Finding a high-risk payment gateway, and you sell bullion and precious metals. Migrate everything to a new Shopify store.
You have been looking at lists of payment gateways that work with Shopify. Stripe, Square, PayPal, Adyen — they all have checkboxes next to them saying 'high-risk' or 'supports adult' or 'accepts CBD'. Here is what those lists do not say. The gateway is the technical plumbing. It connects your checkout to a payment processor. Shopify supports dozens of them natively, and more through apps. But the gateway itself does not underwrite you. Behind every gateway sits a merchant account — a MID, a relationship with an acquiring bank or payment processor. That is where the actual application lives. That is where a human or an algorithm decides whether to accept your business type, your geography, your volume, your history. A gateway that 'supports high-risk' merchants does not mean it will approve you. It means it accepts applications from people in your category. The approval is separate, specific, and yours alone. Merchants commonly spend weeks comparing gateways and hours on the actual underwriting — and then get declined by the merchant account on day one.
Move all of it into a new store, from $247
One-time packages, no per-record metering, no quotes. The order form unlocks the moment you pay, counts are matched against your old store, and the entire migration then runs a second time — the second pass has to create nothing.
What you are looking at
- Gateway comparison lists showing 20 options, each marked 'high-risk friendly', with no mention of MID approval odds
- Shopify's app store showing third-party gateways as a simple install, with no warning about the separate merchant account application
- A message that a gateway 'accepts high-risk merchants', interpreted as approval, actually meaning only that they take applications
- Assumption that if Shopify integrates a gateway, it will approve a new high-risk merchant — not true
- Discovery three weeks into setup that the gateway's parent processor has declined the merchant account application
The merchant account decision is the actual deadline. You can prepare the technical setup while applications are pending, but nothing clears until underwriting says yes. Some processors publish estimated timelines; most do not. Time in underwriting is time your store makes no money.
Why it happened — specifically for bullion and precious metals
Stripe, which powers Shopify Payments, lists bullion and precious metals on its restricted businesses. The primary trigger is the economics: five-figure order values and high product liquidity make these transactions textbook targets for fraud and chargeback abuse. Acquirers price this risk by holding reserves and running enhanced due diligence. The secondary trigger is AML and KYC obligations — depending on your jurisdiction, you may be obliged to verify customer identity and source of funds, which is compliance work that Shopify Payments does not support on your behalf.
Rule out the easy fix first — then deal with the real one
Rule this out first, because there is no documented Shopify route for this category. Some merchants try to list under a different MCC — collectibles, antiques, general retail — to slip past the restriction. That fails at underwriting because your transaction history and product photos declare what you actually sell. The honest equivalent is that you will need to source a high-risk acquirer directly, through a broker or by finding one that advertises metals. That acquirer will run a full application, verify your business and your compliance posture, and decide whether to take you on their high-risk MID.
It only helps if all of these are true:
- No documented platform route exists for bullion dealers on Shopify Payments.
- You will need to apply to a high-risk acquirer separately.
- Application approval is not guaranteed and depends on your volume and history.
- Most acquirers will hold a rolling reserve for the duration of your account.
- Bank transfer or ACH rails may be required alongside card processing.
If any one of them does not hold, you are where everyone else on this page is: you need a store built around a gateway that will actually accept you — and everything you have built has to move into it without losing the catalog, the customers, the order history or the rankings.
What this means for a business like yours
💎 High average order value, so fraud and disputes cost more per event
A single dispute or fraud event becomes a material loss at high average order value, so underwriters will price reserves and rate penalties accordingly. The merchant account application will demand evidence of your fraud detection, address verification, CVV checking, and order review process. Shopify's third-party gateway fee applies to every transaction, which is material when your average order is large. Most high-risk acquirers will hold a mandatory reserve—often 5–15 per cent of rolling volume or a fixed dollar amount—as protection against a spike in chargebacks or fraud disputes. Honesty about your chargeback history matters more than optimism. A gateway list shows who processes the category; it does not show who will approve you or what reserve they will demand.
