Renderotica

We're still in the process of talking with a number of High Risk Processors.

We were actually pretty close to finalizing with one of them, however they wanted a large portion of our comics and image sets removed from the marketplace in order to align with their content policies.

We decided that simply wasn't an option for us, our community, or our content artists. While that obviously wasn't the outcome we were hoping for, we felt protecting our vendors' catalogs was the right decision, so we're continuing discussions with multiple High Risk Processors in order to find a solution that works for everyone.

Meanwhile, we're still very active behind the scenes updating promos and moving more products from Renderotique to CGBytes so they can once again be purchased without requiring NSFW processing. (Keep an eye on the Vendor Forums early next week for more information on that.)

We're also continuing to explore other options that may help move the process along.

We completely understand the frustration and confusion some of you may be feeling right now. Believe me when I say we're feeling it too. We have a lot of things we'd love to roll out, but right now restoring processing properly has to remain the priority.

As always, thank you for your continued patience... and the jokes. (Looking at you, Chaosophia. 😄)

And no... despite the rumors... we still don't expect GTA 6 to release before NSFW processing returns.

We'll continue keeping everyone updated as things progress.

Edited by user Monday, July 6, 2026 9:24:18 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Originally Posted by: Teronsuke

We're still in the process of talking with a number of High Risk Processors.

Thank you for the update.

Curious - have you considered going like that Japanese Site and doing Crypto and perhaps proxy Points? 

They told PayPal and the credit processors to F- off years ago and still going strong.
And you can get crypto in grocery and convenience stores from kiosks, just at worst waiting behind panicked senior ladies talking to someone with an SW Asian accent claiming to be from the IRS...  Not really worse than credit card use, just nothing to legit 'invest' in but good to use to trade.  And this site could scale back it's TOS big time doing that, opening up more options to buy and sell then.  Not talking anything explicitly extralegal, just stuff the payment processing bullies ban even though our POTUS himself told them recently they need to be "Letter of the Law in the USA" ... Seems they rubbed him wrong and he found them scummy, criminal and greedy.  Even by HIS standards...!

I'd think a payment processor deluding themselves they are doing anything good might want a site that while catering to a niche is SO within the laws it'd be better tolerating the niche than (as my suggestion would) having a whole market established with customers in the "Grey" web so there are browsers with VPNs and other privacy measures shopping there... And by doing so they have the means to go DARK web and buy from there...

Originally Posted by: Dareshiranu

It would be interesting, and revelatory to hear just how the site went from zero problems processing transactions to... this. Seemingly overnight, though due I imagine in no small part to the changeover in management and whatever undercurrents of drama we've only been privy to the tip of the iceberg of.

It's no secret, and it's been explained in other threads already. I'm not going to fault you for not combing through the last few months of posts though, so no worries there. 🙂

Over a year ago the prior team lost the High Risk Processor (HRP) that handled our NSFW checkouts. ALL NSFW content, along with many other types of content, requires HRP in order to be legally sold online.

For reasons I can't answer or speculate on, since I wasn't here from late 2023 until May of this year, instead of acquiring a new HRP for our NSFW products the prior team simply routed ALL products through the CGBytes (SFW) checkout.

Yes, it worked.

No, it was not the proper way of doing things.

Had they been caught selling NSFW content through a non HRP processor, it could have resulted in the company being blacklisted, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain processing again.

Once the current team (although none of us are really "new" here 😄) discovered what had happened, we immediately shut down the Renderotique checkout and began the process of acquiring a new HRP.

As mentioned above, we actually reached the final stages with one processor before they informed us that a large portion of our comics and image sets violated their Terms of Service. Moving forward with them would have required removing that content from the marketplace, and that simply wasn't a compromise we were willing to make.

Meanwhile, we've been very busy behind the scenes identifying products that are only considered NSFW because of their promotional images or text.

A funny example...

Take a bondage chair with straps, spikes, restraints, etc. By itself, it's simply a 3D product that our standard processor has no issue selling. The moment you place a nude or partially clothed figure in that same chair for the promo images... BOOM... it instantly becomes NSFW content that requires High Risk Processing.

(More about this process will be revealed in the coming days, but just know we're working through hundreds and hundreds of products to make them compliant with our SFW processors while we continue discussions with multiple HRPs. Every day more products are becoming available again through the CGBytes checkout.)

So this wasn't something that happened overnight. The underlying issue actually began well over a year ago, and once we discovered it, we weren't willing to continue risking the entire network, our vendors, and our customers by operating the wrong way. Especially in today's climate, it's much better to be safe than sorry.

