I'm having trouble with checkout or logging into my account, what do I do?

Most of what looks like a "payment error" at checkout isn't actually about payment. It's usually a small mismatch happening before payment ever begins, between the account you're signed into, the contact info on your order, or the address you're shipping to. Once you know what the system is checking for, the fix is usually quick.

This guide walks through the issues we see most often, what's causing them, and what to do. Sections are numbered so we can point you to the right one quickly.

1. Quick reference

Find what you're seeing and jump to the section.

What you're seeing	Most likely cause	Section
"Contact info must match the account you're signed in to"	A signed-in session, or the contact info saved on your order, doesn't match the account you're signed into	2
Same error, but you don't have or use a Shop account	You're likely signed into our order tracker at account.badasspatches.com	2.1
"Selected shipping address is not valid"	The address on the order is in a format the system rejects, often a military address with details in the wrong fields, or a phone number it can't read	3
Continue button is greyed out and won't activate	APO/FPO/DPO or PO Box address blocking Shop Pay Installments	4.2
Capital One or Chase card rejected on installments	Card-level block on Shop Pay Installments	4.1
"There was a problem processing your payment"	Bank decline, billing zip mismatch, or fraud hold	7
"Customer account creation has been disabled"	Country restriction on your region	9.1
Your store credit isn't showing up at checkout	Currency switched to non-USD from an international address	10
You can't log into the portal	You may have registered with Google or the email link (no password exists), or never registered	11
You never got the email link	Government network blocking, an email provider scanning the link, spam folder, or expired link	11.3
"You've been blocked for security reasons" page	Several expired sign-in links clicked in a row triggered a temporary security block	11.4

2. The "Contact info must match the account you're signed in to" error

This is the most common issue we see, and despite how it looks, it's not a problem with your card or your bank. The checkout has detected that your browser is signed into a customer account, and the contact details on your invoice don't match the account you're signed in as. When there's any mismatch, it blocks you at the contact step before payment can even begin. That's why nothing you try with payment methods works.

2.1 Why you see this even if you don't use Shop

The account causing the conflict usually isn't a Shop account at all. It's your Badass Patches order tracker account at account.badasspatches.com. If you've ever signed in there to check on an order, your browser may still be holding that session. When you then open an invoice link, the checkout compares the invoice's contact info against that signed-in session, and if the emails differ (even slightly, like a work email versus a personal one), it blocks.

The same conflict can also come from a Shop or Shop Pay session if you have one, since the two account systems are connected behind the scenes. But "I don't even use Shop" and seeing this error are completely consistent: the order tracker session alone is enough to trigger it.

2.2 Three ways to get past it

Sign out of the order tracker. Go to account.badasspatches.com, sign out, then open your invoice link again. This removes the session the checkout is comparing against, and it's the most direct fix.
Open the invoice link in a private or incognito browser tab. An incognito tab carries no signed-in session at all, so the comparison never happens. If you're not sure where the conflicting session lives, this is the most reliable single step.
If you use the Shop app or Shop Pay, make sure you're signed in there with the same email that's on your order, or sign out of it as well.

Either way, once you're at checkout, you can skip the purple "Shop" button at the top and scroll down to pay by card, PayPal, or another method directly.

One distinction worth knowing: the Custom Order Portal at portal.badasspatches.com is a separate system, and signing out of it won't change anything here. The session that matters for this error is the order tracker at account.badasspatches.com.

2.3 If none of that works, the invoice itself needs a fix on our end

If you've signed out, tried an incognito tab, and you're still blocked, the cause is almost always the contact info saved on the order itself: a phone number or email that doesn't match the account you're signed into. Most often it's the phone number, where the number saved on the order is different from the one on your account. No checkout workaround can clear this, because the mismatched data travels with the invoice. It has to be corrected by our team.

Reply to your order email or write us at orders@badasspatches.com. Including these speeds things up to a single pass:

The email address your order was placed under
Your correct phone number, with the proper country code and nothing extra
A screenshot of the exact error, if you can grab one

Once corrected, checkout should go through normally.

3. The "Selected shipping address is not valid" error

This one looks similar to the contact-match error, but it has a different cause. Instead of comparing your account to your order, the system is rejecting something about the address itself.

