My bank shows two transactions for the same order. Was I charged twice?

If you happen to check your bank account shortly after placing an order using a credit card, debit card or bank wirthdrawal, you may see two transactions for the same order in your pending transactions list. Here is an example: 

Seeing duplicate pending transactions for a single purchase is quite common. This typically results from standard bank processing rather than you actually being charged twice. It typically means one is the initial authorization hold, and the other is the final charge processing. 

What is an Authorization Hold?

An authorization hold is a temporary lock on a specific amount of money in your bank account. It ensures that you have enough funds to pay for a purchase before the transaction is completely finished. This is what you see as a "double payment" in your pending transactions list. Let's review the steps of an authorization hold:

1. When you swipe your card or click "buy," the merchant asks your bank if the money is available. If it is, the bank puts a hold on that amount.
2. This money is not sent to us yet. However, your available balance drops immediately so you cannot accidentally spend that money somewhere else.
3. A few days later, or typically the next business day we capture the transaction, and the money officially leaves your account. This ends up as your posted balance.

It's Important to Instead Check your Posted Transactions

Seeing two charges during the pending phase is usually due to an authorization hold overlapping with the final clearing process.  Both transactions may temporarily appear in your banking app until the initial authorization hold automatically expires, which can take anywhere from 1 to 5 business days. The hold may take more than one business day to clear and appear on your posted transactions. This typically depends on how your bank handles such transactions. 

Rest assured, we will only have one amount from your purchase, and encourage you to instead check the posted transactions on your account before contacting us about a double payment. If for some reason there actually is a double transaction on your posted list, we will also see that on our own transaction list and can then troubleshoot.