A$25 sounds small until you notice it can be bigger than the profit on the order it came from, and that it is charged even when you did nothing wrong.
The Shopify chargeback fee Australia stores pay is A$25 per chargeback on Shopify Payments, according to published fee tables. It is debited with the disputed amount when the bank files the chargeback, not when you respond. Inquiries do not trigger it, and whether a win returns it should be checked in your payout detail.
This guide is for you if:
- You have just seen a chargeback fee on a payout and want to know what it is and whether it comes back.
- You are deciding whether a small order is worth fighting, or whether to accept the loss and move on.
- You are pricing your store's dispute risk and want a realistic cost per chargeback, not only the headline fee.
Last updated: 9 October 2026. Written by the ChargeFix team. Reviewed against sources on 9 October 2026.
The 30-second answer (TL;DR)
- The A$25 chargeback fee applies to Australian stores on Shopify Payments, as listed in published fee tables. Confirm the current figure in your admin or with Shopify Support, because we could not open Shopify's own table.
- The fee is taken at the same moment as the disputed amount, when a chargeback is filed. An inquiry takes neither at first.
- Shopify's pages disagree on getting the fee back. One says a win may return it depending on country, another says a win returns the amount and the fee. Check the payout after a win.
- If you lose, or accept the dispute, the fee is not returned.
- The fee is a small part of the real cost. Goods, postage and your time usually outweigh it.
- On orders under about A$50, the fee can exceed your margin, which changes whether fighting makes sense.
- A won dispute still counts toward your dispute rate, so avoiding disputes beats winning them.
Quick note: Most owners think A$25 is what a chargeback costs. It is only the visible line: on a A$120 order, the real loss from a lost dispute is A$82, and the fee is about 30% of that.
The fee at a glance
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| How much is it? | A$25 per chargeback for Australia, per published fee tables |
| When is it charged? | When the chargeback is filed, together with the disputed amount |
| Does an inquiry cost the fee? | No, not unless it escalates to a chargeback |
| Returned if you win? | Shopify's pages differ. Check your payout detail |
| Returned if you lose? | No |
| Does it count toward your dispute rate? | The dispute does, win or lose |
Shopify chargeback fee Australia: how much is it, exactly?
For an Australian store taking payments through Shopify Payments, the chargeback fee is A$25 per chargeback. The figure appears in the fee tables that third parties publish from Shopify's schedule, and it matches what one major Australian bank charges its own merchants.
We want to be plain about the source. Shopify's help pages explain that a chargeback fee exists and links to the process, but the pages we could open did not show the country table. The A$25 number comes from three published analyses that each list it (Redo, which dated its table July 2026, Ringly, and Chargeback Gurus). That is consistent, and A$25 is the number you should plan around, but your payout record is the final word.
The fee follows your payout currency, according to one analysis, not the customer's location. A store paid in Australian dollars sees A$25 whether the card was issued in Sydney or in Singapore. If you sell into several markets with several payout currencies, expect different fees by market.
Chargeback vs inquiry: is the A$25 charged for an inquiry?
No. Shopify's help pages say a chargeback takes the amount and a fee immediately, and an inquiry takes neither at first. The inquiry only becomes expensive if it closes in the customer's favour and escalates to a chargeback, at which point the amount and fee are debited.
That is why the chargeback vs inquiry difference matters so much for cost. A full refund on an inquiry ends it with no fee. The same refund on an open chargeback is not possible, because the bank already holds the money.
When is the Shopify chargeback fee Australia stores pay charged?
On a Shopify Payments chargeback, the fee is debited when the cardholder's bank files the chargeback, in the same step as the disputed amount. It is not tied to whether you respond, and it is not charged again if you submit evidence. With Shopify Payments the amount is deducted from your next available payout.
Think of the A$25 chargeback fee as a cost of the dispute being opened, not of the dispute being lost. You pay it first and may or may not get it back later. That order of events surprises many owners, who expect to be charged only if they lose.
