . Your account holds credit in this currency, so it cannot be switched here — contact support to have it converted.", you hold account credit, which pins the currency until your provider converts it. ## Checking out ![The checkout page with billing address, payment method and an order summary panel](/wp-content/uploads/rackhelm-docs/portal-account-checkout.png) The order summary on the right recalculates as you turn credit on or apply a promo code. ### 1. Account details (guests only) If you are not signed in, checkout asks for **Full Name**, **Email Address**, **Password** and **Confirm Password**, and creates your account as part of placing the order. The same password policy as registration applies. If the address already has an account you are asked to sign in first, and the order is not attached to it. ### 2. Billing address Pick a saved address from **Select Address**, or choose to enter a new one. The new-address fields are **Address Line 1**, **Address Line 2**, **City**, **State/Region**, **Postcode**, **Phone Number** and **Country**, plus the optional **.UK Domain Details** block (**UK Legal Type** and **Registrant Name**) for .uk registrations. The phone number is validated against the country you choose. ### 3. Payment method - **Use Account Credit** — shown when you hold a balance. Turning it on applies as much credit as the order needs, up to your balance, and the summary gains a **Credit Applied** line. - **Saved Methods** — your stored cards, PayPal accounts and agreements, with your default already selected. Choose **Use a new payment method** to pay another way. - New payment tabs appear for whatever your provider has enabled and made available to you: **Credit Card** (Stripe), **PayPal**, **Bank Transfer**, **Square** and **Card** (Authorize.net), in that order. The first tab is selected for you. - **Save this payment method for future purchases securely** is ticked by default and stores the method for renewals. Card numbers are held by the payment provider, never by RackHelm. A provider can rename any of these tabs — Stripe's **Credit Card** tab often reads **Debit/Credit Card** instead. The wording changes, the payment does not. > **Note:** You will not necessarily see every method your provider has set up. A method is only offered if it can take a payment in your currency, and a provider can keep a newly added method staff-only while they test it. Saved methods on a method that has been withheld are hidden too, so you never see a saved card with nothing behind it. ![The Payment Method panel at checkout showing saved methods above tabs for Debit/Credit Card, PayPal and Bank Transfer](/wp-content/uploads/rackhelm-docs/portal-checkout-payment-tabs.png) Only the methods available to you are shown, and their names are whatever your provider calls them. Three tabs behave differently from a plain card form: - **PayPal** — the PayPal button itself pays and places the order; the green button at the bottom of the summary is disabled while the PayPal tab is selected. The exception is an order with nothing left to pay, where the PayPal button is hidden and the note reads "Nothing to pay now: press the button below to complete your order." - **Square** — your card is verified in the browser, and where your bank asks for it a 3-D Secure challenge from the bank appears before the order is placed. Paying with a saved Square card re-verifies it the same way. - **Bank Transfer** — no details are collected, and the save-for-future box disappears. See [Paying by bank transfer](#bank-transfer). If no payment method is available to you at all, the panel says so — **"No payment methods are available at the moment. Please contact support to complete your order."** — and the pay button stays disabled while there is anything left to collect. If credit covers the whole total, the payment section is replaced by **Your account credit covers the entire total. No payment method needed.** ### 4. Promo code Enter a code in the **Promo Code** box and select **Apply**. Applied codes show an **APPLIED** badge and can be removed again. A discount only applies to lines the code covers — codes can be restricted to particular products, product groups or billing cycles, and your provider decides whether they also reduce setup fees and addons. Account credit top-ups are never discounted. ### 5. Terms & Agreements Some products require you to accept a specific document — Nominet's terms on a .uk domain, for example. When one is in your cart, a **Terms & Agreements** panel appears with a tick box and a link to each document. Every box must be ticked; the check is enforced on the server, so the order cannot be placed without it. Your acceptance is recorded with the document version, the date, your IP address and your browser. ### 6. Place the order Select the button at the foot of the summary. It reads **Pay £x** while there is a balance, and **Complete Order** when credit or a discount has cleared it. On the PayPal tab, use the PayPal button instead. On success you are taken to the thank-you page and emailed a confirmation. Order placement is limited to six attempts a minute per IP address. ## Paying by bank transfer Choosing **Bank Transfer** places the order and leaves the invoice unpaid. The invoice page then shows your provider's bank details and the invoice number to quote as the reference. The service is set up once the funds are confirmed. ## When a payment is still being confirmed Card and PayPal payments occasionally end without a clear answer, or are held for review by the card processor. RackHelm never retries these by itself, and neither should you: paying again is how people get charged twice. You will see one of these, and each one means the same thing — stop, and wait to be contacted. - "We're still confirming your previous payment. Please don't retry; we'll contact you." - "Your payment is being reviewed by the card processor. You do not need to do anything, and please do not pay again. We will confirm it as soon as the review ends." - "We couldn't confirm your card payment. Please don't retry: we will check it and contact you." (and the PayPal and Authorize.net wordings of the same) > **Warning:** Do not place the order again after any of these messages, and do not pay the invoice by another method. The invoice is deliberately frozen until your provider confirms what happened, and a second attempt is the one thing that can take the money twice. A message that says you have *not* been charged — "Your card payment could not be processed and you have not been charged. Please try again, or use another payment method." — is the opposite case: nothing was taken, and trying again is safe. ## Troubleshooting | Message or symptom | Cause and fix | | --- | --- | | "Your cart is empty." | The cart was emptied or the session expired. Add the items again. | | "One or more items in your cart could not be priced. Please remove them and try again." | A line no longer resolves to a valid price — usually an addon whose price for that cycle was removed, or a product not sold in your chosen currency. Delete the line and re-add it; raise a ticket if it recurs. | | "No payment methods are available at the moment. Please contact support to complete your order." | Nothing your provider has enabled can take this order — often because none of their methods handles the currency you are shopping in. Switch currency in the cart if you can, or raise a ticket. | | "Please select a payment method." / "Please enter your payment details." | There is still a balance to collect. Choose a saved method or complete a new payment tab. Bank transfer needs no card details. The same wording is used when the method you chose is not one you may use. | | "Your card could not be verified. Please try again." | A saved Square card failed re-verification in the browser — often a cancelled or failed 3-D Secure challenge. Try again, or pay with another method. | | A payment tab you expected is missing | That method is not offered for your currency, or your provider has not yet made it available to customers. Changing currency in the cart can change which tabs appear. | | The save-for-future box disappears | Expected on Bank Transfer, and on PayPal when your provider's PayPal app cannot keep accounts for renewals. You can still pay; the method just will not be stored. | | "You must read and accept before placing this order." | A required agreement is unticked. Tick every box in the **Terms & Agreements** panel. | | "Invalid or expired coupon code." | The code is inactive, outside its date range, or fully used up. Check it with your provider. | | The code applies but the discount is £0.00 | Nothing in the cart is eligible. Codes can be limited to certain products, groups or cycles. | | "An account with this email already exists. Please sign in to complete your purchase." | Sign in first, then return to checkout — the cart is preserved. | | "We could not complete your order. Please try again or contact support." | A payment or infrastructure failure. Nothing was charged twice; try again, then raise a ticket. | | The order is blocked with a security message | The provider's fraud screening rejected the order. Contact them through a ticket. | | The cart looks empty after signing in | Reload the cart page. Items added before signing in are merged into your account on sign-in. | After ordering, track payment on [your invoices](/docs/understanding-your-invoices/) and the service itself on [your dashboard](/docs/your-client-dashboard/).