The most common reason is a formatting issue, and it shows up most often on military (APO/FPO/DPO) addresses. These have a strict format, and each piece has to land in the right field:

The recipient's name goes in the name field, not in the street address line.
The unit and box numbers (PSC and BOX, or UNIT and BOX) go in the address line.
The city must be only APO, FPO, or DPO, never the name of an overseas city.
The state must be AA, AE, or AP.
The country must be United States.

If a name or any extra text ends up in the street address line, or the pieces are split across the wrong fields, checkout reads the whole address as invalid even when everything is technically correct. Some address checkers also simply don't recognize military addresses at all, even when they're formatted properly.

A second, less common cause is a phone number entered in a format the system can't read. This happens with overseas and military orders, where a number sometimes ends up with an extra country code stacked on the front (for example, a German number that reads as +1 49... instead of +49...). To the system, that's not a valid number, so it can block the whole address.

Here's the important part: in most cases this is a problem with the data saved on the order, not with anything you're doing at checkout, and it has to be corrected on our end. Reply to your order email or write us at orders@badasspatches.com, and include your address exactly as it should appear along with your correct phone number. We'll fix the formatting and let you know when to try again.

Two things that can help on your side in the meantime: if you're selecting a saved address (such as a saved Shop address), try entering the address fresh at checkout instead, and you can skip the saved-address option and pay by card directly. If the error is coming from a saved address rather than our copy, that often clears it.

4. Shop Pay Installments restrictions

Shop Pay Installments (the payment plan option at checkout) is powered by Affirm and has a few restrictions that aren't always clearly communicated at checkout. If you're trying to use installments and something isn't working, one of these is almost always the reason.

4.1 Some cards and wallets aren't accepted

Shop Pay Installments doesn't accept Capital One or Chase credit cards, or any prepaid credit or debit cards. If you select one of these, you may see a warning the moment the card is recognized. This is a card-level block from Affirm, not from us. The only path forward is using a different card or paying in full with another method.

Installments also can't be combined with digital wallets like Apple Pay. If you want to use installments, choose a regular debit or credit card rather than a wallet.

4.2 Military addresses (APO/FPO/DPO) and PO Boxes aren't supported

This one is frustrating because there's often no error message. You fill out the form, everything looks correct, but the continue button stays greyed out and inactive. Shop Pay Installments can't ship to APO/FPO/DPO military addresses or PO Boxes, and the eligibility check fails silently.

If your shipping address is APO/FPO/DPO or a PO Box, you won't be able to use installments. You can still pay in full using a regular card, PayPal, or Apple Pay.

If you have both an excluded card and an APO address, you're hitting two restrictions at once, which is why nothing works regardless of what you try.

5. PayPal issues

PayPal usually works cleanly, but a few things come up.

5.1 Your billing address doesn't match

If PayPal declines, a common reason is a billing address mismatch. The billing address PayPal has on file may not match the one tied to your card or bank. In PayPal, click "Change" and confirm your real billing address, then try again.

5.2 You're outside the US

If you're physically outside the US (deployed, traveling, working overseas), PayPal may block the transaction based on the country tied to your account and where the order is shipping. You'll see something like "PayPal doesn't allow residents of [country] to ship purchases to [country]." This is a fraud-prevention restriction on PayPal's side, not something we can change on ours.

The simplest fix is to use a different payment method, such as a regular card, Apple Pay, or Amazon Pay.

6. Apple Pay and Amazon Pay

These are wallet-based and generally either work cleanly or fail with a clear message. The most common issue is the same as PayPal: the billing address on the underlying card doesn't match what's stored in the wallet. If you hit a failure on Apple Pay or Amazon Pay, the fastest fix is usually to try a regular card or PayPal instead.

Apple Pay can also occasionally fail on older device or browser combinations. Regular card checkout is the reliable fallback. (Note that Apple Pay can't be used together with Shop Pay Installments. See section 4.1.)

7. Card declines

The most common message you'll see when a card declines is the generic "There was a problem processing your payment. Try again or use a different payment method." The message is kept intentionally generic for security reasons, but the actual reason almost always falls into one of these.

7.1 Billing zip doesn't match

Banks check the billing zip code you enter against the one on file with your account. If they don't match, the transaction declines. This often happens when the shipping zip gets entered in the billing field by accident, or after a recent move where the bank still has the old address.

