Paystack vs Flutterwave: Which Suits a Nigerian Fashion Store?

For a Nigerian fashion store, Paystack vs Flutterwave comes down to three things: the fee on your typical local order, the fee on foreign cards if you sell to the diaspora, and which one works cleanly with your store platform. Both are established Nigerian payment gateways, so the better choice is the one that costs less on your real order mix and fits how you sell.

This guide gives you a method to price both, using fees from each company's own pricing page. Payments are one part of selling fashion online from Nigeria. The bigger picture, including fit and try-on for African fashion, is in our guide to virtual try-on for African fashion brands.

What do Paystack and Flutterwave do for a fashion store?

Both are payment gateways. A gateway takes the shopper's card, bank transfer or other payment, checks it and sends the money to your bank account, minus a fee.

For a fashion store, the gateway sits at checkout. It affects:

• Which payment methods shoppers see. Cards, bank transfer and other local options.
• What you pay per order. A percentage, sometimes with a cap or a flat part.
• How fast you get paid. The settlement time to your bank.
• Whether foreign shoppers can pay. Important if you sell to customers in the UK, US or elsewhere.

What does Flutterwave charge in Nigeria?

Here is what Flutterwave's Nigeria pricing page listed, checked November 2026.

Fee type	Flutterwave Nigeria
Local transactions	"1.4% transaction fee + 0.6% platform fee", shown as 2% per transaction
Cap on local fee	None listed
International cards	4.8% per transaction, charged and settled in local currency by default
Transfers, NGN 5,000 and below	NGN 10 per transfer
Transfers, NGN 5,001 to NGN 50,000	NGN 25 per transfer
Transfers, above NGN 50,000	NGN 50 per transfer
VAT	Transaction fees carry 7.5% VAT

The page also says that by default customers bear transaction charges, and you can change this in your dashboard. Decide on purpose who pays the fee, because it changes the price your shopper sees at checkout.

What does Paystack charge in Nigeria?

Paystack publishes its Nigerian fees on its own pricing page. We don't repeat them here, because we only quote fees we could confirm on the live page when this guide was written. Read the local card fee, any cap, any waiver for small orders and the international card fee, then enter them in the worksheet below.

Look for these points in particular:

• Whether the local fee has a cap, which matters for high-value pieces such as bridal or aso ebi orders.
• Whether small orders have any fee waiver.
• The fee on international cards, if you sell abroad.
• Fees on transfers out, if you pay suppliers or staff from the balance.

How do you price both on your own orders?

A gateway that looks cheaper on one order can cost more across a month. Use your real order mix.

Step 1: Pull last month's orders

Split them into local orders and foreign-card orders. Note the average order value for each group.

Step 2: Fill in this worksheet

	Flutterwave	Paystack
Local fee rate	2% (per the Flutterwave Nigeria pricing page)	From Paystack's pricing page
Local fee cap	None listed	From Paystack's pricing page
International card fee	4.8%	From Paystack's pricing page
VAT on fees	7.5%	Check Paystack's page
Your local orders × average value × rate	Your figure	Your figure
Your foreign orders × average value × rate	Your figure	Your figure
Monthly total	Your figure	Your figure

Step 3: Check one example order

Here is a worked example for a single order on Flutterwave, using its listed rates.

Order	Fee rate	Fee	VAT on fee	Total cost
₦50,000 local order	2%	₦1,000	₦75	₦1,075
₦50,000 order on a foreign card	4.8%	₦2,400	₦180	₦2,580

Source for rates: Flutterwave Nigeria pricing, checked November 2026. Do the same two lines with Paystack's listed rates to compare.

Which matters more for a fashion store: local or international fees?

It depends on who buys from you.

If most of your buyers are…	Focus on
In Lagos, Abuja and other Nigerian cities	The local fee and any cap
In the diaspora, paying with UK, US or EU cards	The international card fee
A mix, with big-ticket custom orders	The cap on large local orders and the international rate
Wholesale buyers paying by transfer	Transfer and settlement terms

Many Nigerian fashion brands sell to both groups. A brand selling ankara sets locally and agbada to the diaspora might see most orders local but most revenue from abroad. Price both groups separately before you decide.

