The A$25 fee on your statement is the part of a chargeback you can see. The rest, the stock, the postage, the ad spend and your own hours, is usually bigger, and it only shows up when you add it up.
A chargeback cost calculator adds the lost sale, the A$25 Shopify Payments fee, the goods and postage you cannot recover, any ad spend behind the order and your own time. For an A$95 order the all-in swing is A$120, which is nearly five times the fee.
This guide is for you if:
- You have had a few disputes on your Shopify store and want to know what they cost in dollars, not just in fees.
- You are deciding whether to fight small disputes, pay for a tool, or tighten your checks, and need a number to decide with.
- You want a simple sheet you can copy, fill in once and update each month.
Last updated: 14 October 2026. Written by the ChargeFix team. Reviewed against sources on 14 October 2026.
The 30-second answer (TL;DR)
- On a Shopify Payments account in Australia the fee is A$25, and it comes back only if you win.
- Compared with a normal sale, your chargeback cost on a lost dispute is the order value plus the fee. On A$95, that is A$120.
- Out of pocket, the chargeback cost on a lost dispute is goods, postage, ad spend and the fee. On the same order that is A$90.
- Winning returns the amount and the fee, but not your time, and the dispute still counts toward your chargeback rate.
- Three disputes a month on a store with 400 orders cost about A$435 a month in the second example below, which is A$5,220 a year.
- The fee is the smallest slice. In the monthly example it is about 17% of the real cost.
- Use your own numbers. I have no verified win rate or industry average to give you, and I do not use unsourced ones.
Quick note The misunderstanding: a chargeback costs the A$25 fee. The correct version: the fee is the visible part, and the real cost is the order you lose plus goods, postage, ads and time that you never get back.
From dispute to cost
| Stage | What happens | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Dispute filed | The bank takes the disputed amount and a fee | The order value and A$25 leave your balance |
| You respond | You build and submit evidence | Your time, whether you win or lose |
| Bank decides | The issuer rules, which can take up to 75 days after submission | Money stays tied up while you wait |
| If you win | The amount and the fee come back | Your time and the dispute count remain |
| If you lose | The amount and the fee stay gone | Goods, postage and ad spend are lost with them |
| Afterwards | The dispute counts toward your chargeback rate | A high rate can affect your Shopify Payments status |
How much does a chargeback cost a Shopify store?
A chargeback costs a Shopify store the disputed amount, an A$25 fee in Australia, and everything you spent to make and ship the order. If you win, the amount and the fee come back. If you lose, they do not, and your goods, postage, ad spend and time are lost with them.
Shopify's help centre describes the process the same way: the bank takes the disputed amount and a fee from you, and if you win, the bank returns the amount and Shopify might refund the fee depending on your country. In Australia, Shopify's fee table lists A$25 and shows it as refunded if the chargeback is won. If the cardholder wins, the amount and the fee are not returned.
Most stores stop there. The better question is how large a chargeback cost is once you add the parts that never appear on a statement. That is what a chargeback cost calculator is for, and you can build one in a spreadsheet in about 30 minutes.
What goes into the cost of one chargeback?
Seven things go into it: the disputed amount, the fee, the goods, the postage, the ad spend behind the order, your time and the effect on your chargeback rate. Four of them come back if you win and three do not. Knowing which is which is most of the calculation.
| Cost item | What it is | Comes back if you win? | How to estimate it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disputed amount | The order value the bank takes back | Yes | From the order record |
| Chargeback fee | A$25 on a Shopify Payments account in Australia | Yes, per Shopify's fee table | Fixed |
| Goods | What the item cost you | You keep the sale, so the goods earned a sale | From your supplier cost |
| Postage and packaging | What you paid to send it | Same as goods | From your carrier invoice |
| Ad spend per order | Average ad cost to win an order | Same as goods | Ad spend divided by orders |
| Your time | Minutes spent responding, valued at an hourly rate | No | Minutes divided by 60, times your hourly value |
| Chargeback rate effect | The dispute counts either way | No | Disputes divided by orders |
Two more costs are real but I could not size them. Third-party guides report that card networks can add monitoring-program fees once a dispute ratio crosses their thresholds, but I could not verify the thresholds or amounts for Australia, so they are not in the sums. And I could not confirm whether payment processing fees on a disputed sale are returned, so the sums leave processing fees out too.
