A Shopify chargeback starts when a cardholder disputes a charge with their bank. If you use Shopify Payments, the disputed amount and a chargeback fee leave your account right away, usually from your next payout, and you get a deadline to respond that is typically 7 to 21 days after the chargeback is filed. You answer from the order page in your Shopify admin with evidence that the charge was valid. The customer’s bank and card network decide the outcome, and Shopify states that decision is final. If you win, the disputed amount comes back and the fee is returned. The case is won or lost on one thing, whether your evidence answers the specific reason the cardholder gave. Below we explain how the process runs, what each reason needs, and how to set up your orders so the evidence already exists when the notice arrives.

What Happens When a Chargeback Arrives

Shopify’s page on responding to chargebacks and inquiries lays out the sequence.

The customer contacts their bank and disputes the charge.
The bank opens a chargeback. The disputed amount and a chargeback fee are withdrawn from your account.
Shopify notifies you with a deadline. If the bank provided an issuer claim, you can read why the dispute was opened.
You gather and submit evidence, usually within 7 to 21 days.
The credit card company reviews it, which Shopify says can take up to 75 days after you submit.
A decision is made. You win and the amount and fee return, a partial win returns some of the amount, or the customer wins.

Shopify is clear about its own role. It states that it is not involved in the decision making of chargeback outcomes and is not liable for chargebacks on the platform. The customer’s bank and the card network decide based on the evidence you submit.

Chargeback compared with inquiry

Not every dispute starts as a chargeback. A bank can open an inquiry first. Shopify explains the difference.

Point	Chargeback	Inquiry
Money taken	Disputed amount and fee withdrawn immediately	Nothing taken during the investigation
If you win	Amount and fee returned	Inquiry closes, no money moves
If the customer wins	You lose the amount and the fee	Can escalate to a full chargeback
Typical review	Up to 75 days after you submit	Usually 65 to 75 days

An inquiry is the cheaper moment to resolve a problem. Shopify notes that if you issue a full refund on an inquiry, the cardholder cannot then open a chargeback, while a partial refund still leaves the door open. Once a chargeback is open, you cannot refund the order. The cardholder has to drop the chargeback with their bank first.

The authority angle is to start with the reason

Issuers decide on evidence matched to the reason code. The first question in every case we work is what reason the cardholder used. Shopify groups disputes into seven categories, and each one asks a different question.

Fraudulent. Did the real cardholder authorize this?
Product not received. Did the goods reach the customer?
Product unacceptable. Did the item match what you described?
Subscription canceled. Was the subscription active when you charged?
Credit not processed. Was a promised refund issued, or not owed?
Duplicate. Was the customer charged once per purchase?
General. Was the amount correct?

A delivery photo answers non receipt. It does little against a fraud claim from a cardholder who never placed the order. Evidence that answers the wrong question loses even when it is true.

Why chargebacks happen to good stores

Three business models produce most of the disputes we see. Each can run with a low dispute rate when the right controls are in place.

Stores with long or unclear delivery times. Dropshipping and made to order stores get product not received claims when buyers lose patience. The compliant way to run the model is to state a realistic delivery window on the product page and at checkout, send tracking the day an order ships, and message the customer before a delay turns into a dispute. In the United States the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule requires a reasonable basis to ship within the time you state, or within 30 days if you state none.
Subscription stores. Renewal disputes come from buyers who forgot they agreed to recurring billing or could not find a way to cancel. Shopify’s prevention guidance is to make the recurring charge clear at sign up, remind customers before each charge, publish a cancellation policy and cancel immediately on request with a confirmation. A store that does this has the evidence for a subscription canceled dispute built in.
Stores with generic descriptors. When the name on the card statement is a parent company or an abbreviation, real customers report the charge as one they do not recognize, and banks often process that as fraud. Shopify’s first prevention step for fraudulent and unrecognized disputes is a statement name built from your store name or domain.

The full set of controls is in our Shopify chargeback prevention routine.

Read the issuer claim before anything else

Shopify notes that, when available, the card issuing bank may provide an issuer claim explaining why the dispute was opened, and after a loss an issuer response explaining why the bank ruled for the customer. The issuer claim is the closest thing you get to the cardholder’s own words. A product not received dispute where the claim says “package delivered to wrong address” needs address verification and a delivery photo. The same reason code with a claim that says “never shipped” needs the carrier’s acceptance scan. Read the claim, then gather.

See also Shopify Chargeback Rate Rising.

Amount and Fee Deducted From Payout

With Shopify Payments, Shopify states that a chargeback amount is deducted from your next available payout. The fee is charged at the same time. Shopify publishes the fee by country. A selection.

