diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a5d51ab..8ad297f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -540,8 +540,15 @@ it is the same number. `--dry-run` prices it and stops, `--max-price` refuses
 anything dearer (a premium name can be hundreds), and a promotional first year is
 called out because it is not what you will pay next year. WHOIS privacy is on
 unless you pass `--no-whois-privacy`, and a TLD that cannot do privacy is refused
-rather than quietly publishing your address. It pays from the account balance,
-topping up the card on file if that is short.
+rather than quietly publishing your address.
+
+**It spends prepaid Porkbun credit, and there is no card behind it.** A zero
+balance cannot register anything, however valid the request, so `register` stops
+on short funds and says how much is missing rather than reporting a vague
+refusal. Porkbun gates API registration behind three further account facts, none
+of which any read endpoint exposes: a verified email *and* phone, at least one
+registration placed previously, and the name not being premium — premium is
+website-only at any price.
 
 Before charging anything it runs Porkbun's **own** pre-flight (`dryRun`), which is
 the only way to see the account-level gates — funds, the monthly API spend cap and
diff --git a/bin/porkbun.ts b/bin/porkbun.ts
index ad983cc..33d0d07 100755
--- a/bin/porkbun.ts
+++ b/bin/porkbun.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import {
   deleteForward,
   deleteRecord,
   formatForwards,
+  formatPrice,
   formatRecords,
   fqdn,
   hostLabel,
@@ -92,9 +93,13 @@ Credentials come from PORKBUN_API_KEY and PORKBUN_SECRET_API_KEY, via
 to be switched on per domain, in the domain's settings — a key that pings fine
 still gets "Invalid domain" until that is on.
 
-\`register\` pays from the Porkbun account balance, topping up the card on file
-if it is short. It registers for the TLD's minimum term with auto-renew on and
-WHOIS privacy on, using the account's default contacts.
+\`register\` spends **prepaid account credit** — it does not charge a card. An
+account with a zero balance cannot register anything, however valid the request;
+add credit at porkbun.com first. Porkbun also requires the account's email and
+phone to be verified, and at least one registration placed previously, before it
+will sell through the API at all. It registers for the TLD's minimum term with
+auto-renew on and WHOIS privacy on, using the account's default contacts.
+Premium names cannot be bought through the API at any price.
 `;
 
 function fail(message: string, code = 2): never {
@@ -370,15 +375,30 @@ if (isMain(import.meta.url)) {
         // cap and account verification are account-level gates that no read
         // endpoint reports, so this is the only way to see them before paying.
         const preview = await previewRegistration(call, plan);
-        process.stderr.write(
-          `  balance: ${preview.balance ?? 'unknown'}` +
-            `${preview.sufficientFunds === false ? ' — will top up the card on file' : ''}\n`,
-        );
+        process.stderr.write(`  credit: ${preview.balance ?? 'unknown'}\n`);
+
         if (preview.withinMonthlySpendLimit === false) {
           throw new PorkbunError(`${plan.domain} would exceed the account's monthly API spend cap`);
         }
+        // Registration spends prepaid credit; there is no card to fall back on,
+        // so short funds is a stop rather than a note. Say the shortfall, since
+        // "insufficient funds" without a number means another round trip.
+        if (preview.sufficientFunds === false) {
+          const short =
+            preview.balanceCents === null
+              ? ''
+              : ` — ${formatPrice((plan.costCents - preview.balanceCents) / 100)} short`;
+          throw new PorkbunError(
+            `not enough Porkbun credit to register ${plan.domain}${short}.\n` +
+              '  Registration spends prepaid credit, not a card. Add credit at ' +
+              'https://porkbun.com/account/billing',
+          );
+        }
         if (!preview.wouldSucceed) {
-          throw new PorkbunError(`Porkbun refused the pre-flight for ${plan.domain}`);
+          throw new PorkbunError(
+            `Porkbun refused the pre-flight for ${plan.domain}` +
+              `${preview.message ? `: ${preview.message}` : ''}`,
+          );
         }
 