📦 Thousands of SKUs, deep variant matrices, distributor feeds
A large catalog with thousands of SKUs and variant matrices means you cannot hand-rebuild if you move gateways. The merchant account underwriter will want evidence that your system can reliably avoid selling prohibited items into prohibited jurisdictions—which matters most for weapons or age-restricted goods, but also for any category with geography-specific restrictions. Shopify's CSV export cannot carry videos, theme, metafields, discounts, redirects or orders, so a hand-migration is impossible anyway. When you approach a new acquirer, they will ask how you manage compliance at scale across your entire product range. A gateway that accepts your category means nothing if you cannot prove your SKU-level restrictions actually work. Plan the full migration—data structure, theme, image quality, SEO redirects—before you commit to a new processor. Underwriters want to see that you have already solved the operational problem, not that you are learning as you go.
What you actually have to fix
Underwriters do not change their minds because you asked. They change them because the facts changed. For bullion and precious metals, these are the facts that move the decision:
Document your AML and KYC procedures in writing
This is the single highest-yield fix because it is the gap most bullion dealers overlook. You are not required to build a full compliance programme unless your jurisdiction mandates it, but you must be able to describe how you verify customer identity — at what order threshold, using what documents, and what you do if a customer refuses. Write a one-page policy covering red flags (cash payments, multiple orders in series, requests for refunds as wire transfers) and how you handle them. You do not need software; you need clarity. An acquirer reviewing a bullion application will ask for this, and having it written down is the difference between 'approved pending review' and immediate decline.
Prepare a complete transaction and chargeback history
Acquire or rebuild 12–24 months of processing records from your current or previous processor — settlement reports, dispute logs, and final outcomes. Bullion dealers who have not looked at their chargeback rate often discover it is far higher than they realised, usually because friendly-fraud claims ('I didn't receive it') are easy for buyers to file on high-value orders. If your rate is elevated, prepare an explanation: describe your shipping process, your insurance coverage, and the verification steps you take to prevent reshipping fraud. An acquirer will use this to set your reserve and monitor your account.
Audit your product claims and grading language
Review every product page and description for clarity on weight, purity, certification and grading. Vague claims like 'investment-grade' without a standard, or conflicting grades across variants, create buyer disputes and chargebacks. If you source from third parties, ensure their certificates are embedded or linked on your product pages so a buyer knows exactly what they are getting. Acquirers are sensitive to authenticity disputes, so clarity in your listings is compliance work.
Verify your supplier documentation is complete
Prepare invoices, certificates of authenticity or wholesaler agreements that prove your access to inventory. If you are a reseller, your suppliers must be legitimate and traceable. If you source from private sellers, document your vetting process. Acquirers will ask whether your stock comes from reputable sources, especially for higher-value items, because counterfeit or conflict materials create legal risk. A folder of clear, dated supplier documents will speed underwriting.
What underwriting will ask you for
- Proof of precious metals inventory or supplier relationships — invoices, certificates of authenticity, or agreements with wholesalers showing your access to stock.
- KYC documentation for your business — government ID, articles of incorporation, business license and proof of address.
- Bank statements for the last 12–24 months showing legitimate transaction history and absence of chargebacks.
- AML policy documentation — your customer verification procedures, transaction monitoring and red-flag protocols if you have them.
- Product photography and descriptions from your store showing the exact items you sell and how they are graded or certified.
- Processing history from any previous payment processor — statements and chargeback reports to show your dispute rate.
- Customer refund and chargeback log for the last 12 months to demonstrate your claims handling practices.
Getting underwritten for bullion and precious metals
High-risk acquiring is an entire industry that exists for businesses Stripe declines, and several of them publicly underwrite bullion and precious metals. What none of them will tell you up front is the number that actually matters: what your business gets offered, once they have seen your volume, your claims and your history. Rate, reserve and settlement terms vary enormously between applicants in the same category.
Get real quotes from high-risk processors that accept bullion and precious metals
Six taps and three details. We put it in front of the high-risk acquirers that actually underwrite your category and come back with what they will offer you — rate, reserve and settlement terms — so you are comparing real numbers instead of cold-emailing brokers for a fortnight.
The recovery playbook
- Separate the gateway from the merchant account in your mindThe Shopify integration list shows what can be plugged in technically. The processor's application is what actually evaluates you. Installing a gateway in Shopify does not skip the merchant account step. It is the setup you can do in parallel. Write down the processor's name — the company that will actually underwrite you — separately from the gateway name. That distinction will save you weeks of confusion. When you get declined, you will know whether to blame the gateway (which is rare) or the underwriting criteria (which is the reason 99 times out of 100).