Why does ad spend belong in a chargeback cost?
Because it is already spent. If ads brought the customer and the order is lost to a dispute, that spend bought nothing. Use your average ad cost per order, which is total ad spend divided by orders in the same period. If you cannot link ad spend to the order, leave it out and say so, so the result is not overstated.
Why does your time belong in it?
Because responding takes real minutes, and those minutes are part of your chargeback cost. Say a response takes 45 minutes and you value your time at A$40 an hour. That is A$30 per dispute, spent whether you win or lose. A tool or a routine that cuts the minutes cuts your chargeback cost on every dispute.
What is the chargeback cost formula?
The formula has two views. Out of pocket, a lost dispute costs goods plus postage plus ad spend plus the fee. Against a normal sale, it costs the order value plus the fee. Both are useful: the first is the cash you lose, and the second is the profit you did not make.
Here are the terms, using one order:
- R is the order value.
- C is the cost of goods.
- P is the postage and packaging.
- A is the ad spend attributed to the order.
- F is the chargeback fee, A$25 in Australia.
- T is your time, in dollars, if you respond.
The calculations:
Out of pocket if you lose = C + P + A + F
Profit on a normal sale = R - C - P - A
Cost versus a normal sale = Out of pocket + Normal profit = R + F
Time cost if you respond = minutes / 60 x hourly value
Cost of a lost, fought dispute = Out of pocket + T
The shortcut is worth remembering. Compared with a clean sale, a lost chargeback cost equals the order value plus the fee. The goods, postage and ad spend explain why the cash loss hurts, and why you cannot "make it back" on the next order.
How do you calculate your own chargeback cost, step by step?
Use six steps and one sheet. Each step feeds the next, and the whole thing takes about 30 minutes the first time and 10 minutes a month after that.
1. Count your orders and disputes
Count the orders and the disputes for the same period, such as the last three months. Use the same period for both so the rate means something. Your Shopify admin shows disputes and orders, and menu wording changes, so follow what your admin shows.
2. Find your average order numbers
Work out your average order value, cost of goods and postage per order. Use averages across all orders, or averages for the product type most often disputed if the difference is large. If you sell items at very different prices, run the calculation twice.
3. Add the fee and ad spend
Add the A$25 fee and your average ad spend per order. Ad spend per order is total ad spend divided by total orders for the period. If you do not run ads, set it to zero.
4. Add your time
Estimate the minutes a response takes and the hourly value of your time. If you do not know, time yourself on the next two disputes. Third-party guides put a full evidence response at 20 to 45 minutes, but use your own figure.
5. Compare cost with profit
Multiply your chargeback cost for one dispute by your monthly dispute count, and compare the result with your monthly profit. This shows how much of your profit the disputes consume, which is the number that tends to change decisions.
6. Repeat every month
Update the inputs and the dispute log each month, and watch the trend. A rising count matters more than any single figure.
Here is a sheet layout you can copy into Google Sheets or Excel. Column A holds the labels, column B the values. Replace the example values with yours.
A B
1 Order value (R) 95
2 Cost of goods (C) 38
3 Postage and packaging (P) 9
4 Ad spend per order (A) 18
5 Chargeback fee (F) 25
6 Minutes to respond 45
7 Value of your time per hour 40
8 Disputes per month 3
9 Orders per month 400
10
11 Out of pocket if lost =B2+B3+B4+B5
12 Profit on a normal sale =B1-B2-B3-B4
13 Cost versus a normal sale =B11+B12
14 Time cost per response =B6/60*B7
15 Monthly cost if all lost =B8*B13
16 Annual cost =B15*12
17 Chargeback rate (%) =B8/B9*100
18 Fee as share of true cost =B5/B13
With the example values the sheet returns A$90 out of pocket, A$30 normal profit, A$120 cost versus a normal sale, A$30 of time, A$360 a month, A$4,320 a year, a rate of 0.75% and a fee share of about 21%.