         if (parsed.flags.has('--dry-run')) {
diff --git a/src/porkbun.ts b/src/porkbun.ts
index 4597c0e..4e948d9 100644
--- a/src/porkbun.ts
+++ b/src/porkbun.ts
@@ -681,10 +681,15 @@ export interface RegistrationPreview {
   wouldSucceed: boolean;
   /** Porkbun's own rendering of the charge, e.g. `$11.08`. */
   costDisplay: string | null;
+  /** Remaining account credit, in whole cents. `balance` is pennies, not dollars. */
+  balanceCents: number | null;
+  /** The same, rendered: `$0.00`. */
   balance: string | null;
   sufficientFunds: boolean | null;
   /** Null when no monthly API spend cap is set on the account. */
   withinMonthlySpendLimit: boolean | null;
+  /** Porkbun's own sentence about the outcome, worth printing verbatim. */
+  message: string | null;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -704,13 +709,21 @@ export async function previewRegistration(
 ): Promise<RegistrationPreview> {
   const body = await call(`/domain/create/${plan.domain}`, { ...createBody(plan), dryRun: true });
   const bool = (value: unknown): boolean | null => (typeof value === 'boolean' ? value : null);
+  const text = (value: unknown): string | null => (typeof value === 'string' ? value : null);
+
+  // `balance` is pennies as a NUMBER (5000 meaning $50.00), not a rendered
+  // string. Reading it as a string yields null for every account, which is
+  // exactly the sort of nothing that looks like "no data" rather than a bug.
+  const balanceCents = typeof body.balance === 'number' ? body.balance : null;
 
   return {
     wouldSucceed: body.wouldSucceed === true,
-    costDisplay: typeof body.costDisplay === 'string' ? body.costDisplay : null,
-    balance: typeof body.balance === 'string' ? body.balance : null,
+    costDisplay: text(body.costDisplay),
+    balanceCents,
+    balance: balanceCents === null ? null : formatPrice(balanceCents / 100),
     sufficientFunds: bool(body.sufficientFunds),
     withinMonthlySpendLimit: bool(body.withinMonthlySpendLimit),
+    message: text(body.message),
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/test/porkbun.test.ts b/test/porkbun.test.ts
index 675e3e5..79e7b23 100644
--- a/test/porkbun.test.ts
+++ b/test/porkbun.test.ts
@@ -715,9 +715,10 @@ describe('previewRegistration', () => {
         wouldSucceed: true,
         cost: 1108,
         costDisplay: '$11.08',
-        balance: '$0.00',
-        sufficientFunds: false,
+        balance: 5000,
+        sufficientFunds: true,
         withinMonthlySpendLimit: true,
+        message: 'Dry run: this registration would succeed and cost $11.08.',
       },
     });
 
@@ -725,14 +726,28 @@ describe('previewRegistration', () => {
     expect(preview).toEqual({
       wouldSucceed: true,
       costDisplay: '$11.08',
-      balance: '$0.00',
-      sufficientFunds: false,
+      balanceCents: 5000,
+      balance: '$50.00',
+      sufficientFunds: true,
       withinMonthlySpendLimit: true,
+      message: 'Dry run: this registration would succeed and cost $11.08.',
     });
     // The flag that makes it free to run.
     expect(seen[0]?.body.dryRun).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  // `balance` is pennies as a number, not a rendered string. Reading it as a
+  // string gave null for every account — a bug that looks like missing data.
+  it('reads balance as pennies rather than a dollar string', async () => {
+    const { call } = scripted({
+      '/domain/create/diskpush.com': { status: 'SUCCESS', wouldSucceed: true, balance: 0 },
+    });
+    const preview = await previewRegistration(call, samplePlan());
+
+    expect(preview.balanceCents).toBe(0);
+    expect(preview.balance).toBe('$0.00');
+  });
+
   it('sends the same cost and terms the real call would', async () => {
     const { call, seen } = scripted({
       '/domain/create/diskpush.com': { status: 'SUCCESS', wouldSucceed: true },
@@ -749,5 +764,7 @@ describe('previewRegistration', () => {
     const preview = await previewRegistration(call, samplePlan());
     expect(preview.withinMonthlySpendLimit).toBeNull();
     expect(preview.sufficientFunds).toBeNull();
+    expect(preview.balanceCents).toBeNull();
+    expect(preview.balance).toBeNull();
   });
 });