If your payout cannot cover the debit, Shopify says it takes the amount from your linked bank account, tries again after 3 business days if that fails, and expects you to update your bank details or contact support if the second attempt also fails. A balance that is short on payout day is therefore a real risk for stores with thin cash flow.
Is the Shopify chargeback fee Australia stores pay refunded on a win?
It may be. Shopify's overview page says the fee might be refunded depending on your country or region. The page on resolving disputes says a win returns the full disputed amount plus the chargeback fee in your next payout after the decision. A loss never returns it.
Both statements can be true at once: the general page hedges because the rule varies by country, and the specific page describes the usual outcome. One published analysis describes the refund as country dependent without saying which countries qualify. We did not find a source that confirms Australia specifically.
What to do about it:
- Plan as if the fee is not returned. Treat a refund as a bonus.
- After your first win, open the payout detail and look for a line returning the fee. Write down what you see and the date.
- If the fee did not come back, ask Shopify Support whether Australia is on the refund list, and keep the reply.
Do not rely on the fee refund when deciding whether to fight. It is a small number, and the decision should stand on the order value and your evidence.
What if I only win part of the dispute?
Shopify says a partial win returns part of the disputed amount. The pages we opened do not say how the fee is treated in a partial win. Treat that as unknown and check the payout.
Who actually charges the fee, and is it different on other gateways?
One published analysis says the fee is set by the acquiring bank and passed through, not set by Shopify. Fees on other payment gateways differ, so the A$25 applies only to a Shopify Payments chargeback. A bank terminal, a different processor or a buy now pay later provider each have their own schedule.
Here is how that looks for an Australian merchant who sells in more than one place:
| Channel | Who sets the fee | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Payments online | Per Shopify Payments fee table (A$25 reported) | Your payout detail |
| In-person terminal through a bank | The bank | NAB, for example, publishes A$25 for its merchants, refunded on a win |
| Third party gateway on Shopify | The gateway | Its own fee page |
| Afterpay, PayPal and similar | Their own dispute systems | Their merchant terms (timelines and fees not verified here) |
The NAB figure is worth knowing for a different reason. NAB's merchant guide says that if the cardholder wins, the sale is reversed and a A$25 fee applies, and that if the merchant wins, the amount and the fee are returned. That is NAB's policy, not Shopify's. It does show that A$25 is a common level in Australian acquiring, and that refunding on a win is normal practice for at least one major bank.
How does the A$25 fee compare with other countries?
The chargeback fee in Australia is among the higher flat fees in Shopify Payments markets that publish them. The United States and Canada are at 15, the United Kingdom at £10, and most euro countries at €15. New Zealand is NZ$20.
The table below is from the published analyses we opened. It is a sample, not the full schedule, and it should be treated as a snapshot.
| Country | Reported fee | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | A$25 | The figure this guide is about |
| New Zealand | NZ$20 | Closest market |
| United States | US$15 | |
| Canada | CA$15 or US$15 | Depends on payout currency |
| United Kingdom | £10 | |
| Most euro countries | €15 | Ireland adds 23% VAT |
| Japan | ¥1,300 | |
| Singapore | S$16.35 |
For an Australian merchant, the point of the table is not to feel hard done by. It is to understand why overseas guides that say "$15" understate your cost by two thirds, and why their break-even maths does not apply to you.
What does a chargeback really cost beyond the A$25?
The cost of a chargeback is the fee, the goods you will not get back, the postage you already paid, and your time. The sale itself is reversed, so the revenue you counted disappears. For small orders, the fee is more than half the real loss.
Illustration: the same fee on three different orders
Assume each order is disputed as not received and you lose. The A$25 fee is the same every time, and because the chargeback fee in Australia is flat, it weighs most on the smallest order. The goods and postage figures are examples.
| Item | Small order | Mid order | Large order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order value | A$35 | A$120 | A$450 |
| Goods you lose | A$12 | A$45 | A$180 |
| Postage already paid | A$9 | A$12 | A$18 |
| Chargeback fee | A$25 | A$25 | A$25 |
| Real loss | A$46 | A$82 | A$223 |
| Fee as a share of real loss | 54% | 30% | 11% |
Add the goods, postage and fee for each column to check: A$12 plus A$9 plus A$25 is A$46. A$45 plus A$12 plus A$25 is A$82. A$180 plus A$18 plus A$25 is A$223.