What does one lost chargeback cost? A worked example
These are illustrations, not forecasts. They leave out payment processing fees and GST. Substitute your own numbers.
Illustration 1: an A$95 order
A customer pays A$95. The goods cost you A$38, postage was A$9, and you spent A$18 on advertising to win the order. The fee is A$25.
| Measure | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Out of pocket if you lose | A$38 + A$9 + A$18 + A$25 | A$90 |
| Profit on a normal sale | A$95 - A$38 - A$9 - A$18 | A$30 |
| Cost versus a normal sale | A$90 + A$30 (or A$95 + A$25) | A$120 |
| The fee as a share of that | A$25 / A$120 | about 21% |
So a lost chargeback cost on this order is A$120 against a clean sale, and A$25 of it is the fee. Now add the choice to respond. A response takes 45 minutes at A$40 an hour, so A$30 of time.
| Choice | Result |
|---|---|
| Accept the dispute | -A$90 |
| Fight and win | A$0 (A$30 profit less A$30 of time) |
| Fight and lose | -A$120 (A$90 loss plus A$30 of time) |
Fighting beats accepting when the win chance (call it p) satisfies: p x A$0 + (1 - p) x -A$120 is better than -A$90. That gives p above 25% (A$30 divided by A$120). On this order, fight if you expect to win about 1 time in 4 or better. I have no verified win rate, so use your own record from your last 20 disputes.
Illustration 2: a store with 400 orders a month
A store takes 400 orders a month at an average of A$120. The goods cost A$50 on average, postage A$11 and ad spend A$20 per order. The fee is A$25, and a response costs A$30 of time. The store has 3 disputes a month.
| Measure | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Out of pocket per lost dispute | A$50 + A$11 + A$20 + A$25 | A$106 |
| Profit on a normal sale | A$120 - A$50 - A$11 - A$20 | A$39 |
| Cost versus a normal sale | A$106 + A$39 (or A$120 + A$25) | A$145 |
| Monthly cost, 3 disputes | 3 x A$145 | A$435 |
| Annual cost | A$435 x 12 | A$5,220 |
| Chargeback rate | 3 / 400 | 0.75% |
| Fees only | 3 x A$25 | A$75, about 17% of the cost |
The fee line shows why stopping at the fee misleads when you work out chargeback cost. A store that looks at A$75 a month sees a nuisance. A store that adds everything sees A$435, and A$5,220 over a year.
Now the choice about responding. Here are three ways that month could go.
| Choice | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Accept all three | 3 x -A$106 | -A$318 |
| Fight all three, win 1 | A$39 - 2 x A$106 - 3 x A$30 | -A$263 |
| Fight all three, win 2 | 2 x A$39 - A$106 - 3 x A$30 | -A$118 |
Fighting beats accepting here even at one win in three, because a win swings A$145 against A$30 of time. Your own numbers decide it. If your time per response is much higher or your wins are rare, accepting some disputes can be the cheaper choice.
Illustration 3: a high-value order
A customer pays A$400 for a single item. The goods cost A$190, postage and insurance A$18, and ad spend A$60. The fee is A$25. A response takes 60 minutes, so A$40 of time.
| Measure | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Out of pocket if you lose | A$190 + A$18 + A$60 + A$25 | A$293 |
| Profit on a normal sale | A$400 - A$190 - A$18 - A$60 | A$132 |
| Cost versus a normal sale | A$293 + A$132 (or A$400 + A$25) | A$425 |
| The fee as a share of that | A$25 / A$425 | about 6% |
On a high-value order the fee almost disappears. The chargeback cost is dominated by the order itself, which is why one dispute a month on a store like this costs A$425 a month, or A$5,100 a year. Compare that with Illustration 2, where three small disputes cost A$435 a month.
| Choice | Result |
|---|---|
| Accept the dispute | -A$293 |
| Fight and win | +A$92 (A$132 profit less A$40 of time) |
| Fight and lose | -A$333 (A$293 loss plus A$40 of time) |
Here the break-even win chance is about 9% (A$40 divided by A$425). A single high-value case can be worth a full response even when your odds are poor, which is the reverse of the small-order case. Your own numbers decide it.