Country or region	Chargeback fee
United States	$15 USD
Canada	$15 CAD or $15 USD
United Kingdom	£10 GBP
Most EU countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands	€15 EUR
Australia	$25 AUD

Check Shopify’s full table for your country before you budget. Ireland, for example, adds 23% VAT to the €15 fee, and the United Arab Emirates fee is 60 AED plus 5% VAT.

The timeline follows a Shopify Payments chargeback from the payout deduction to a bank debit retry. Follow each stage to see what to reconcile.

When your balance cannot cover it

If your Shopify Payments balance is too low to cover a chargeback or refund, the result depends on where your store is. Shopify states that in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and a list of European countries, the shortfall is debited from your bank account outside the regular payout schedule. In other countries it is deducted from future payouts until covered. If the first bank debit fails, Shopify tries again after 3 business days. If that fails, you need to update your bank account or contact Shopify Support to repay the negative balance.

Currency differences

When the customer’s card is in a different country from your store, Shopify notes the chargeback amount is subject to exchange rates and you may see small adjustments that are separate from the fee. Reconcile these in your books so they are not mistaken for extra fees.

What the chargeback does to your rate

Every chargeback counts toward your chargeback rate, whatever the outcome. Shopify states that winning a dispute does not remove it from your rate. Your rate drives Shopify Payments monitoring, reserves and Shop app eligibility. Shopify’s network dispute resolution page states that an NDRP inclusive rate of 1.5% or higher over 90 days can lead to automatic enrollment, where disputes are refunded to customers automatically with a fee each and a 10% reserve is applied. Winning disputes recovers money. Preventing them protects the account. If your rate is already climbing, see our guide on Shopify excessive chargebacks and the one on reserves and payout holds for high chargebacks.

If the payout deductions are stacking up faster than you can answer them, our merchant processor dispute desk reads each Shopify reason code and builds the file before the due date.

The 7 to 21 Day Evidence Window

Shopify states that the deadline is typically 7 to 21 days after the chargeback is filed. The exact due date appears on the chargeback in your admin. Treat the date on the notice as the only date that matters.

What happens on the due date

If you use Shopify Payments, Shopify automatically adds order data to your response and submits it to the credit card company on the due date, even if you add nothing. When available, that data includes product details, customer name and email, billing and shipping addresses, the IP address, fulfillment details with carrier and tracking number, a tracking PDF that can include the carrier’s delivery photo, refund records, the customer’s undisputed order history and previous disputes from the same customer. Depending on the dispute, your relevant store policy can also be included. Your response may include AI generated insights, which you can opt out of in the evidence form.

That automatic package is a floor. It contains only what is in your Shopify admin. The evidence that usually decides a case is evidence only you hold, such as customer messages, the policy the customer agreed to and where, delivery signatures, usage logs and the listing as it looked at purchase.

After the deadline

Shopify states that you can submit evidence up until the due date. After it passes you cannot submit further evidence, and you cannot request another review. Once the bank decides, there is no appeal process. Our guide on a lost Shopify chargeback dispute explains what is and is not possible after that point.

How to use the window

Day 1. Read the reason and the issuer claim. Open the order. Contact the customer if the dispute looks like a misunderstanding.
Days 1 to 3. Gather evidence matched to the reason. Pull carrier records, messages and the policy acceptance.
Days 3 to 5. Write a short summary and order the evidence strongest first.
Before the deadline. Submit. Do not leave it for the last day, since uploads can fail and the window does not reopen.

When the customer agrees to withdraw

Shopify recommends contacting the customer first. If they agree the chargeback is unnecessary, they must ask their bank to cancel it and send you an official withdrawal letter, which you submit as evidence. Shopify lists what the letter must show. It needs official bank letterhead, the case number, the original charge date and amount, and your store or business name. It must confirm that the chargeback is canceled, that funds were re debited from the customer and that funds were returned to you. A screenshot of a bank statement is not enough. Shopify adds that banks can take 30 to 90 days to update, and that for American Express disputes and Visa disputes with a fraudulent reason code it cannot request early resolution. Submit evidence anyway. A promise to withdraw is not a withdrawal until the bank processes it.

Evidence That Wins

Shopify advises placing your strongest evidence first because the reviewing agent may spend only a few minutes on a case. It recommends this order.

Direct proof. Delivery confirmation with signature, carrier tracking showing delivered to the matching address, refund transaction record or usage logs.
Customer acknowledgment. Messages where the customer confirmed receipt, thanked you, discussed the product or acknowledged the purchase.
Policy documentation. Terms the customer agreed to at checkout that support your position.
Supporting context. Order history, address and payment verification results, communication timeline.

Shopify also recommends screenshots over external links, because banks can review a screenshot without leaving their system, and a clear label on every item. “Order confirmation email sent to the customer on March 15 showing an itemized total” tells the reviewer what they are looking at. “Attached screenshot” does not.

