Merchant reference reused

What happened

Another payment, payment link or refund already uses this merchant reference. Nothing new was created; existing describes the one that has it.

Can you retry?

Don't retry. Don't repeat this request. Fix what the response describes, or stop and report it. retry: never

Who acts

You: the software that sent the request. who_acts: caller

Don't

• Don't start another payment for the same order. create_another_payment

The existing object

This problem carries existing: a summary of the payment, payment link or refund that already holds this reference, with its type, id and current status, and for a payment its answer (paid, still confirming, or not paid). Continue with that object instead of starting another.

Example response

Sent as application/problem+json. The detail describes the particular request; keep request_id for support.

{
  "type": "https://docs.perionpayments.com/problems/merchant-reference-reused",
  "title": "Merchant reference reused",
  "status": 409,
  "code": "merchant_reference_reused",
  "detail": "Another payment, payment link or refund already uses this merchant reference. Nothing new was created; existing describes the one that has it.",
  "request_id": "req_8YkQ2rL0ZtW4",
  "retryable": false,
  "retry": "never",
  "who_acts": "caller",
  "next_step": "Continue with the payment, payment link or refund in existing; use a new merchant_reference only for a genuinely different order.",
  "do_not": [
    "create_another_payment"
  ],
  "existing": {
    "object": "payment_intent",
    "id": "pi_3Kx9TfQ2mVb7",
    "status": "processing",
    "amount": 1500,
    "currency": "USD",
    "merchant_reference": null,
    "order_reference": "order-1042",
    "payer_reference": "PER-K7QM-2TXA",
    "answer": {
      "paid": "confirming",
      "safe_to_fulfill": false,
      "sentence": "Still confirming · don't ask the customer to pay again",
      "do_not": [
        "create_another_payment",
        "ask_customer_to_pay_again",
        "fulfill_order"
      ],
      "check_again_after": "2026-10-18T16:02:15Z"
    },
    "created_at": "2026-10-18T16:01:58Z"
  }
}