How does the chargeback cost grow with the dispute count?
The chargeback cost grows in a straight line with the count, but the rate climbs against your orders, and the rate is what Shopify watches. This table uses the A$145 cost per dispute and 400 orders a month.
| Disputes a month | Chargeback rate | Cost a month | Cost a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.25% | A$145 | A$1,740 |
| 3 | 0.75% | A$435 | A$5,220 |
| 6 | 1.5% | A$870 | A$10,440 |
| 10 | 2.5% | A$1,450 | A$17,400 |
Shopify says a high chargeback rate can affect your Shopify Payments store status and your eligibility for features such as the Shop app. I could not verify a Shopify threshold. One third-party guide says Shopify has not published an excessive rate, and another says 1%. Treat any figure as unconfirmed, and use the trend in your own log.
How do you work out your chargeback rate?
Divide the disputes in a period by the orders in the same period and multiply by 100. For 3 disputes on 400 orders that is 0.75%. Card networks and processors may count it differently, for example by dispute date or by transaction date, so treat your own figure as a guide.
A third-party calculator notes that Visa, Mastercard and PayPal each calculate rates differently, and I could not verify how each applies to Australian stores. Winning does not remove a dispute from the count, so a store that wins every case can still see its rate rise if disputes keep arriving. That is why cost and rate belong in the same sheet.
Use this log to track both. Add one line per dispute.
DISPUTE LOG (one line per dispute)
Date filed | Order # | Reason | Order value | Fee | Fought? | Minutes spent | Result | Notes
Monthly summary
Orders this month: [number]
Disputes this month: [number]
Chargeback rate (%): disputes / orders x 100
Won / lost / accepted: [numbers]
Out-of-pocket loss: sum of lost disputes (goods + postage + ads + fee)
Time spent (hours): total minutes / 60
Biggest reason this month: [fraudulent / product not received / other]
One fix to try next month: [descriptor / tracking emails / shipping checks]
Is a refund cheaper than a chargeback?
Usually, yes, if you can offer it before the bank gets involved. A refund returns the order value and nothing else, while a lost chargeback costs the order value plus the A$25 fee, and it counts as a dispute. The gap is the fee, your time and the effect on your chargeback rate.
| On an A$95 order | Refund before a dispute | Chargeback you lose |
|---|---|---|
| Order value returned | A$95 | A$95 |
| Chargeback fee | None | A$25 |
| Counts as a dispute | No | Yes |
| Your time | A few minutes | 45 minutes, if you respond |
| Total cost versus a normal sale | A$95 | A$120 |
So the chargeback cost on this order is A$25 more than a refund, plus the time and the rate effect. That is worth knowing when a customer writes in unhappy and you are deciding whether to offer a refund. It is not a reason to refund every complaint, and a refund can be the wrong answer when you have a strong case. It is a reason to price the option.
Two cautions. I could not verify whether refunds count toward any card network monitoring programme, so I have not included that. And I could not verify how Shopify treats a refund on an order that already has an open dispute, so ask Shopify Support before you refund once a dispute has been filed.
What does a chargeback cost beyond the numbers?
Beyond the sums, a chargeback ties up cash, takes attention from selling, and tells you something about your store. These costs are harder to put in a cell, but they are real, and they are the reason the calculator is worth a monthly look.
Cash is the clearest hidden chargeback cost. When a dispute is filed, the disputed amount is deducted from your next payout, and the bank can take up to 75 days to decide after you submit. Say you have three open disputes of A$120 each. That is A$360 out of your payouts while you wait, before any decision.
Attention is the second. Every dispute pulls you from selling, packing or customer service to hunt for records. A store with a steady trickle of disputes pays that cost in small pieces, and it rarely shows up as one line.