On the A$35 order the fee is more than the goods cost. That does not mean you should always accept small disputes. It means the A$25 is a larger part of the story the smaller the order is, and that prevention matters most on low-value items.
The debited amount is separate from this real loss. On the mid order, Shopify would take back A$120 plus the A$25 fee, or A$145. But you were paid the A$120 in the first place, so the real loss against never making the sale is the A$82 above.
Should you fight or accept a small dispute?
The first check is chargeback vs inquiry, because only an inquiry can still be settled with a refund. Fight when the chance of winning, multiplied by what you would keep, is more than the time the response costs you. Accept when the order is small, your evidence is thin, and the dispute is plainly not worth the effort.
The honest question is: how likely are you to win with the evidence you have? Nobody can give you a general percentage, and we will not invent one. What you can do is work out the break-even chance, which is how likely a win must be for the effort to pay off.
Illustration: break-even win chance
Assume a response takes 45 minutes of your time, and your time is worth A$40 an hour, so a response costs A$30. If you win, you keep the sale amount, and the fee may or may not come back. The break-even chance is the time cost divided by what a win gives you.
| Order | Win gives you (fee not returned) | Break-even chance | Win gives you (fee returned) | Break-even chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A$35 | A$35 | 86% | A$60 | 50% |
| A$120 | A$120 | 25% | A$145 | 21% |
| A$450 | A$450 | 7% | A$475 | 6% |
For a A$450 order, a win chance of even 7% pays for the effort. For a A$35 order, you would need to be very confident if the fee is not returned. Change the time and hourly value to match your own, and the table changes with them.
Two cautions. First, the time figure is an assumption for illustration, not a measured average. Second, the table ignores your dispute rate, which counts won disputes. A small order you could win but would rather not fight still adds to the rate, and so does a small order you accept.
A simple checklist before you decide
Dispute: order #____ amount A$____ due ____
1. Is it an inquiry (no money taken yet)? If yes, would a full refund end it?
2. Do I have direct proof (delivery record, signed receipt, access log)?
3. Do I have any customer message that supports my side?
4. Order value x chance of winning vs my response cost A$____ ?
5. Is this the third dispute this month on this product or route? If yes, fix the cause.
Decision: fight / accept / refund inquiry Date decided: ____
How can you see what you have paid in chargeback fees in Australia?
Open the payout detail and look at the transactions that make up each payout. Chargebacks and their fees appear as separate lines when they are debited. Menu wording changes, so follow what your admin shows. We could not verify the exact path in Australian stores.
A practical habit is to keep a simple log. One row per dispute: order number, date filed, amount, fee, outcome, fee returned or not. After three months you will know your real average cost per dispute, which is more useful than any published figure.
Order # Filed Amount Fee Outcome Fee returned? Notes
1042 12 Oct 26 A$120 A$25 Won Yes / No Not received, tracking proved delivery
A monthly cost model you can adapt
Multiply your dispute count by the fee, then add the real loss on the ones you lose. In the illustration below, a store with 10 mid-sized disputes lost 3 and won 7.
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Fees on the 3 losses | 3 x A$25 | A$75 |
| Goods and postage on the 3 losses | 3 x A$57 | A$171 |
| Fees on the 7 wins, if never returned | 7 x A$25 | A$175 |
| Total if fees are never returned | A$75 plus A$171 plus A$175 | A$421 |
| Fees on the 7 wins, if returned | A$0 | |
| Total if fees are returned on wins | A$75 plus A$171 | A$246 |
The A$57 is the goods (A$45) plus postage (A$12) from the mid order above. The spread between A$246 and A$421 is the value of finding out how your fee refund actually behaves.
How do you avoid paying the Shopify chargeback fee Australia merchants face?
