Guide ยท Carnival
Registration opens, you collect hard for a few months, then you stop. Here is how to set that up properly, and the deadline most bands miss.
Start here
Building the site takes days. Getting approved to accept cards online takes weeks, and that approval is not seasonal.
Count back from the day you open registration, not from Carnival. A large band opening six months out needs that conversation started roughly nine months before the road.
Scotiabank, Republic, First Citizens, RBC and CIBC Caribbean all offer online card acceptance in Trinidad and Tobago. Which gateway sits behind your account decides which plugin you need.
Built for the season
Pre-authorization holds an amount at registration without taking it. Capture the balance when the costume is confirmed, or void it if they drop out.
Scheduled instalments with the card stored after the first payment, so nobody is chasing balances in January. Needs the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension, sold separately by WooCommerce.
The payment form opens on your own page instead of bouncing people to the bank and back. Fewer steps matters most when 400 people arrive at once.
Overseas masqueraders
Decide early whether you want to price in US dollars as well as TTD. Currencies are enabled one at a time by the bank, so ask for both during the application rather than after.
3D Secure also matters more for you than for a domestic store. When a payment is authenticated, liability for a fraudulent chargeback moves to the card issuer rather than sitting with you.
Timeline
Not from Carnival itself. Large bands open registration around six months out, smaller bands three to four. Your launch date is the one that matters, and everything below counts backwards from it.
Large band
Registration opens about six months before Carnival, so the bank conversation starts roughly nine months out.
Smaller band or promoter
Registration opens three to four months before, so the bank conversation starts six to seven months out.
3 months before launch
Ask for online card acceptance, both currencies, API access and tokenization. All of it, in one conversation.
2 months before
The sandbox is free with every feature unlocked, so prove the whole flow while the bank is still processing.
1 month before
Swap in live credentials, run one real transaction, refund it. Start paying here, not earlier.
Launch day
Problems show up in the first ten orders, not the first thousand. Check confirmation emails are landing.
A longer selling window also means a longer licence. A band open six months runs the monthly plan for six months, at which point the annual plan is the cheaper option. We will say so rather than let you overpay.
Pay for the season, not the year
Most payment plugins are sold as an annual licence. If you sell for four months, that is eight months of paying for a checkout doing nothing.
We sell a monthly plan, and as far as we know we are the only plugin for Caribbean bank gateways that does. If you trade all year, take the annual plan instead. It is cheaper and gives you the value you need.
Seasonal
$19 per month
Start it when registration opens, cancel it when the season ends.
$57
3 months
$76
4 months
$114
6 months
Year round
$199 per year
Works out cheaper than monthly from around month eleven. If you sell all year, take this one.
If the season already started
A bank application will not save you. An aggregator such as WiPay will have you taking payments in days, because you are using their merchant facility rather than applying for your own.
You pay more per transaction and your money sits with them before it reaches you. For one season under pressure, that is often still the right call. Use them this year and start your bank application the same week.
Questions
Can I take card payments without a merchant account?
Yes, through an aggregator such as WiPay, which lets you use their merchant facility rather than applying for your own. It is faster to start and costs more per transaction, and your money passes through them before it reaches you.
How long does a bank merchant account application take?
Plan for weeks rather than days. The timeline varies by bank, by territory and by the kind of business you run, and a seasonal event business will usually face more questions than an established retailer. Start three months before you open registration.
Can I pay for the plugin only during my season?
Yes. Our monthly plan exists for exactly this, at $19 a month. Start it when registration opens, cancel it when the season ends, and start it again next year. If you sell all year round, the annual plan is cheaper.
Can masqueraders pay for a costume in instalments?
Yes, using WooCommerce Subscriptions for scheduled payments, or pre-authorization to hold a deposit and capture the balance later. Subscriptions need the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension, which is sold separately by WooCommerce, plus tokenization and recurring payments enabled on your merchant account.
What happens to my site after Carnival?
Nothing breaks. If you cancel a monthly licence the plugin keeps working, you simply stop receiving updates and support until you start it again. Most bands leave the site up year-round and only switch the licence on for the season.
When should a large band start, compared with a smaller one?
Large bands usually open registration around six months before Carnival, so the bank conversation should start roughly nine months out. Smaller bands and promoters open three to four months before, so six to seven months out. Count backwards from your launch date, not from Carnival.
Send us what the bank gave you and we will tell you which integration applies. We are in Trinidad, on your timezone.