The third is information. A dispute is a signal. A run of unrecognised charges suggests your billing name or receipts need work. A run of product not received disputes suggests a problem with tracking, delivery times or addresses. The chargeback cost calculator tells you what the signal costs, and your log tells you what it means.
How can you cut your chargeback cost?
You can cut your chargeback cost three ways: fewer disputes, a better win record on the ones that arrive, and less time per response. The chargeback cost calculator shows which lever is worth the most for your store. Fewer disputes cut every line, because a dispute you never get has no fee, no lost goods and no time cost.
| Lever | What it changes | What to check in your sheet |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer disputes | Count, rate and every cost line | Disputes per month, rate |
| Better evidence | Win share, so fewer losses | Won and lost in your log |
| Less time per response | The time cost on every dispute | Minutes spent per dispute |
| Pre-shipping checks | Fraud losses on first orders | Fraudulent share of your disputes |
| Clearer receipts and descriptors | Unrecognised-charge disputes | Unrecognised share of your disputes |
Shopify's prevention guidance covers the same ground: easy-to-find contact details, clear policies, a recognisable billing name, payment receipts and a clear returns policy. Pick the reason that appears most in your log and fix that one first. A guide on each reason is in this series, including fraudulent chargebacks and product not received disputes.
How do you use the number to decide what to do next?
Compare your monthly chargeback cost with what a fix would save, then test the cheapest fix that targets your biggest dispute reason. The number does not make the decision for you, but it stops you spending A$200 to fix an A$50 problem, or ignoring an A$500 one.
Take Illustration 2, where three disputes cost A$435 a month. If a change cut disputes by half, the saving would be A$217.50 a month, or A$2,610 a year. Any fix that costs clearly less than that, in money and in your time, is worth testing. Any that costs more is not, unless it also helps in ways the sheet does not capture.
| Your monthly chargeback cost | What it suggests | First move |
|---|---|---|
| Small and steady | A nuisance, not an emergency | Fix the top reason in your log |
| Rising for two or three months | A pattern is forming | Review what changed: products, shipping, ads |
| One high-value case | A single large loss | Respond fully, and review pre-shipping checks |
| Large and growing | Your rate may be heading somewhere you do not want | Act on prevention and evidence at once |
I have no verified result to promise from any fix, so I will not. Test one change at a time, give it a month or two of data, and let the log show whether the count fell.
What's different for Australian merchants?
This section is general information, not legal advice. Several parts of the calculation are specific to Australia: the A$25 fee, the time customers have to dispute, the dollar sums, and the tax treatment, which I could not verify. Check anything that affects a decision against the sources below.
| Topic | What we verified | What we could not verify |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Payments fee | A$25 per chargeback in Australia, refunded if you win | Fees on other gateways |
| Where the money comes from | The disputed amount is deducted from your next payout | Timing of each step |
| Rate effect | A high rate can affect Shopify Payments status and features such as the Shop app (Shopify Help) | Any published threshold |
| Time customers have | Consumer Affairs Victoria says about 45 to 120 days depending on the card provider; a Wise AU article says up to 120 days depending on scheme and reason | The exact limit for your customer's card |
| Which payments can be charged back | Chargebacks are generally not available for cash, money transfers, cheques, direct debits or BPAY (Consumer Affairs Victoria) | Edge cases |
| Escalation | A cardholder whose claim is wrongly rejected can go to AFCA | AFCA's timeframes |
| Afterpay and PayPal | They run separate dispute systems | Their fees and timeframes |
| GST and BAS | None | Treatment of disputed or refunded sales; check the ATO |
| Network monitoring fees | Reported by third-party guides | Thresholds and amounts for Australia |
| Public holidays | None | Whether they extend a due date |
Two practical consequences follow. First, because a cardholder can still dispute 45 to 120 days after a purchase, a sale is not fully safe until that window has passed, so review your disputes with a lag. Second, keep the GST question out of your decisions until you have checked it. Treat the sums here as pre-GST and confirm the tax treatment with the ATO or your accountant before you use them for your BAS.