The only fee you can fully avoid is the one on a dispute that never happens. Settle inquiries with a full refund when you owe the customer, make your charges recognisable, reply to customers quickly, and keep delivery proof by default.
- End inquiries early. A full refund on an inquiry ends it with no chargeback and no fee. That is the single cheapest move in this whole guide.
- Make the charge recognisable. NAB advises clear business names and descriptors on statements, so customers do not dispute a charge they do not recognise.
- Reply quickly. NAB tells merchants to respond to customer complaints promptly, because an ignored email is a common reason for a bank call.
- Refund to the original card. NAB advises always refunding to the original card, so the customer sees the credit where they expect it.
- Review risky orders. Shopify says that if its fraud analysis flags an order as high risk, you can review it and cancel it before a chargeback or inquiry arises.
- Keep proof by default. Screenshot tracking and delivery at fulfilment, not when the dispute arrives.
We have not verified whether Shopify Protect, which covers some fraud chargebacks in the United States, is available to Australian stores. Do not assume it is.
Is refunding cheaper than losing a chargeback?
Usually, yes. A refund reverses the sale and, if the item comes back, leaves you with the goods, and it carries no chargeback fee. Shopify says card fees are not returned on a refund, so a refund is not free, but the cost of a chargeback is higher in most cases where you owe the customer something.
Shopify's international fees page states that currency conversion fees and credit card fees are not returned when you issue a refund. That is a real cost, and it applies to a refund and not to the A$25 chargeback fee, so compare them honestly.
Illustration: refund versus lost chargeback on the same order
Take the mid order from earlier: A$120 sale, A$45 goods, A$12 outbound postage already paid. To compare, assume a A$3.50 card fee that is not returned on a refund, and A$10 return postage. These two figures are assumptions for the example. We ignore card processing fees on the chargeback side because we could not confirm how Shopify treats them there.
| Item | Refund, item returned | Refund, item never recovered | Lost chargeback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goods lost | A$0 | A$45 | A$45 |
| Outbound postage | A$12 | A$12 | A$12 |
| Return postage | A$10 | A$0 | A$0 |
| Card fee not returned | A$3.50 | A$3.50 | not counted |
| Chargeback fee | A$0 | A$0 | A$25 |
| Real loss | A$25.50 | A$60.50 | A$82 |
Check the sums: A$12 plus A$10 plus A$3.50 is A$25.50. A$45 plus A$12 plus A$3.50 is A$60.50. A$45 plus A$12 plus A$25 is A$82. Even when the item is lost and you refund anyway, you are A$21.50 better off than losing the chargeback, which is the A$25 fee less the A$3.50 card fee. When the item comes back, you save A$56.50.
This is why the cost of a chargeback should drive your refund decisions. If a customer is genuinely owed money and the dispute has only reached the inquiry stage, a full refund ends it. If it has already become a chargeback, you cannot refund at all, so the cheap option has gone.
How do you price chargeback risk into your store?
Estimate how often you are disputed, multiply by your average real loss, and spread the result across your orders. The answer is a few cents per order for most stores, and it is the number to cover in your margins, not the A$25 on its own.
The formula is simple: disputes per 100 orders, times your average real loss per lost dispute, divided by 100. You supply the first number from your own records. We will not give you an industry benchmark, because we have no verified one for Australian Shopify stores.
Illustration: cost per order at different dispute levels
Using the A$82 real loss from the mid order, and assuming you lose every dispute for a cautious view:
| Disputes per 100 orders | Cost per order | On 1,000 orders a month |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 | A$0.21 | A$205 |
| 0.5 | A$0.41 | A$410 |
| 1.0 | A$0.82 | A$820 |
Each row is the disputes figure multiplied by A$82 and divided by 100, so 0.5 times A$82 is A$41, divided by 100 gives A$0.41, and over 1,000 orders that is A$410. The 0.25 row is A$0.205, shown as A$0.21. The dispute rates here are assumptions chosen to show the scale. They are not averages.