- Research the processor's actual criteria, not the gateway's marketingThe gateway's website will say 'we support high-risk merchants'. The processor's underwriting criteria — the thing that matters — lives in their application form, their policies, or a conversation with their underwriting team. Find it before you apply. Call them. Ask what business types they actually underwrite, what volume they need to see, whether they want reserves, what your rate will be. Cheaper gateways often cost more once you factor in reserves, higher rates, and transaction fees. Shopify also charges an additional third-party-gateway transaction fee on top of the processor's rate — tiered by your plan. That fee exists. Budget for it.
- Prepare your application materials while applications are pendingWhile the merchant account is being underwritten, you are waiting. Use that time to collect what processors will ask for: business registration, tax ID, processing history, bank statements, identity verification. Different processors have different checklists. Some will ask for personal guarantees. Some will want to know about past declined accounts. If you have been through a payment processor decline before, have that story ready and honest. Many processors now ask about MATCH history — the card networks' list of terminated merchants — and the answer matters more than the story. If you are on it, disclose it. Lying will disqualify you faster than the truth.
- Apply to multiple processors in parallel, not sequentiallyDo not pick one gateway, apply, get declined, then pick another. Research and apply to three to five processors whose criteria match your business type, in the same week if possible. Each application goes into the processor's system, and a decline does not flag you across all of them. But time between applications is time your store makes no money. Applications take days to weeks to process, so start the stack now rather than one at a time. Keep notes on each processor's criteria, rate, timeline, and reserve requirement so you can compare approved offers.
- Plan for worse terms than Shopify Payments, and budget the cost inIf you move to a third-party gateway, expect higher transaction rates, volume caps, rolling reserves, or setup fees. These are not bugs — they are how high-risk underwriting works. The processor is taking on more chargeback risk or regulatory scrutiny, so the pricing reflects that. Shopify Payments was a flat rate with no reserve. Your new processor will likely have both a rate and a reserve — money held back against chargebacks, sometimes 10 to 25 percent of monthly volume. That is working capital you do not have. Factor it into your business plan. If you cannot operate with a reserve, that processor is not a fit, and you move to the next application.
And then there is the part that actually loses businesses
If you do need a new store, the payments problem turns out to be the easy half. This is what is sitting in your current store right now, and what happens to each piece when someone tries to move it by hand:
Why this category in particular
Precious metals stores are dangerous to move by hand because certification and grading data lives in metafields. Certificate of Authenticity references, weight specifications, purity percentages and assay details are stored as text or file references that a CSV export cannot read at all. If your metafields point to PDFs or images hosted on your old store, those links break silently — a customer clicks 'View Certificate' and gets a 404, but your product page still renders. On a regulated product with audit and authenticity requirements, that is a compliance gap, not a cosmetic one. A proper migration tool reads those metafields and re-homes the file references to your new store.
| What you own | How much of it | What breaks doing it by hand | What we do instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product images | 6,800images≈ 28 hrsbulk re-upload, ~15 sec each | By handthe CSV carries image URLs and alt text, but they point at your OLD store's CDN — so the moment the old store goes, every image 404s. Re-upload and Shopify appends a dedupe suffix to the filename, which breaks every theme section and product description that referenced the original URL | Automatedevery file re-uploaded through the API with its alt text and variant attachment intact, its content type preserved so image-restricted fields still accept it, and every reference to the old URL rewritten |
| Product descriptions | 850descriptions≈ 2 hrsone pass to repair inline image links — the CSV carries the text | By handdescriptions are full of inline images and links pointing at the old store's CDN. Paste them into the new store and the text survives perfectly while every embedded image quietly dies — which you usually discover from a customer, not from a report | Automatedbodies copied verbatim, then a second pass rewrites every source-CDN URL inside them to the re-uploaded file on the new store |
| Product attributes & variants | 2,550variants≈ 45 minthe CSV carries these; the time is verifying option order | By handoption ORDER is part of the product's identity. Rebuild "Size, Colour" as "Colour, Size" and every theme swatch, saved customer URL and app that keys on variant position breaks — silently, because the product page still renders | Automatedvariants upserted by SKU with option names and order preserved, so swatches, deep links and app data keep working |
