Ko-fi payments are made directly between supporters and creators on PayPal (or card if the creator has a Stripe account).
If you've sent a creator a payment using PayPal and you are seeing a status such as Unclaimed, Declined or Pending, it means the payment has not yet been fully cleared by PayPal. We don't show your donation on the creators page or update their goal until the payment is completed.
If these payments are not able to complete within 30 days you should receive your money back from PayPal automatically. PayPal also provides details of how to cancel payments that haven't completed.
Unclaimed or Pending Status Payments
A payment status of Unclaimed or Pending usually means there is a problem with the Creators PayPal account.
The most common reason for this is the creator you paid is not yet fully verified on PayPal.
They might be very new, haven't yet confirmed their email address or perhaps have added the wrong email address to Ko-fi. It is also possible they might need to accept payments in a new currency if you made the payment in a different currency to what they've previously received.
You don't need to do anything, the creator will be alerted by PayPal and will need to update their PayPal to complete the payment. Find out more about Unclaimed or Pending payments directly from PayPal.
Declined Payments
A Payment Status of Declined usually means there is a problem with your PayPal account or funding method.
If your payment to a creator has a status of Declined, it usually means there is a problem with your PayPal. You may need to confirm your bank, confirm your card or switch funding source on PayPal. Find out more about declined payments and how to resolve them from PayPal.
More Payment Statuses Explained
Here's a useful guide to payment statuses directly from PayPal.