Orders last month: ______
Disputes (chargebacks) last month: ______
Disputes per 100 orders: ______ (disputes / orders x 100)
Lost disputes: ______
Average real loss per lost dispute: A$______ (fee + goods + postage)
Cost of disputes last month: A$______
Cost per order: A$______ (cost / orders)
If the per-order number is larger than you expected, the cheapest fix is almost never a bigger response team. It is fewer disputes: better descriptors, faster replies and tighter delivery records.
How long is your money tied up in a dispute?
For up to 75 days after you submit, plus the response window before it. During that time the disputed amount and the fee stay debited, and any return arrives in the next payout after the decision. For cash flow, that is the hidden cost of a chargeback.
Illustration: one A$120 dispute on a calendar
| Date | Event | Money position |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 12 Oct 2026 | Chargeback filed | A$145 debited (A$120 plus A$25 fee) |
| Fri 23 Oct 2026 | You submit evidence | Still A$145 out |
| Mon 26 Oct 2026 | Original due date | Nothing further to do |
| By Wed 6 Jan 2027 | Latest likely decision, 75 days after submission | A$120 returned on a win, plus the fee if it is returned |
The 75 days run from submission, so submitting on Friday 23 October 2026 puts the latest date at Wednesday 6 January 2027. A decision can come earlier. Public holidays and the Christmas period may slow processing, but Shopify's pages do not say, so we cannot confirm it.
For ten disputes of this size in the same month, A$1,450 would sit in limbo, which is why the chargeback fee in Australia is only one part of a cash flow problem. A store with weekly supplier payments feels that long before it feels the A$25.
What if the fee shows up on a payout and you never saw an email?
Find the order in the payout detail, open it, and check the chargeback banner and due date. Then check the store contact email in your settings, because Shopify sends chargeback notices there, even when the store is closed or paused.
- Open the payout detail and find the line for the chargeback and the fee. Note the order number.
- Open that order. The chargeback banner shows the reason and the due date in your store's timezone.
- Check your store contact email in your store settings, and look in spam. Shopify sends the notices to that address.
- If the store is paused or closed, the emails still arrive, but you must follow the link in the email, log in and choose a plan before you can submit more evidence.
- Log it in your dispute sheet, with the date you found it and the date it was filed.
A missed email is how a response window quietly disappears. If you run the store from a shared inbox, make sure the contact address is one that someone reads every day. This matters for every Shopify Payments chargeback, not only the expensive ones.
What's different for Australian merchants?
General information, not legal advice.
Australian merchants face a higher flat fee than most Shopify Payments markets, an acquiring market where A$25 is common, and a consumer law that can require a refund regardless of what your policy says. The fee is an input to your pricing, not only a loss.
The fee is not in GST terms we could verify. Whether the chargeback fee carries GST, and how a lost chargeback is treated on your BAS, are questions for your accountant. We have not sourced the ATO position, so we are not stating one.
Refund obligations can drive disputes. Consumer Affairs Victoria lists goods not matching their description and non-delivery among the grounds for a chargeback. CHOICE notes that a customer who is legally owed a refund does not have to accept a voucher, and that a retailer may end up refunding through the chargeback process even if it first refused. If the customer is genuinely owed a remedy under consumer law, paying the A$25 and losing the dispute is the worst of both worlds. We have not re-opened the ACCC guidance for this post, so the specific rules are in our consumer law guides, which cite the ACCC directly.
Time limits sit behind the fee. Consumer Affairs Victoria says cardholders can lodge a chargeback 45 to 120 days after the transaction depending on the provider, and NAB lists 120 days for Visa and Mastercard and 210 days for eftpos. A fee can therefore arrive months after a sale. Keep records for at least 18 months, which covers the 540 day outer limit CHOICE mentions for some goods-not-supplied claims.
AFCA is a path for cardholders, not a way to remove your fee. If a cardholder's bank wrongly rejects a claim, the cardholder can go to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, according to Consumer Affairs Victoria and CHOICE. That does not change the fee on a chargeback you have already lost.
Items we could not verify. Public holiday treatment of due dates, courier proof options, Afterpay and PayPal fees and timelines, and the ePayments Code for unauthorised transactions.