| Metafields & metaobjects | 5,100metafields≈ 34 hrsonly the reference, JSON and metaobject fields, ~1 min each | By handthe product CSV carries simple text and number metafields — but not metaobjects, and not reference or JSON types, which is exactly where app data and theme content live. Reference fields are the real trap: copy the value and it still points at objects in the OLD store, so the page renders and the custom block is silently empty | Automatedwritten in dependency order after their targets exist, with embedded references re-pointed at the new store's objects — and any value whose reference cannot be resolved is dropped rather than written broken |
| SEO data & redirects | 990records≈ 3 hrsredirects one at a time, plus a handle audit | By handany handle that changes becomes a dead URL with no redirect, and existing 301s are not in the product CSV at all. Years of accumulated ranking and backlinks end up pointing at pages that no longer resolve — the most expensive thing on this page to get wrong, and the slowest to notice | AutomatedSEO titles, meta descriptions and handles carried across, and every existing 301 recreated, so nothing that used to rank starts 404ing |
| Your custom theme | 1theme≈ 6 hrs2–10 hrs depending on how customised it is | By handa theme is not just its files. The settings, section content and block ordering are stored against the store, so a file copy gives you the layout and none of the content. Hardcoded asset URLs and tracking snippets also still point at the old store | Automatedyour live theme pulled and pushed as-is, then scanned for tracking snippets and hardcoded URLs that need re-pointing |
| Product videos | 12videos≈ 48 minre-upload and re-attach, ~4 min each | By handthe product CSV does not carry video or 3D media, so every one is a manual re-upload. They also cannot be pulled straight from a remote URL — the bytes have to be downloaded and staged first, and a wrong content type lands the file as a generic attachment that media-restricted fields then reject | Automatedvideo bytes downloaded, staged through a proper upload target, re-attached to the right product, and verified as processed rather than silently failed |
| Customers | 1,200customers≈ 2 hrsCSV import, then cleaning up the rows that fail | By handthe importer works, but marketing consent is the exposure: the CSV carries the current opt-in state and NOT the timestamp or source behind it. Re-opting someone in is a compliance breach, dropping them burns list revenue you paid for, and you cannot prove which happened afterwards. Default-address designation is also lost | Automatedcustomers upserted by email with every address, the default-address designation, and email and SMS consent states and timestamps preserved exactly as they were |
| Order history | 3,400orders≈ 8 hrsa paid third-party importer, plus a day of mapping and reconciliation | By handShopify's own CSV importer cannot create orders at all, so the hours here assume you buy a third-party importer — key them in by hand instead and 9,400 orders is closer to 390 hours, which is why nobody does that and why order history is simply abandoned in most DIY moves. Then support cannot answer a warranty claim, repeat-purchase segments are empty, and every returning-customer flow starts from zero. Getting the mapping wrong duplicates orders or re-dates them to today, and both are worse than not importing at all | Automatedfull order history recreated through the API with line items, properties, customers re-associated, original dates and tracking numbers intact |
| Navigation menus | 3menus≈ 1 hrsabout an hour to rebuild and relink them all by hand | By handmenu items store resource IDs, not paths, so nothing about them is portable — every link has to be re-pointed at the equivalent collection, page or product on the new store | Automatedmenus rebuilt with their nesting, and every item re-pointed at the equivalent object on the new store |
| Discount codes | 8discounts≈ 1 hrsabout 1 hr via the discount CSV, or ~3 hrs rebuilt by hand | By handthe discount CSV covers basic codes, but automatic discounts, quantity breaks and combination rules are not in it and have to be reconstructed by hand. A subtly wrong rule is worse than a missing one, because nobody notices until it has been over-discounting for a fortnight | Automateddiscounts recreated through the API with their rules, usage limits and dates intact, including automatic and free-shipping types |
| Blogs & pages | 30articles & pages≈ 2 hrsrecreated one at a time, ~4 min each | By handno CSV route for either. Articles also have no SEO fields of their own — their title and description tags live in metafields — so a hand-rebuilt blog loses its SEO even when every word of the text is right | Automatedarticles and pages recreated with authors, tags and publish dates, their SEO written to the metafields Shopify actually stores it in, and inline image URLs rewritten |
| Apps & app data | 10apps≈ 10 hrsabout 1 hr per app to reinstall, reconfigure and re-test | By handmost app data lives in metafields on your products and customers, so reinstalling the app gets you an empty app: reviews gone, subscription plans gone, loyalty balances gone, bundles gone. Flows and automations have to be rebuilt by hand and re-tested, and anything with its own billing has to be re-subscribed | Automatedthe metafield data your apps rely on migrates with the products and customers it hangs off, so a reinstalled app finds its data waiting instead of an empty store |
See these numbers for YOUR store, free
The figures above are a typical store in your category. The demo scan connects read-only to yours and counts the real thing — every product, variant, image, customer, order and metafield — then tells you exactly what a migration would carry across. No card, and it never writes to your store.
