The short answer. The chargeback fee is a flat charge your processor applies the moment a dispute is filed — $15 on Stripe, Shopify Payments and Braintree, $20 on PayPal (US). It is charged whether or not you contest, and it is separate from the disputed amount, which is withheld at the same time. Stripe, Shopify and Braintree return the fee if you win. PayPal does not.
Chargeback fees by processor
| Processor | Fee per dispute | Refunded if you win? | Response window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | $15 (US) | Yes | Per evidence_details.due_by |
| Shopify Payments | $15 (US) | Yes | 7–21 days, shown on the dispute |
| PayPal | $20 (US) | No | 10 days (buyer disputes) / 20 days (card chargebacks) |
| Braintree | $15 (US) | Yes | Per replyByDate on the dispute |
Shopify Payments runs on Stripe, which is why the two match. The PayPal difference matters more than the $5 suggests: because the fee is never returned, a PayPal dispute you win still costs $20, which moves the break-even point on whether small disputes are worth contesting at all. Our PayPal dispute guide covers that math.
What a chargeback really costs a merchant
Most merchants budget for the fee and the refund. Those are the two smallest lines. Here is a lost $100 dispute in full:
| Cost | Amount | Why it is easy to miss |
|---|---|---|
| Disputed amount | $100 | Withheld immediately, before any decision |
| Processor fee | $15 | Charged even if you never respond |
| Goods already shipped | ~$30 | You lost the product too — it is not coming back |
| Staff time to respond | ~$25 | ~30 minutes gathering evidence and writing the rebuttal |
| Total | ~$170 | 1.7× the order — and 2.5× once you count the lost margin |
Two of those four lines are invisible in your processor dashboard, which is why the usual estimate runs 40–60% low. The goods cost scales with your margin: a 30% cost-of-goods business loses $30 on a $100 order, but an electronics reseller at 80% loses $80.
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Every chargeback also increments your dispute ratio — disputes divided by transactions — and the card networks monitor it. Cross 0.9% with 100+ disputes a monthand Visa places you in VDMP; Mastercard's ECM threshold is 1.5%. Both bring per-dispute fines, a remediation plan, and eventually termination of your ability to process cards.
For a merchant near the line, a single chargeback is worth far more than $170, because the thing at risk is the payment processing itself. Full detail in chargeback rate thresholds.
How to pay fewer of these
Three levers, in order of how much they move the number:
- Win the ones worth fighting. A won dispute returns the amount and, on Stripe and Shopify, the fee. Representment turns a $170 loss into roughly a $30 one. The reason code determines what evidence wins.
- Refund before it files. A refund costs the order value and nothing else — no fee, no ratio damage. Pre-dispute alerts give a short window to do exactly that; the economics are in Ethoca and Verifi alerts.
- Fix what causes them. An unclear billing descriptor generates disputes from customers who simply did not recognise the charge — the cheapest category to eliminate entirely. See descriptor optimisation.
Frequently asked questions
How much are chargeback fees?
Chargeback fees are $15 per dispute on Stripe, Shopify Payments and Braintree, and $20 on PayPal (US rates). Stripe, Shopify and Braintree refund the fee if you win the dispute; PayPal does not. The fee is charged whether or not you contest, and it is separate from the disputed amount, which is also withheld.
What does a chargeback actually cost a merchant?
Roughly 2.5× the order value. On a lost $100 dispute: $100 disputed amount + $15 processor fee + about $30 in goods you already shipped + about $25 of staff time to respond = around $170. That excludes the damage to your dispute ratio, which is what eventually costs merchants their payment processing entirely.
How much is the Shopify chargeback fee?
$15 per dispute on Shopify Payments in the US, refunded if you win. Shopify Payments runs on Stripe, so the fee schedule matches. Orders covered by Shopify Protect are handled differently — Shopify absorbs the loss on eligible Shop Pay orders, but eligibility is narrower than most merchants assume.
Is the chargeback fee refunded if I win?
On Stripe, Shopify Payments and Braintree, yes — the $15 fee is returned along with the disputed amount when you win. On PayPal the $20 fee is not refunded even on a successful outcome, which makes PayPal disputes more expensive to fight and changes the economics of when contesting is worthwhile.
Can I avoid chargeback fees by refunding instead?
Yes, if you refund before the dispute is filed. A refund costs you the order value; a chargeback costs the order value plus the fee plus a mark against your dispute ratio. That is why pre-dispute alerts exist — they notify you when a cardholder contacts their bank, giving a short window to refund and stop the chargeback from filing at all.
Fee figures reflect published US schedules for Stripe, PayPal, Shopify Payments and Braintree as of September 2026 and can change — verify current rates with your processor before relying on them. Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, Visa and Mastercard are trademarks of their respective owners; Aurai is independent and not endorsed by any of them.