Shopify guide · checked 15 October 2026
How to respond to a Shopify chargeback
When a customer disputes a Shopify Payments charge with their bank, Shopify takes the order amount and a chargeback fee from your balance and gives you a deadline to send evidence. The response you submit is the only thing the bank sees, so it has to be complete.
Step by step
- Open the chargeback from Shopify's email or the alert in your admin. It takes you to the order.
- Note the reason (fraudulent, product not received, not as described, and so on) and the response deadline. Shopify's deadlines are usually 7 to 21 days, shorter than the bank's.
- Choose to submit a response. Shopify pre-fills what it already has, such as the order, billing and shipping addresses and fulfilment tracking.
- Add what only you have: proof of delivery, messages with the customer, your refund policy as shown at checkout, product photos, and a short explanation of why the charge is valid.
- Submit before the deadline. Shopify sends the package to the bank. Plan on one complete submission; you usually can't add more later.
If you do nothing, Shopify can still send a response on the due date with the data it has, but that rarely includes the delivery photos, conversations or policies that win cases. Accepting the chargeback is the cheaper choice when the order is small and your proof is thin: use the calculator.
What it costs
For US stores, Shopify Payments charges a $15 chargeback fee. Fees differ by country and so does whether the fee comes back when you win, so check the chargeback fee in your Shopify Payments terms and watch your payouts. Some fraud chargebacks on eligible Shop Pay orders are covered by Shopify Protect, so check the order's protection status before you spend time on evidence.
Evidence by reason
| Reason | Lead with |
|---|---|
| Fraudulent / unauthorized | Billing address and CVC checks passed (AVS/CVC match); 3D Secure authentication completed; Two earlier undisputed orders from the same customer, 120 to 365 days old, sharing the same IP or device (Visa Compelling Evidence 3.0) |
| Product not received | Carrier tracking number showing Delivered, with date; Delivery address matches the address the customer gave; For digital goods or services: download, login or usage logs after purchase |
| Not as described / defective | Screenshot of the product page as it was when ordered; Return policy shown at checkout, and that the customer never asked to return; Messages showing you offered a fix, replacement or return |
| Subscription canceled | Renewal terms shown at signup, with the box or button they agreed to; Account record showing no cancellation before the charge date; Logins or usage after the charge date |
| Duplicate charge | Both order records, showing different items, dates or order numbers; Refund receipt if one charge was already refunded |
| Credit not processed | Refund receipt with date and amount, if issued; Refund policy shown at checkout; Messages where you explained the refund decision |
Write the explanation like a bank reviewer reads
- One sentence on what was bought, when, and where it went.
- One sentence answering the reason directly ("Tracking shows delivery to the billing address on 3 March, signed by the customer").
- A numbered list of exhibits, each matching a file you attached.
The evidence pack builder writes this for you from your order details and the reason code.
Build my Shopify evidence pack
Using Stripe? Stripe dispute evidence guide. Customer opened a PayPal, eBay, Etsy or Amazon case instead? Marketplace cases.
Sources: Shopify Help Center, chargeback process; fee and deadline summaries from Chargeflow and Chargeback.io. Read 15 October 2026. Confirm the fee and deadline shown in your own admin.