Common mistakes
- Counting only the A$25 fee and calling that the chargeback cost.
- Leaving ad spend out when ads brought in the order.
- Forgetting your own time, which is paid on every dispute.
- Using one average for products with very different margins.
- Assuming a win brings the cost back to zero, when the time and the rate effect remain.
- Quoting an industry average or a win rate you cannot source.
- Calculating your chargeback cost once and never updating the sheet.
- Ignoring the dispute reason, so the biggest cause never gets fixed.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a chargeback cost a Shopify store in Australia?
The visible part is the A$25 Shopify Payments fee plus the disputed amount. Underneath sit the goods, postage, ad spend and your time, which you do not recover if you lose. On an A$95 order that adds up to an A$120 swing against a normal sale, so the fee is only a fifth of the cost.
Is the A$25 fee refunded if I win?
Shopify's fee table lists Australia as a country where the fee is refunded if you win, and the disputed amount comes back too. What does not come back is the time you spent responding, and the dispute still counts toward your chargeback rate even after a win.
How do I calculate my chargeback rate?
Divide the number of disputes in a period by the number of orders in the same period, then multiply by 100. Card networks and processors can measure it differently, so use your own figure as a guide and check how your processor counts it. Shopify says a high rate can affect your Shopify Payments status.
What chargeback rate is too high?
I could not verify a Shopify threshold for Australia. One third-party guide says Shopify has not published an excessive rate, and another says 1%. Treat any figure as unconfirmed, keep your rate as low as you can, and watch the trend month by month rather than a single number.
Does winning a chargeback bring my cost back to zero?
No. A win returns the amount and the fee, but you still spent the time building the response, and the dispute still counts toward your rate. In the A$95 example a win leaves you with A$0 once A$30 of time is counted, compared with A$30 profit on a clean sale.
Should I include ad spend in the cost of a chargeback?
Yes, if ads brought in the order. That spend is already gone, and a lost dispute means it bought nothing. Use your average ad cost per order, not a guess. If you cannot attribute spend to the order, leave it out and say so, so the result is not overstated.
How does GST affect these sums?
I could not verify how GST applies to a disputed or refunded sale, so the sums in this guide exclude it. Check the ATO's guidance or ask your accountant before you rely on a figure for your BAS. The structure of the calculation does not change, only the order value you start from.
How often should I recalculate my chargeback cost?
Once a month is enough for most stores. Update the inputs when your average order value, goods cost, postage or ad spend changes, and log each dispute as it arrives. A short monthly review shows whether your count is rising and whether a fix, such as clearer descriptors, is working.
Is it cheaper to accept small chargebacks?
Sometimes. Compare the time a response costs you with your chance of winning multiplied by what a win saves. On an A$95 order with A$30 of time, fighting pays off if you win about 1 time in 4. Use your own win record, not a guess, and count the dispute toward your rate either way.
Start free trial with ChargeFix
ChargeFix is a Shopify app that helps you prepare chargeback evidence. You review and file it, or let Auto mode handle them. It never invents facts, so once your chargeback cost calculator shows where your time goes, you can try it on your next dispute during the free trial.
Sources
- Shopify Help Center, "Chargebacks and inquiries" (process and fee table)
- Shopify Help Center, "Responding to chargebacks and inquiries"
- Shopify Help Center, "Managing chargebacks in the Shopify admin"
- Shopify Help Center, "Preventing chargebacks and inquiries"
- Consumer Affairs Victoria on chargeback time limits and eligible payment types, and Wise AU on chargeback windows (verified earlier in this project; add links at publish)
- Third-party guides used for background only: Chargebacks911 and Blockify chargeback cost calculators, Redo and Ringly articles on Shopify chargeback fees
- Stripe, Dispute evidence best practices: further reading on how to format convincing evidence
- Adyen, Manage disputes: further reading on how another payment provider handles disputes
01Fight or accept
02Choosing a tool
03Money and growth
04Respond to each dispute reason
05Choosing a tool
06Choosing a tool