▶ Run the free demo scanDoes this need a new company?
You do not need a new legal entity to apply for high-risk processing. If you have a history of chargebacks or disputes under your current business name, opening a new company will not reset your record — acquirers perform due diligence on the person behind the business as well as the business itself. A fresh entity may delay your application further while the acquirer waits for operating history. The honest move is to address the underlying risk — lower your chargeback rate, strengthen your compliance, improve your shipping — and apply as yourself.
Frequently asked
Which payment gateway will accept a bullion dealer account?
The gateway is the easy part; the merchant account is the hard part. Several high-risk acquirers publicly underwrite precious metals dealers — PaymentCloud, Corepay, Easy Pay Direct and others — and they typically integrate via Authorize.net or direct bank connections. But which acquirer will take your application, at what reserve level and with what monitoring, depends entirely on your volume, your chargeback history and the strength of your compliance documentation. Rather than send you to cold-email a dozen brokers, use the high-risk acquirer comparison on this page.
What reserve should I expect to hold?
Most acquirers hold a rolling reserve of 10–20% of your turnover for 90–180 days. This means if you process £50,000 in a month, the acquirer holds £5,000–10,000 and releases it slowly after the reserve period ends — typically 90 to 180 days after each transaction. The exact percentage depends on your chargeback rate and dispute history. Bullion dealers with clean histories get the lower end; those with elevated friendly-fraud claims get the higher end. Ask for the reserve policy in writing before you sign, because it directly affects your cash flow.
Will my product certifications and COA data survive a store move?
Standard Shopify exports cannot carry metafields — the database fields where you store Certificate of Authenticity references, weight specs and assay details. If you move by hand or use a basic CSV tool, those fields are left behind and your product pages become incomplete. Your migration service must specifically extract metafields from your old store, re-home any file references, and push them into your new store alongside products and images. Always ask your migration provider whether they handle metafields, because on a regulated product like metals, losing that data is not a minor inconvenience.
Do I need a new company to get approved for payment processing?
No. Opening a new entity will not help and may delay you further. Acquirers perform due diligence on the person running the business as well as the business itself, so a new company does not reset your history if you have a record of chargebacks or disputes. The real move is to address the underlying risk: document your AML procedures, lower your chargeback rate, strengthen your shipping and verification, and apply as yourself. A clean application from an established business is stronger than a fresh entity with no operating history.
What is the difference between a payment gateway and a merchant account?
The gateway is the software bridge connecting your Shopify checkout to a payment processor — it handles the technical flow of card data. The merchant account is your commercial relationship with the processor, and it is where underwriting happens. You can have the gateway installed in Shopify and still not be approved for the merchant account. The gateway is necessary but not sufficient.
If Shopify integrates a third-party gateway, will it approve me?
No. Shopify's integration of a gateway means only that the technical connection is possible. The merchant account approval comes from the processor that owns the gateway, using their own underwriting criteria. Some of those processors are more liberal with high-risk categories than others, but none of them approve everyone. Integration and approval are separate decisions.
Will I have to pay Shopify a fee on top of the processor's rate?
Yes. Shopify charges an additional third-party-gateway transaction fee on top of what the processor charges. This fee is tiered by your plan. It is a real cost and should be factored into your rate comparison when you are deciding which processor to apply to. The processor's advertised rate is not your total rate.
Can I appeal if a processor declines my merchant account application?
You cannot appeal to force approval, but you can reapply later if your circumstances change meaningfully — higher volume, longer business history, reserves in place, or a shift in your business type toward lower-risk activity. Some merchants reapply after six months to a year. Most processors will consider a fresh application if your profile is different. Lying on the reapplication will disqualify you entirely.
If I get declined by one gateway processor, will other processors know about it?
Each processor screens applications against the card networks' MATCH file — the list of terminated merchants — but they do not automatically see declines from other processors. A decline itself is not instantly shared across the industry. However, multiple hard applications in a short time can raise flags for some processors, and if you are on MATCH, every processor will see it. Apply thoughtfully to a few good fits rather than scattering applications everywhere. If you have been declined before, disclose it in the new application.
Move everything, verified twice, from $247
Pick a package and the migration order form unlocks immediately. Your existing store is only ever read from — we never write to it, so nothing you still have can be made worse. How the migration runs, step by step →