Glossary

Chargeback

A chargeback is when a buyer disputes a credit card charge by going to their bank instead of asking the merchant for a refund. The bank reverses the charge and pulls the money back from the merchant while the dispute is investigated. Chargebacks come with a separate dispute fee that the merchant pays regardless of who wins.

How a chargeback plays out

A buyer calls their card issuer and says they do not recognize a charge, or they did not get what they paid for, or the event did not happen the way it was advertised. The issuer opens a dispute. Money moves out of the merchant's account immediately while the case is investigated. The merchant has a window (usually around 30 days, depending on the card network) to submit evidence: the order, the ticket details, proof of delivery, any communication with the buyer. The issuer reviews and decides. If the merchant wins, the money is returned, but the dispute fee charged by the card network is not refunded.

Common reasons in ticketing

  • Buyer's remorse. They bought a ticket, decided not to go, missed the refund window or the event had a no-refund policy, and disputed the charge to get their money back another way.
  • Did not attend. The buyer skipped the show and claims the ticket was unused. Not a valid dispute reason but the merchant still has to respond.
  • Event was changed or cancelled. If the event was rescheduled or cancelled without a clear refund offer, this is a legitimate dispute.
  • Friendly fraud. The cardholder authorized the purchase but disputes it anyway, often months later when they forget the transaction. Common and frustrating.
  • Actual fraud. Someone else used the cardholder's card without permission. Legitimate, and the merchant generally loses these.

What it does to your payout

On any platform that uses Stripe or a similar processor, a chargeback reduces your balance in real time. If you have positive sales that day, the chargeback amount comes out of those. If your balance is zero, the next payout is reduced or skipped. If the chargeback creates a negative balance, you owe it back to the processor.

Chargebacks also affect your processor's risk score. A high chargeback rate can trigger holds on payouts, manual reviews, or in rare cases account suspension. The thresholds are set by the card networks, not by us. The simplest defense is a clear refund policy on your event page so buyers ask you first.

How DIY Stubs helps

DIY Stubs is built on Stripe Connect, so chargebacks land in the Stripe dashboard you can open from your account. We surface the dispute, provide the ticket and order details we have, and walk you through Stripe's response form. The dispute fee comes off your balance regardless of the outcome, which is a card network rule we do not control.

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