Evidence by reason

Evidence checklist by dispute reason

Fraudulent. AVS and CVV match results, 3D Secure authentication record, device and IP data consistent with prior orders, previous undisputed orders from the same customer, delivery to the verified billing address, messages acknowledging the order.
Product not received, physical goods. Carrier name, tracking number and delivered status, proof of delivery with signature or photo, shipping address matching checkout, carrier notifications sent to the customer.
Product not received, digital or services. Access or download logs with timestamps, delivery email with link or license key, booking records and service completion proof.
Product unacceptable. The listing as it was at purchase, pre shipment photos with serial numbers, quality records, messages and your resolution offers, the return policy the customer accepted, and evidence the customer never contacted you if that is the case.
Subscription canceled. The subscription agreement with billing cycle and auto renewal, your cancellation policy, proof no cancellation request exists, usage after the disputed charge, renewal reminders sent.
Credit not processed. The refund transaction record with timestamp and amount, your refund policy, messages explaining the refund status, return tracking showing whether the item came back.
Duplicate. Transaction logs showing one charge per order, order details that show the differences, explanation of any temporary authorization hold.
General. Itemized receipt, the final amount shown at checkout, your pricing policy, the currency conversion the customer saw, system logs of the authorized and charged amounts.

How we write the summary

Our representment method for Shopify disputes rests on one position, that the transaction was authorized and fulfilled as described. The summary states that position in one sentence, names the reason code, and points to the two or three documents that prove it. Then it stops. Long narratives about how hard you work or how the customer behaved make the reviewer search for the proof. Keep the tone factual and never accuse the customer of fraud. Show the facts and let the reviewer reach the conclusion.

A composite example

This generic scenario of the kind we see often is built from several cases, not from any single client. A store selling home goods receives a fraudulent reason chargeback on a $180 order. The automatic evidence shows the billing and shipping addresses matched and AVS passed. The store adds three items in this order, the carrier’s delivery photo at the billing address, a support chat two days after delivery in which the customer asked how to clean the product, and two earlier undisputed orders from the same email and address. The summary is three sentences, stating that the order was placed by the cardholder, delivered to the verified billing address, and that the cardholder discussed the product with support after delivery. That file answers the question the fraud reason asks. A five page letter about the store’s reputation would not.

When not to fight

Shopify notes that strong evidence improves your chances but does not guarantee a win, and that banks have discretion even with delivery confirmation. If the customer is right, accept the chargeback. You can accept by not submitting evidence or by opening the evidence form and accepting. The amount returns to the customer and the fee is not refunded. If a refund is owed on a credit not processed dispute, Shopify suggests issuing it even if you may lose the chargeback, because it shows good service and prevents further disputes. Never submit evidence you cannot verify. Our guide on false chargeback evidence explains the risk.

When the Fee Is Refunded

Shopify’s chargeback fee section states that when a chargeback is filed your bank charges a processing fee, and if you win, the fee is returned to you. Its chargebacks overview adds that if you win, Shopify might refund the fee depending on your country or region. Read the fee table for your country and keep a record of each fee and each return in your books.

Three situations mean the fee stays with you.

You lose. The customer keeps the disputed amount and you lose the fee.
A partial win. Some of the disputed amount is returned. Check the order for how the fee was treated.

Disputes resolved through a network dispute resolution program work differently. Shopify charges a dispute resolution fee for each one, refunds the customer automatically and gives no evidence window. The NDRP fee is listed per country in the same amounts as the chargeback fee table.

This record shows what happens to the chargeback fee for each Shopify dispute outcome. Switch tabs to see which ones return the fee.

Wins can come back

A customer’s bank can dispute the same transaction again after you win. Shopify has a troubleshooting entry for this case. Keep the full evidence file for every won dispute so you can resubmit it quickly. Check the order timeline in your admin for each movement of money, since a second dispute on the same order starts a new deadline.

Third party payment providers

All of the above applies to Shopify Payments. If you use a third party provider, Shopify states you contact that provider to learn how to send evidence, and its processes, fees and timelines may differ.

The law behind the cardholder’s claim

Banks act on disputes because the law gives cardholders strong rights. Knowing them explains why a vague response loses. This is general information for merchants.

Region	Law	What it gives the cardholder
United States	Fair Credit Billing Act, 15 U.S.C. 1666	A written billing error notice within 60 days of the statement, covering charges for goods not accepted or not delivered as agreed.
United States	15 U.S.C. 1666i	The right to assert claims and defenses against the card issuer, generally where the cardholder tried in good faith to resolve it with the merchant, the purchase exceeded $50 and it took place in the cardholder’s state or within 100 miles of their address.
United States	15 U.S.C. 1643	Liability for unauthorized credit card use capped at $50.
United Kingdom	Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 75, and Payment Services Regulations 2017, regulation 76	Joint and several liability of the card issuer for a supplier’s breach or misrepresentation on single items priced over £100 and up to £30,000, and a refund of an unauthorized payment no later than the end of the business day after the provider becomes aware of it.
European Union	Directive (EU) 2015/2366, Article 73	Refund of an unauthorized payment transaction by the payer’s provider immediately, and no later than the end of the following business day.
Canada	Visa and Mastercard dispute rules plus the consumer protection statute of the buyer’s province	Shopify charges Canadian stores a $15 CAD or $15 USD chargeback fee, and the card network’s dispute conditions decide the case.