Double check that the billing zip matches your bank statement, not your shipping address.

7.2 Your bank put a fraud hold on it

If you're making an unusually large purchase, buying from a new merchant, or doing anything that looks unusual based on your spending pattern, your bank may automatically decline as a precaution. You'll often get a text from your bank asking if you authorized the transaction. Confirm with them and try again, or call your bank's number on the back of your card.

This is more common with larger orders and with cards that don't see a lot of variation in spending.

7.3 The card isn't supported

A small number of cards aren't accepted, usually international cards from certain regions, or prepaid cards on certain payment methods. Trying a different card is the only option.

If you've hit "There was a problem processing your payment" multiple times across multiple methods, the issue is almost never on our end. Call your bank first, and if everything looks clear on their side, try a different card or PayPal.

8. APO, FPO, and DPO addresses

If you're shipping to a military address, here's what you need to know.

State codes are AA (Americas), AE (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and AP (Pacific). These aren't real states, they're military mail designators, and you should use them as your state at checkout.

Military mail routes through USPS only. FedEx, UPS, and DHL can't deliver to APO/FPO/DPO addresses. Once we hand a package to USPS, military mail handling takes over. Expedited service to military addresses is limited and never guaranteed, so plan extra time for overseas delivery.

Shop Pay Installments doesn't work on military addresses (see section 4.2). PayPal generally does, as long as you're not blocked for shipping from outside the US (see section 5.2).

The address format matters. Standard designators are PSC (Postal Service Center), CMR (Community Mail Room), or Unit, followed by a box number. Your name goes in the name field, and the unit and box go in the address line. If you're not sure how to format yours, your unit mailroom can confirm.

9. International customers

If you're shipping outside the US, a few things may come up.

9.1 "Customer account creation has been disabled"

This error usually means there's a country restriction on your region. The store uses your actual IP location, not a URL parameter, to determine which market you're in. If we don't currently sell to your country, this error appears even though account creation works for US customers.

If you're seeing this and want to place an order, write us at orders@badasspatches.com and let us know where you are. We can look into options for your situation.

9.2 Currency switches at checkout

When you enter a non-US shipping address, the checkout currency generally switches to match the destination country (GBP for UK, EUR for Europe, and so on). This has two effects.

First, any USD store credit on your account becomes unavailable, because store credit is currency-locked. The credit isn't gone, it just doesn't show up as a payment option for non-USD checkouts. To use a USD credit, you'd need to ship to a US or APO/FPO/DPO address.

Second, shipping prices change. Our domestic and APO rates don't apply to international addresses, and international carrier pricing is generally higher.

10. Store credit

Store credit is locked to the currency it was issued in. A USD store credit only appears as a payment method when the checkout is in USD, which means you need to ship to a US, APO, FPO, or DPO address to use it.

Store credit can't be applied retroactively to an already-paid invoice. If you paid for an order without realizing you had credit available, the options are either refunding your payment and re-invoicing with the credit applied, or holding the credit for a future order.

11. Logging into the portal

The portal at portal.badasspatches.com gives you three ways to sign in: email and password, Sign in with Google, and a one-time email link (passwordless). If your order email is a Gmail address, Sign in with Google is the smoothest option, since there's no password to remember and no link to expire.

Most "I can't log in" issues trace back to one of a few patterns.

11.1 You registered with Google or the email link, so no password exists

If you registered using Sign in with Google or the "Email link" (passwordless) option, no password was ever set on your account. There's nothing wrong with your account, there's just no password on it, so typing one into the password field will fail every time no matter what you enter.

This is the single most common login issue we see, and it's easy to spot: you know you have an account, you're sure you're using the right email, but password sign-in keeps saying invalid.

You have three ways forward:

Sign in the same way you registered. If you signed up with Google, use the Sign in with Google button. If you signed up with the email link, use the email link option.
Set a password for the first time. Click "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in page. Despite the name, this link also works for creating a password on an account that never had one. After that, email and password sign-in works normally.
Not sure how you registered? If your order email is a Gmail address, try Sign in with Google first. It's the smoothest option either way.

The sign-in page will also show you a reminder about this if a password attempt fails.