What else should you compare besides fees?

Fees are only part of the choice. Check these on each gateway's site or with their sales team:

• Platform support. Does it work with your store builder or checkout? Confirm on the gateway's own integrations page.
• Payment links and invoices. Useful for custom orders sold over WhatsApp or Instagram.
• Settlement time. How quickly money reaches your bank.
• Refunds and disputes. How a chargeback is handled and what it costs.
• Currency. Whether foreign payments settle in naira or another currency.
• Support. How quickly you can reach someone when a payout is late.

If you sell made-to-measure pieces, also think about how you request deposits. A payment link is fast, but a full invoice records measurements, balance and delivery date. The guide on Paystack payment links versus proper invoices explains when each one fits.

Can you use both gateways?

Yes, some stores do. You might use one at the store checkout and the other for payment links on custom orders. Running two means two dashboards, two sets of payouts and two reconciliations each month, so only do it if the savings or features are clear.

A simple rule: start with one gateway, track fees for three months, then decide whether a second one would pay for itself.

How do you set up a gateway without mistakes?

Whichever gateway you choose, the setup steps are similar. Doing them in order avoids failed payouts and confused shoppers.

1. Register the business name you trade under. Use the same name on your gateway account, bank account and store, so payouts match.
2. Have your documents ready. Gateways ask for business and identity details before they release live payments. Check each one's onboarding page for the exact list.
3. Test in test mode first. Place a test order for a dress, a test refund and a test failed payment.
4. Decide who pays the fee. Absorb it in your prices, or pass it to the shopper. Make the choice clear at checkout.
5. Set your payout account. Confirm the account name matches your business name.
6. Write a short refund note. Tell shoppers how long a card refund takes to appear, so they don't email daily.
7. Reconcile weekly. Match gateway payouts to orders every week for the first two months.

What to watch in your first month

Track failed payments by method. If many foreign cards fail, ask the gateway why before you assume shoppers changed their minds. Also watch for orders marked paid in the gateway but unpaid in your store, which usually points to a setup issue.

What happens after the payment goes through?

A cheap gateway helps your margins. A wrong size eats them. When an order ships across the world and comes back, the shipping cost on both legs can be larger than the gateway fee on the sale.

That is why fit tools matter for Nigerian brands selling abroad. With AI size recommendation for fashion stores, a shopper in London or Houston gets a size from your own chart before paying. ZeDaq.ai does this with a 30-second scan, one photo plus height, matched to the size guide you enter in your dashboard. It also offers try-on, where the shopper uploads one photo and sees your real garment on their body.

ZeDaq.ai works on Shopify through an app, and on WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, BigCommerce and custom sites through a script-tag widget. If you are weighing it against a larger sizing vendor, see ZeDaq.ai versus Fit Analytics.

ZeDaq.ai's Free plan includes 3 try-ons, 3 measurements and 5 invoices a month. Paid plans are Micro at $14/mo, Starter at $49/mo, Growth at $129/mo and Scale at $299/mo, each with a 3-day free trial and no card required.

FAQs

Which is cheaper, Paystack or Flutterwave?

It depends on your order values and how many foreign cards you take. Price your last month of orders using both pricing pages and the worksheet above.

Can foreign customers pay a Nigerian store?

Flutterwave's Nigeria pricing page lists an international card rate, so foreign cards are supported there. Check Paystack's pricing page for its international card terms.

Who pays the gateway fee, me or the customer?

Flutterwave's page says customers bear transaction charges by default and you can change this in the dashboard. Check Paystack's settings for its options.

Does ZeDaq.ai process payments?

No. ZeDaq.ai doesn't process store payments. It provides try-on and size recommendation for stores, and invoicing for tailors.