Stripe Chargeback FeesHow Much Do They Cost? Are They Refundable?

Here's the Rundown on Stripe Chargeback Fees for Merchants

Let’s be honest: chargebacks are a pain in the neck.

First, there’s a sale revenue you lose from the initial dispute. Then, there’s all the time and effort you spend fighting the claim and trying to get your money back. Of course, that’s not even accounting for chargeback fees, which still hit your account even if you win a dispute.

Like other acquirers, Stripe assesses a chargeback fee for every chargeback against one of their customers. However, their approach differs in some key ways compared to other financial institutions.

What is the Stripe Chargeback Fee?

The fee applies regardless of perceived liability or the outcome of any dispute. This means that the fee will stand even if the chargeback is invalid (i.e., a case of friendly fraud).

Learn more about Stripe chargebacks

Why Does Stripe Assess a Chargeback Fee?

Like all acquirers, Stripe charges their customers a fee for every chargeback filed against them. These fees can often seem heavy-handed and unfair from the merchant's perspective. After all, you’ve already lost revenue due to the initial chargeback. Why should you have to pay another fee on top of that?

The Stripe chargeback fee is not meant to be punitive in nature. Instead, it’s intended to cover the company’s costs resulting from the chargeback.

When an issuer submits a chargeback, they don’t recover the money from your merchant’s account directly. Instead, they withdraw it from Stripe. The acquirer must then recover the funds from you to recoup their loss.

Processing dispute documents, forwarding them along to the merchant, and recovering the money lost to the dispute takes time and added resources. The Stripe chargeback fee is meant to cover the cost of doing this added work.

Does Stripe Refund Chargeback Fees?

No, you will not get a refund for Stripe chargeback fees. However, the company offers a program that lets you insulate your business against chargeback costs.

If you are enrolled in Stripe Chargeback Protection, the company will reimburse you for the cost of any chargebacks. They will also waive the Stripe chargeback fee.

Of course, participation in Stripe Chargeback Protection also comes at a cost. You must pay an additional 0.4% of the transaction total per transaction. This is in addition to the standard card processing fee of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction. While it might not seem like it, these fees can quickly add up.

Also, some chargebacks are not covered. Stripe Chargeback Protection covers fraud chargebacks resulting from one-time transactions for which a customer enters their card details. It does not apply to recurring transactions, manually-approved transactions, or chargebacks with a non-fraud reason code, like “item not received” claims.

Stripe Chargeback Fees vs. Other Processors

These terms regarding Stripe chargeback fees are fairly standard. PayPal, for instance, assesses a $20 non-refundable fee per chargeback received. Note that these are different from PayPal dispute fees, which are either $15 or $30 per transaction, depending on whether you’re considered a standard or high-risk merchant, respectively.

By contrast, Square is notable in that it does not assess chargeback fees. As the company explains: “If you get a chargeback, Square covers the fee for every dispute fought on your behalf.”

I’ve summarized these details in the table below:

Stripe Chargeback Fee Policy: The Fine Print

Once the cardholder files a chargeback with their issuing bank, Stripe’s $15 per-transaction chargeback fee — which they call a “dispute received fee” — is final and cannot be waived.

If you manage to refund the cardholder before the dispute becomes a chargeback, then Stripe’s chargeback fee won’t apply. However, once a chargeback is filed, the issuer will reverse the transaction. Afterwards, Stripe will notify you of the dispute and debit your Stripe balance for the dispute amount, plus the dispute received fee.

Learn more about preventing chargebacks

If you believe the dispute is invalid, you can contest it through representment. Stripe charges an additional $15 fee for every chargeback you re-present (unless you’re based in Mexico or Japan), which they call a “dispute countered fee.” This fee is refunded if you win the dispute, though, so you really only have to pay it if you lose the dispute.

Fee	Details
Dispute Received Fee	- $15 per chargeback received - Non-refundable
Dispute Countered Fee	- $15 per chargeback represented - Refunded if the merchant wins

Impact of Stripe Chargeback Fees

A $15 fee might not seem like much if you’re generating thousands of dollars in sales each month. But, don’t be fooled: these fees can add up fast.

Say you generate $10,000 in revenue per month, handling 1,000 orders per month at an average order value of $10 each. You’re a standard risk merchant, and about 0.6% of those transactions become chargebacks every month. That’s $90 in dispute fees per month.

Now, let’s say four of these chargebacks are cases of friendly fraud. You re-present all four, but win two and lose the other two. This means you incur another $30 in dispute countered fees, bringing your costs up to $120 in chargeback fees per month.

Now, here’s the thing: you pay for dispute fees with gross profit dollars, not revenue dollars. So, if your gross profit margin is 25%, then you’re generating $2,500 in gross profit per month. In other words, those dispute fees eat up nearly 5% of your gross profit per month.

The simplified math above assumes that you’re a low-risk merchant. If your chargeback ratio exceeds a threshold that Stripe or card networks deem to be “excessive” — generally more than 0.75% to 1% of transactions — you could encounter fee surcharges, penalties, involuntary account closure, or other unpleasant surprises.

Scale doesn’t get rid of this problem, either. The chargebacks you receive and challenge generally grow in direct proportion to the number of transactions you process per month. This means chargeback fees are likely to eat into a similar proportion of your gross profit, even if you’re a larger eCommerce merchant handling 10,000 or 100,000+ transactions per month.

How to Reduce the Risk of Paying Stripe Chargeback Fees

Stripe chargeback fees can add up over time, so the best way to protect your profits is to avoid having to pay them in the first place.

In practice, this means preventing chargebacks, which you can do by taking advantage of all the fraud and chargeback management assets at your disposal:

There are several simple practices you can implement that will dramatically reduce chargeback issuances. Drafting a clear and unambiguous eCommerce return policy with generous refund terms, for example, will encourage customers to seek refunds or exchanges (rather than chargebacks).

Offer proactive, helpful, and buyer-centric customer service that seeks to resolve grievances and issues before they escalate into formal disputes. And, provide clearer billing descriptors to buyers so they don’t accidentally mistake their legitimate purchases for fraudulent activity.

Learn more about chargeback prevention best practices

You can also leverage Stripe’s tools to prevent fraud. Stripe Radar, for instance, is a machine learning tool that uses TC40 data from card networks, payment data from cardholders, and data from checkout flows to block high-risk purchases from going through.

The platform also uses complementary fraud prevention technologies, like device fingerprinting, proxy piercing, and 3-D Secure 2.0, to protect your business from transactions that could morph into chargebacks. As of early 2025, Stripe Radar costs $0.05 per screened transaction, but is waived for merchants that opt for standard pricing. If you want the option to adjust your risk thresholds, engage in fraud scoring, or perform deeper data analysis, the price is $0.07 per screened transaction.

Learn more about Stripe chargeback protection

The Stripe chargeback fee seems like a pretty simple concept at first glance. But, there’s a lot more to the matter when you dig a little deeper. Want to learn more about Stripe chargebacks? Have questions about other facets of the chargeback process? Chargebacks911® is here to help.

Chargebacks911 offers more than a decade of leadership in the chargebacks and payments industry. We are uniquely placed to help you fight back against chargebacks and win. Contact us today for a free demo.

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