What happens when my Ordinary billing charge fails?

Your Ordinary plan is billed on your Shopify bill. If that bill isn't paid, Shopify retries it for up to 28 days while your store and Ordinary keep working normally. If it's still unpaid after that, Shopify freezes your app charges and Ordinary is paused until the bill is paid. Your data keeps being captured the whole time.

Ordinary says it's paused. How do I get access back?

Update your payment method and pay the outstanding bill in your Shopify admin under Settings → Billing. Once Shopify takes the payment, click the re-check button on the paused screen and Ordinary opens again with no gaps in your data.

Will I be moved to the Free plan if my payment fails?

No. A failed payment never changes your plan. Ordinary is paused while the bill is unpaid and comes back on the same plan once it's paid.

My card is fine but the charge was declined — why?

Shopify's fraud detection sometimes blocks legitimate charges. Check the card expiration (banks occasionally rotate the number), call your bank to whitelist a new recurring charge, and confirm the billing address matches the card's registered address in Shopify.

How does billing work on Enterprise plans?

Enterprise is billed directly via Stripe invoice with Net 14 terms (or your contract's terms), with reminders at day 15, 20, and 25. Reply to any invoice email to update the Stripe payment method.

Billing charge declined

What happens when the Shopify bill that includes your Ordinary plan isn't paid, why Ordinary keeps working while Shopify retries, when it pauses, and how to restore access.

Written by The Ordinary Team · Updated October 16, 2026

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If the payment for your Ordinary plan fails, here’s what happens and how to recover.

Billing is handled by Shopify for most plans

On Free, Starter, and Advanced plans, your Ordinary plan is a line on your Shopify bill — same payment method as your Shopify subscription.

On Enterprise, billing is direct via Stripe invoice; different flow.

What happens on a failed payment (Shopify plans)

Shopify retries — when your Shopify bill can’t be paid, Shopify emails you and retries the charge for up to 28 days. Your store stays open and Ordinary keeps working normally the whole time.
Shopify freezes app charges — if the bill is still unpaid after that, Shopify freezes your store’s billing, including your app charges. From then on Ordinary is paused: you’ll see a screen asking you to settle the bill in Shopify.
Your data keeps flowing — while paused, Ordinary still captures your store’s data in the background, so your dashboards pick up with no gaps once you pay.
Your plan doesn’t change — a failed payment never moves you to Free. Once Shopify takes the payment, you’re back on the same plan.

How to fix it

Open your Shopify admin.
Go to Settings → Billing.
Update your payment method and pay any outstanding bill.
Back in Ordinary, click the re-check button on the paused screen. Payment changes can take a moment to register; if it still shows paused, wait a few seconds and try again.

For Enterprise (Stripe invoice) plans

Different flow:

Invoices are emailed to your billing contact with Net 14 terms (or whatever your contract specifies).
A late invoice generates a reminder at Day 15, 20, 25.
After Day 30 past-due, we’ll email your primary contact before any service impact.

To update the Stripe payment method for Enterprise, reply to any invoice email or contact sales@tryordinary.com.

”Charge declined” but my card is fine

Occasionally Shopify’s fraud detection blocks a legitimate charge. Check:

Card expiration date (even if it looks fine, sometimes bank rotated the number).
Bank hold — a new, non-recurring charge can trigger a hold on some cards. Call the bank to whitelist it.
Billing address matches your card’s registered address in Shopify.

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