Common mistakes with chargeback fees
- Budgeting only the A$25 chargeback fee. Goods, postage and time are usually larger.
- Assuming the fee comes back on a win. Shopify's pages are not consistent, so check the payout.
- Ignoring an inquiry. An unanswered inquiry can turn into a chargeback and the fee.
- Trying to refund an open chargeback. The bank already holds the money, so a refund risks paying twice.
- Fighting every small dispute on principle. Work out the break-even first.
- Accepting every small dispute to save time. Even accepted disputes count toward your dispute rate.
- Using overseas fee guides for the chargeback fee in Australia. A US figure of $15 is not your number, and the break-even maths differs.
- Not tracking fees. Without a log, you cannot tell whether wins are returning the fee.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Shopify chargeback fee Australia stores pay?
Published fee tables list A$25 per chargeback for Australian stores on Shopify Payments. We could not open Shopify's own table, so confirm the amount in your payout detail or with Shopify Support. Inquiries do not trigger the fee unless they escalate to a chargeback.
Is the chargeback fee refunded if I win?
Sometimes. Shopify's overview says the fee may be refunded depending on your country, while the page on resolving disputes says a win returns the amount and the fee. Look at the payout after your first win to see exactly what came back, and ask Support if the fee is missing.
Do I pay the fee if I accept the chargeback?
Yes. If you accept by not submitting evidence or by closing the form, the disputed amount goes to the cardholder and Shopify does not return the fee. Accepting saves your time but costs the full fee plus the order value, so use it only when fighting is clearly not worth it.
What is the chargeback vs inquiry difference for fees?
No. An inquiry takes neither the disputed amount nor a fee at first. If it closes in the customer's favour it can become a chargeback, and then both are debited. A full refund while the inquiry is still open is the cleanest way to stop that happening.
Does the Shopify chargeback fee Australia stores pay count toward my dispute rate?
The fee does not, but the dispute does. Shopify counts a won chargeback toward your dispute rate just as it counts a lost one. That is why avoiding disputes protects you better than winning them, and why the rate has its own guide in this series.
Is the fee the same on other payment gateways?
No. The A$25 applies to a Shopify Payments chargeback. A third party gateway, a bank terminal or a buy now pay later provider sets its own fees. NAB, for example, lists A$25 for its merchants, but that is a separate arrangement from Shopify's and must be checked on its own terms.
Does the fee change if the customer is overseas?
According to one published analysis, the fee follows your payout currency, not the customer's country. A store paid in Australian dollars would see A$25 even for a card issued abroad. If you are paid in several currencies, each market may carry a different fee.
Can I claim the chargeback fee as a business expense?
We have not sourced the ATO position on chargeback fees or on lost chargebacks, so we will not state one. Keep your payout records and ask your accountant how the fee and the reversed sale should be treated for GST and your tax return.
What is the cheapest way to avoid chargeback fees?
Settle the problem before the bank gets involved, and answer inquiries fast. A full refund on an inquiry ends it with no fee. Clear statement descriptors, quick customer replies and delivery proof saved at fulfilment prevent most of the avoidable disputes that lead to a fee.
Start free trial with ChargeFix
ChargeFix helps Australian Shopify merchants put together chargeback responses from their own order, delivery and message records. You review and file it, or let Auto mode handle them. If the Shopify chargeback fee Australia stores pay is adding up faster than your margins allow, you can try it on a free trial first.
Sources
- Chargebacks and inquiries, Shopify Help Center
- Overview of the chargeback and inquiry process, Shopify Help Center
- Resolving a chargeback or inquiry, Shopify Help Center
- Chargebacks: prevention and dispute guide for merchants, NAB
- Chargebacks, Consumer Affairs Victoria
- How do card chargebacks work?, CHOICE
- The Shopify chargeback fee most guides get wrong, Redo
- Shopify chargeback fees: what they really cost, Ringly
- Shopify Chargeback Guide, Chargeback Gurus
01Shopify disputes
02Shopify disputes
03Shopify disputes
04Shopify disputes
05Money and growth
06Choosing a tool