Insufficient Balance

Symptom Description

When calling the API, you receive the following error messages:

{
  "error": {
    "message": "Insufficient balance",
    "type": "insufficient_balance",
    "code": "insufficient_balance"
  }
}

Or similar prompts:

“Account balance is insufficient”
“Please confirm account credit”
“Balance insufficient, unable to complete request”

Cause Analysis

1. Balance Depleted

Account balance has been completely used up and needs account credit confirmation.

2. Insufficient Balance

Account has remaining balance, but insufficient for current request:

Request token count is too large
Selected model is expensive
Single request exceeds budget

3. Frozen Balance

Part of balance is frozen and unavailable:

Pending transactions
Risk control freezing
System reservation

4. Billing Method Mismatch

Using wrong billing method token:

Pay-per-use token calling usage-based billing models
Usage-based billing token calling pay-per-use models

Solutions

Immediate Solutions

Check Account Balance

Log in to Laozhang API Console
Check dashboard balance display
View detailed transaction history

Confirm Account Credit

Check whether the account has available credit
Confirm billing status with your account owner or support
Wait for account credit update after verification

Verify Account Credit

Refresh console page
Check if balance has updated
Retry API call

Emergency Alternatives

If urgent need to continue using:

Switch to Lighter Model

# Original: Using expensive model
model = "gpt-4-turbo"

# Alternative: Switch to economical model
model = "gpt-3.5-turbo"

Reduce Request Parameters

# Reduce max_tokens
response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gpt-4-turbo",
    max_tokens=500,  # Reduce from 2000 to 500
    messages=[...]
)

Use Backup Account
- Switch to alternative API key
- Switch to different service provider

Preventive Measures

1. Set Low Balance Alert

In console set alert threshold:

Recommended setting: 20% of usual daily usage
Alert methods: Email, SMS, webhook
Check frequency: Daily automatic check

2. Set Budget Alerts

Configure budget alert rules:

Trigger condition: Balance < expected daily usage threshold
Alert method: Email or webhook
Owner: Account administrator

3. Budget Management

Set usage budget:

Daily limit: Prevent unusual high usage in single day
Monthly limit: Control overall cost
Model-specific limit: Limit expensive model usage

4. Monitor Usage

Regularly check usage:

Weekly tasks:
- Check balance trend
- Analyze usage distribution
- Identify unusual usage
- Optimize cost structure

5. Choose Appropriate Billing Method

Choose based on usage pattern:

Usage Pattern	Recommended Method	Reason
Stable, high-frequency	Usage-based billing	Lower unit price
Occasional use	Pay-per-use	No waste
Image/Video generation	Pay-per-use	Clear pricing
Chat applications	Usage-based billing	More economical

Balance Management Best Practices

Budget Allocation

Reasonably allocate budgets:

Total monthly budget: $100

Allocation plan:
- Production environment: $60 (60%)
- Development testing: $20 (20%)
- Emergency reserve: $20 (20%)

Cost Optimization

Reduce unnecessary expenses:

Model Selection Optimization

# Simple tasks use economical models
if task_complexity == "simple":
    model = "gpt-3.5-turbo"
else:
    model = "gpt-4-turbo"

Enable Caching

# Cache common requests
from functools import lru_cache

@lru_cache(maxsize=100)
def get_completion(prompt):
    return client.chat.completions.create(...)

Batch Processing

# Batch process requests to reduce overhead
results = []
for batch in chunks(requests, batch_size=10):
    results.extend(process_batch(batch))

Usage Tracking

Record and analyze usage:

import logging

# Log each API call
logging.info(f"API call: model={model}, tokens={tokens}, cost=${cost}")

# Regularly generate usage reports
def generate_usage_report():
    """Generate weekly usage report"""
    total_cost = sum(costs)
    total_requests = len(costs)
    avg_cost = total_cost / total_requests
    
    print(f"Total cost this week: ${total_cost}")
    print(f"Total requests: {total_requests}")
    print(f"Average cost per request: ${avg_cost}")

Common Questions

How long does account credit take to update?

Account credit update time:

Contract billing: Subject to support and console confirmation
Bank transfer: Usually reviewed within 1-3 business days after receipt is provided
Invoice or enterprise changes: Subject to account and compliance review

If delayed:

Check payment status
Confirm correct account information
Contact customer support

Can I get a refund for unused balance?

Refund policy:

Balance can be refunded without violations
Refund processing time: 3-7 business days
May deduct processing fees (typically 3%-5%)

Refund process:

Submit refund request in console
Provide payment proof
Wait for review
Receive refund

How to estimate usage costs?

Estimation methods:

Token Count Estimation
- English: ~1 word = 1.3 tokens
- Chinese: ~1 character = 2 tokens
Use Official Pricing Calculator Visit Pricing Page for calculation
Reference Historical Usage View usage in console

Example calculation:

Request: 1000 token prompt
Response: 2000 token completion
Model: gpt-4-turbo ($10/M tokens)

Cost = (1000 + 2000) / 1,000,000 * $10 = $0.03

How to prevent accidental high usage?

Prevention measures:

Set Rate Limits

from ratelimit import limits, sleep_and_retry

@sleep_and_retry
@limits(calls=10, period=60)  # Limit 10 requests per minute
def call_api():
    return client.chat.completions.create(...)

Implement Request Validation

def validate_request(prompt):
    token_count = estimate_tokens(prompt)
    if token_count > 10000:
        raise ValueError("Request too large")

Enable Budget Alerts Set daily/weekly/monthly budget alerts
Code Review Regularly review API call code to prevent loops or repeated calls

Can I use free tier?

Free Tier Policy:Laozhang API currently does not offer a free tier. To control cost:

Use lower-cost models for testing
Set token limits and spending alerts
Contact support for enterprise pricing if usage is large

Cost Reduction Recommendations:

Use economical models (GPT-3.5 Turbo)
Optimize prompt length
Enable result caching
Batch process requests

Emergency Contact

If you cannot resolve the issue through above methods, please contact us through:

Online Support: Click chat icon in console
Email Support: hi@laozhang.ai
Work Hours: Monday to Friday 9:00-18:00 (UTC+8)
Emergency Contact: For production environment issues, specify “Emergency” in email subject

Pricing Description - View detailed pricing
Token Management - Learn how to manage API tokens
Usage Logs - View API usage history
[Account Credit Guide](https://api2.laozhang.ai/docs/account credit) - Detailed account credit guide

​Symptom Description

​Cause Analysis

​1. Balance Depleted

​2. Insufficient Balance

​3. Frozen Balance

​4. Billing Method Mismatch

​Solutions

​Immediate Solutions

​Emergency Alternatives

​Preventive Measures

​1. Set Low Balance Alert

​2. Set Budget Alerts

​3. Budget Management

​4. Monitor Usage

​5. Choose Appropriate Billing Method

​Balance Management Best Practices

​Budget Allocation

​Cost Optimization

​Usage Tracking

​Common Questions

​Emergency Contact

​Related Resources