11.2 The email link isn't working

Email sign-in links are one-time use and expire after a short window. If you're clicking a link from an email that's hours or days old, or a link you've already used once, it won't work. Go back to the sign-in page and request a fresh one, then use the newest email right away, and click the link only once.

There's a second cause that catches a lot of people: some email providers, notably Hotmail and Outlook, automatically scan links in incoming mail for security. That scan can quietly "use up" a one-time sign-in link before you ever click it, so by the time you open it, it reads as already used or expired. If you're on Outlook or Hotmail and the link keeps failing, the more reliable paths are Sign in with Google (if your order email is Gmail) or setting a permanent password with "Forgot your password?"

Old sign-in emails also look identical to new ones, which is why this catches so many people. When in doubt, request a fresh link and ignore everything older in your inbox.

11.3 You never got the email link

Check your spam folder first. If you're on a government or military network, see section 11.5. If your email provider may have scanned the link, see section 11.2. If the link arrived but isn't working, see section 11.2. If it's nowhere to be found, request another from the sign-in page, and if it still doesn't arrive, write us at orders@badasspatches.com.

11.4 The "You've been blocked for security reasons" page

If you see a full-page message saying "You've been blocked for security reasons" with a request ID on it, here's what happened. Each expired or already-used sign-in link you click registers as a failed login attempt, and several failed attempts in a short window cause our portal's protection system to temporarily block your connection as a precaution. It treats the rapid failures the way it would treat a break-in attempt, even though you were just clicking old emails.

The block is temporary and clears on its own within a short while. Two things speed it up:

Switch networks before trying again. If you're on your phone's cellular data, connect to WiFi (or the reverse). This gives you a fresh connection that isn't blocked.
Once you're back at the sign-in page, request a brand new email link and use it immediately, or use Sign in with Google to skip links entirely.

To avoid this in the future, don't retry old sign-in emails. Always request a fresh link, or set a password, or use Google sign-in.

If the block doesn't clear after an hour or keeps coming back, write us at orders@badasspatches.com and include the request ID shown on the block page. We can have it lifted from our end.

11.5 You're on a government or military network

DoD and government computers often have aggressive network restrictions that block or strip out email sign-in links in transit. If you're trying to log in from work and the email link isn't working reliably, the more dependable path is to click "Forgot your password?" and set a regular password (this works even if you never had one).

11.6 You never registered

You can only register for the portal after you've placed an order. The portal at portal.badasspatches.com is for tracking custom orders specifically, and accounts don't exist before there's an order to track.

If you're trying to register before placing an order, that's why nothing is working. Place your order first at badasspatches.com (or with Baddie, our AI assistant on the site), and you'll get a registration invite by email afterward.

If you've already placed an order and never got the invite, check your spam folder. If it's not there, write us at orders@badasspatches.com and we'll resend it.

11.7 You're logged in with a different email

If you can log in but you don't see your order, you're probably signed in with a different email than the one used on the order. Log out and sign back in with the email that matches your order. This also applies to Google sign-in: it only finds your order if the Google account email matches the email on the order.

11.8 You ordered through the old form

The portal at portal.badasspatches.com only shows orders placed through the new custom order flow. If your order was placed through our older standard form, your updates come by email instead. You'll know you used the new flow if you were able to submit up to three products on a single form and received a confirmation email that included a progress tracker.

11.9 Password requirements

If you're setting a password, it needs to be at least 12 characters and include at least three of these four character types: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. This is a system requirement we can't make looser. If you'd rather not deal with a password at all, the email link and Google sign-in options are always available.

12. Updating an order after you've paid

A few things to know about changes after payment.

You can't update your shipping address yourself through the portal once an invoice is paid. Reply to your order email or write us at orders@badasspatches.com with the new address, and we'll update it on the backend.

If you need to change quantity after paying, that's also something we handle manually. Let us know the new quantity, and we'll send you an updated invoice with any balance to pay.

Promotions and discount codes can't be applied retroactively to a paid invoice. If a promotion launched after you paid, the code will be available for your next order instead.

13. What if none of this fits my problem?

If you've worked through this guide and you're still stuck, write us at orders@badasspatches.com. The more detail you can include, the faster we can help:

What you were trying to do when the error appeared
The exact error message you saw (a screenshot is great)
The device and browser you're using
Roughly what time the issue happened

We'll dig in and get you sorted.