Card network rules govern reason codes and representment. Visa’s Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, in the edition dated 24 October 2026, set out each dispute condition in section 11, including Dispute Condition 10.4 Other Fraud, Card-Absent Environment, 12.6 Duplicate Processing or Paid by Other Means, 13.1 Merchandise or Services Not Received, 13.2 Cancelled Recurring Transaction, 13.3 Not as Described or Defective Merchandise or Services, and 13.6 Credit Not Processed. Those conditions line up with Shopify’s fraudulent, duplicate, product not received, subscription canceled, product unacceptable and credit not processed categories, which is why the Shopify category tells you which Visa condition the issuer is testing your file against. The Shopify Payments Terms state that Shopify may share records with your customer and the financial institutions involved to help resolve a dispute, and that failing to provide complete and accurate information in time may result in an irreversible chargeback.

Order Evidence Routine

The cheapest way to win a chargeback is to have the evidence filed before it arrives. Shopify’s own guidance on documenting orders lists the habits, which are tracking with delivery confirmation on all physical shipments, policies shown at checkout and in confirmation emails, communication records kept, digital access logged, and product listings archived.

For every order

Upload real tracking at fulfillment. Use signature confirmation on high value orders.
Keep every customer message linked to the order.
Record AVS, CVV and 3D Secure results and the fraud analysis outcome.
Do not ship medium or high risk orders without review. Shopify warns that fulfilling high risk orders can lead to more chargebacks and to removal from Shopify Payments.

For every product

Archive the listing text and images whenever you change them, with the date.
Keep pre shipment photos for high value or frequently disputed items.

For the store

Use a billing descriptor customers recognize. Shopify’s prevention guidance names this first for fraudulent and unrecognized disputes.
Show refund, shipping and subscription policies at checkout and in confirmation emails, so you can prove the customer saw them.
Keep contact details easy to find. Shopify lists easy to find contact information as a core prevention step, and when a customer goes straight to the bank it suggests including evidence that no support request was received. In the United States, 15 U.S.C. 1666i also conditions a cardholder’s claims against the issuer on a good faith attempt to resolve the problem with the merchant, so a visible support channel matters.

Our guide on building Shopify chargeback evidence before the dispute arrives turns this into a weekly and monthly checklist.

One chargeback compared with many

A single chargeback costs the order and the fee. Many chargebacks put the account at risk. Shopify documents no warning tiers for individual disputes, but every dispute feeds the rate Shopify watches. Repeat disputes from the same reason point to a process gap. Fix the gap and the disputes stop.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens when I get a Shopify chargeback?

The disputed amount and a chargeback fee are deducted from your account, usually from your next payout. Shopify notifies you with a response deadline, you submit evidence from the order page, and the cardholder’s bank decides the outcome.

How long do I have to submit evidence?

Evidence is typically due 7 to 21 days after the chargeback is filed. The exact due date is shown on the chargeback in your Shopify admin. After that date you cannot add evidence or request another review.

Is the chargeback fee refunded?

Only if you win. Shopify states the fee is returned when you win, and its overview notes this can depend on your country or region. If you lose or accept the chargeback, the fee is not refunded.

What evidence should I submit?

Submit evidence that answers the dispute reason, with tracking and delivery confirmation, customer messages and the policy the customer accepted as the core. Fraud disputes also need AVS, CVV, 3D Secure and order history. Put the strongest proof first and label every item.

Who decides the chargeback?

The card issuer decides, working within the card network’s rules. Shopify states it is not involved in chargeback outcomes and cannot reverse a bank’s decision.

Get Help With a Shopify Chargeback

When chargebacks pile up and threaten a reserve, a structured representment process makes the difference. We read each reason code, build the evidence file it calls for and submit before the deadline, while fixing the cause behind the pattern. We cannot promise a bank’s decision. We make sure your response is complete, accurate and on time.

When payouts are on hold or the dispute rate puts Shopify Payments at risk, our Shopify suspension and payments service handles the account side.
For processor side issues, see merchant processor disputes.
Open a file with your chargeback notice and order number through the Shopify case intake, or walk through a live dispute with us in a consultation.

Selling on more than Shopify and fighting disputes on several channels? The marketplace suspension services hub lists every platform desk we run.

How to Respond to a Shopify Chargeback and Submit Evidence