We have been, and will continue to be, as transparent as we reasonably can throughout this process. There are still questions we simply don't have answers to ourselves, such as exactly why the previous HRP terminated the relationship. We have a general idea, but there are legal and contractual reasons why we can't get definitive answers.

As always, thank you all for your continued patience. We're doing everything we can behind the scenes to speed things up, restore proper processing, and get as much of the catalog available again as quickly as possible.

Originally Posted by: Dareshiranu

Originally Posted by: Teronsuke

Originally Posted by: Dareshiranu

It would be interesting, and revelatory to hear just how the site went from zero problems processing transactions to... this. Seemingly overnight, though due I imagine in no small part to the changeover in management and whatever undercurrents of drama we've only been privy to the tip of the iceberg of.

It's no secret, and it's been explained in other threads already. I'm not going to fault you for not combing through the last few months of posts though, so no worries there. 🙂

Over a year ago the prior team lost the High Risk Processor (HRP) that handled our NSFW checkouts. ALL NSFW content, along with many other types of content, requires HRP in order to be legally sold online.

For reasons I can't answer or speculate on, since I wasn't here from late 2023 until May of this year, instead of acquiring a new HRP for our NSFW products the prior team simply routed ALL products through the CGBytes (SFW) checkout.

Yes, it worked.

No, it was not the proper way of doing things.

Had they been caught selling NSFW content through a non HRP processor, it could have resulted in the company being blacklisted, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain processing again.

Once the current team (although none of us are really "new" here 😄) discovered what had happened, we immediately shut down the Renderotique checkout and began the process of acquiring a new HRP.

As mentioned above, we actually reached the final stages with one processor before they informed us that a large portion of our comics and image sets violated their Terms of Service. Moving forward with them would have required removing that content from the marketplace, and that simply wasn't a compromise we were willing to make.

Meanwhile, we've been very busy behind the scenes identifying products that are only considered NSFW because of their promotional images or text.

A funny example...

Take a bondage chair with straps, spikes, restraints, etc. By itself, it's simply a 3D product that our standard processor has no issue selling. The moment you place a nude or partially clothed figure in that same chair for the promo images... BOOM... it instantly becomes NSFW content that requires High Risk Processing.

(More about this process will be revealed in the coming days, but just know we're working through hundreds and hundreds of products to make them compliant with our SFW processors while we continue discussions with multiple HRPs. Every day more products are becoming available again through the CGBytes checkout.)

So this wasn't something that happened overnight. The underlying issue actually began well over a year ago, and once we discovered it, we weren't willing to continue risking the entire network, our vendors, and our customers by operating the wrong way. Especially in today's climate, it's much better to be safe than sorry.

We have been, and will continue to be, as transparent as we reasonably can throughout this process. There are still questions we simply don't have answers to ourselves, such as exactly why the previous HRP terminated the relationship. We have a general idea, but there are legal and contractual reasons why we can't get definitive answers.

As always, thank you all for your continued patience. We're doing everything we can behind the scenes to speed things up, restore proper processing, and get as much of the catalog available again as quickly as possible.

 

Thanks, this is quite an elaborate explanation. Could you expand upon one point though? What is the "risk" component involved in the High Risk Processing? What/who is at risk and why? Why is the risk, whatever it is, high?

No problem I condensed about 4 threads and 20 posts into that neat little recap :)

The main "Risk" is the risk of chargeback and fraud, but it also encompasses other things like international sales / buyers,  a quick list of just some of the things that require HRP online are: Adult content, online gambling, iGaming,  CBD products, vaping products, firearms, pharmaceuticals, electronics, jewelry, travel agencies, subscription services, MLM products, telemarketing, debt collection and more.  (This changes when buying from say Amazon or Walmart as they have many of these types of products but they have totally diff online processing and more brick and mortar stores then we can count without Google lol)

So JUST taking adult products into this, and I'm mainly talking about IRL adult, not our 3D products / comics and image sets,  but that's where most of your chargebacks come into play, some poor dude's wife found out he bought a sub to an OF model she yells and screams he freaks and cancels,  OR he feels guilty about it and cancels,  end of the day higher chargeback ratio = HRP needed no matter what type of content / product you are selling,  and because "they" have lumped ALL NSFW into one single category we also have to play by those rules.
 

Edited by user Tuesday, July 7, 2026 8:03:15 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified