You have 14 disputes a month, each one takes you most of an hour, and a friend has told you to "just hire a VA". She did, and it worked for her. Another merchant says a chargeback app does the same job for a fraction of the price. Both cannot be the cheapest, and the answer depends on numbers neither of them shared: how many disputes you get, how long each takes, what you pay per hour and what happens when your VA is on holiday and a deadline is Thursday.
Whether to hire a virtual assistant (VA) or use a chargeback app comes down to volume, risk and control. A VA is flexible and can do other jobs, but you pay for hours, you must train them, and a missed deadline is a lost dispute. A chargeback app costs a flat or percentage fee, works the same way every time and never takes a holiday, but it only handles disputes and needs to be checked. For most UK stores with fewer than five disputes a month, neither is worth much. Between about five and thirty, an app is usually cheaper. A hybrid, where an app drafts and a VA or you review, is common.
This guide is for you if:
- You run a UK Shopify store on Shopify Payments, you handle disputes yourself, and you are deciding whether to hand them to a VA or software.
- You want the break-even worked out in pounds, with every assumption visible so you can swap in your own numbers.
- You want to know what could go wrong with each option before you commit.
Last updated: 22 October 2026. Written by the ChargeFix team. Reviewed against sources on 22 October 2026. General information, not legal, employment or tax advice.
Disclosure. ChargeFix is a chargeback app, so I have an interest in the app side of this comparison. I have tried to be fair to the VA option, and I say where it wins. I could not verify typical VA rates or employer costs, so every VA figure here is an assumption you should replace with a real quote.
The 30-second answer (TL;DR)
- The cost comparison turns on your disputes per month, the minutes each takes and the hourly rate you pay. Use the break-even table to find your point.
- The UK National Living Wage for those aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour from April 2026, which is a floor for employees, not a VA quote. Freelance and agency rates differ and I could not verify them.
- A VA brings flexibility and judgement. A chargeback app brings consistency, speed and a predictable fee. Neither creates evidence you did not collect.
- The biggest risks are a missed deadline with a VA, and unchecked automatic filing with an app.
- A hybrid works well: the app prepares, a person reviews.
Do this today (10 minutes):
- List your last three months of disputes with the time each took you, even roughly.
- Multiply total minutes by what an hour of your time is worth to you.
- That number is the amount a VA or an app has to beat.
Who does what in a dispute
| Task | You | VA | Chargeback app |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spot the dispute and its deadline | Yes | If given access | Yes, automatically |
| Gather order, payment and delivery records | Slow | Medium | Fast |
| Write the response | Slow | Medium | Drafts it |
| Judge whether to fight | Best | Needs training | Gives a score |
| File before the deadline | Yes | If reliable | Yes, if allowed |
| Learn from outcomes | Yes | Only if told | Reports |
What does it cost to hire a VA to handle disputes?
A VA's cost is the hours they work multiplied by the hourly rate, plus the time you spend training and checking. I could not verify typical VA rates, so I will show the method and use clearly labelled assumptions.
For a floor, the UK National Living Wage from 1 April 2026 is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20, and £8.00 for under 18 and apprentices. That applies to employees. If you hire someone as an employee, you also have employer costs such as National Insurance and pension contributions, which I have not priced. If you hire a freelancer or an agency, the rate is set by the market and usually higher than the floor, because it covers their own costs and profit.
For the examples below I use an assumed £18 an hour all-in. Replace it with a real quote.
| Disputes per month | Minutes each (VA, trained) | Hours | Cost at an assumed £18 an hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 30 | 2.5 | £45 |
| 10 | 30 | 5 | £90 |
| 20 | 30 | 10 | £180 |
| 40 | 30 | 20 | £360 |
Add the hidden costs. A VA needs access, and you need to set it up carefully. A VA needs training on your policies and evidence. And your own review time does not disappear: expect to read every response at first. Many VAs also ask for a minimum monthly commitment or retainer, so the real cost for five disputes may be the retainer, not the hours. Ask whether unused hours roll over or expire.
What does a chargeback app cost?
A chargeback app charges in one of three ways, and the model changes the comparison.
| Pricing model | How it works | Example from public pages |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of recoveries | You pay a share of what is won | Chargeflow: 25% of recovered disputes. Disputifier: 20% of recovered revenue, capped at US$250 per recovery |
| Flat monthly fee | One fee, with plan limits | ChargeFix: flat monthly plans, with a free plan of 2 filings a month and a 14-day trial on paid plans |
| Per alert or per scan | Charged on events | Chargeflow Alerts: US$29 per deflected chargeback |
Both Chargeflow and Disputifier price in US dollars. I have not priced the flat plans here because plans change, but you can see them on the vendor's page. For the comparison I use a made-up flat fee of £30 a month so you can see the shape of the answer.
| Disputes won per month, average £120 | 25% success fee | 20% success fee | Made-up flat fee £30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 (£240 recovered) | £60 | £48 | £30 |
| 5 (£600) | £150 | £120 | £30 |
| 10 (£1,200) | £300 | £240 | £30 |
For a deeper comparison of the tools themselves, see our guide to the best chargeback apps for Shopify in the UK.
When is a VA cheaper than a chargeback app, and when is it not?
Compare the two models side by side, using the assumptions above.
| Disputes per month | VA at £18 an hour, 30 minutes each | Flat-fee app (made-up £30) | Percentage app, 25% of £120 wins at a 50% win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | £27 | £30 | £45 |
| 5 | £45 | £30 | £75 |
| 10 | £90 | £30 | £150 |
| 20 | £180 | £30 | £300 |
| 40 | £360 | £30 | £600 |
Read the table in three ways. At about three disputes a month, a VA paid by the hour and a flat app cost about the same, and a spreadsheet and your own time may beat both. From five a month, a flat-fee app is cheaper than hourly VA time, as long as the VA's time is not shared with other jobs. At a percentage fee, the app becomes the most expensive option as your wins grow, which is why the fee model matters more than the brand.
The table ignores two things. A VA can do other work between disputes, so their cost is shared. And the quality of the work differs: a good VA catches an odd case, while an app follows its rules. Treat the table as a starting point, then add your judgement.
A break-even formula you can use with your own numbers: the VA costs less than a flat app when (disputes per month × minutes each ÷ 60 × hourly rate) is below the monthly app fee. With a £30 fee and a £18 rate, the VA wins below about 3.3 disputes a month at 30 minutes each.
What are the risks of a VA and of a chargeback app?
Each option has its own failure modes. Knowing them lets you design around them.
| Risk | VA | Chargeback app |
|---|---|---|
| Missed deadline | A holiday, illness or a lost email | A broken connection or an unmonitored alert |
| Wrong evidence | Training gaps | Rules that are too loose |
| Unsupported claims | Honest mistakes | The letter states something the records do not show |
| Early filing | Submitting before the evidence is complete | Auto filing before you can add to it |
| Data exposure | Staff access to customer details | Third parties and AI providers |
| Dependence | One person holds the knowledge | One vendor holds the data |
| Cost creep | More hours than planned | Percentage fees grow with wins |
The deadline risk deserves emphasis. Shopify's help pages say the due date is usually 7 to 21 days after a dispute is filed, and that if no time is shown it is 11:59 PM on the displayed date. If you add no evidence, Shopify submits what it has collected on the due date, and a response submitted early cannot be edited. A VA who files too early locks your evidence, and a VA who files too late loses the dispute. So whoever does the work, keep the deadline in a calendar you also see.
For an app, the equivalent is automatic filing. ChargeFix's Auto mode is off by default and, once you turn it on, you set rules by dispute type, a minimum evidence level, an amount cap and a wait for carrier-confirmed delivery. Our guide on chargeback automation explains how to set those limits, whichever tool you use.
How do you keep customer data safe with a VA or an app?
Under UK GDPR you remain responsible for your customers' personal data, whoever handles it. The ICO says a contract with a processor must cover documented instructions, security, authorising sub-processors, help with breaches, deletion or return of data at the end, and audits.
| Question | A VA | A chargeback app |
|---|---|---|
| What can they see? | Whatever staff permissions you give them | Whatever scopes you approve at install |
| Contract | A written agreement covering confidentiality and data handling | A data processing agreement |
| Offboarding | Remove access on the last day | Uninstall and confirm deletion |
| Where is data kept? | On their devices, unless you stop it | The vendor's hosting |
| Log of access | Hard to get | Often available |
Give a VA the minimum staff permissions needed, use a separate login for them, and remove access when they leave. Do not share your own login. Shopify lets you create staff accounts with limited permissions, and you should check what each permission allows in your own admin. For an app, read what it asks for at install, and see our checklist for vetting a vendor's access and data handling.
What training does a VA need?
Training is where VA arrangements succeed or fail. A VA who has never seen a dispute needs a written process, not a verbal brief. At minimum, give them these five documents.
| Document | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Dispute reasons guide | What each Shopify dispute reason means and which evidence matters |
| Evidence checklist | What to gather for each reason and where to find it |
| Response templates | Wording for the main reasons, with the facts to fill in |
| Decision rules | Which disputes to fight, which to accept, and when to ask you |
| Deadline rule | Who files, by when, and what to do if something is missing |
Our chargeback SOP for small teams is a good base for the written process. Expect a few weeks before a new VA is fast, and check every response at first. The training period is a real cost, and it repeats each time you replace someone.
How would a hybrid work?
For many stores the best answer is both. The chargeback app does the slow, repetitive part, a person does the judgement. A typical split looks like this.
| Step | Who does it |
|---|---|
| Spot the dispute and set the deadline | The app, with an alert to you or your VA |
| Gather the records and draft the response | The app |
| Read the draft and check each claim against the records | The VA or you |
| Decide whether to fight | You, using the evidence score |
| File and log the outcome | The VA or you, or the app for low-risk types |
This keeps a human in the loop without paying for hours of copy-pasting. It also protects against the app's main risk: filing something wrong without anyone reading it. With manual review as the default, nothing goes out until a person approves it.
What does a handover to a VA look like in practice?
A handover is the moment you stop doing the work and someone else starts. Done badly, it is how deadlines get missed in the first month. Done well, it takes about two hours of your time spread over a week.
| Handover step | What you do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Create a staff account with limited staff permissions and a separate login | 20 minutes |
| Walkthrough | Screen-share one live dispute from alert to filing | 45 minutes |
| Process | Give the five training documents and answer questions | 30 minutes |
| Shadow run | The VA drafts two old disputes, you compare with what you filed | 45 minutes |
| First live case | The VA drafts, you approve before filing | 20 minutes |
| Check-in | Review errors and adjust the rules | 20 minutes |
Agree three things in writing at the handover. The first is who files and by when, with a rule such as "never file on the due date, file two working days before". The second is what the VA may decide alone and what must come to you, for example anything over a set value. The third is how you will be told of a problem, such as a missing delivery scan, before the clock runs out. A VA who stays silent when evidence is missing is worse than none.
The same handover logic applies to a chargeback app. You are handing over the gathering and drafting, so you also need an access step (what it can read), a shadow run (compare its drafts with yours) and a rule for when you review. The difference is that a chargeback app asks the question "what can it see?" once at install, while a VA raises it every day. The linked safety checklist covers the install side.
How should a chargeback app and a VA split the work as you grow?
Volume changes the answer, so plan the stages. These are rough bands, not rules, and you should adjust them to your own numbers.
| Stage | Disputes a month | Sensible set-up |
|---|---|---|
| Starting out | 0 to 3 | You, a written checklist, Shopify's default response |
| Growing | 4 to 15 | A chargeback app in Manual mode, you reviewing each draft |
| Busy | 15 to 40 | A chargeback app drafting, a VA or team member reviewing, auto filing only for simple types |
| High volume | 40 and above | A chargeback app with rules, a trained reviewer and a weekly audit |
Two signals tell you it is time to move up. The first is missed or near-missed deadlines, which means the process depends on memory. The second is review time creeping above what you can spare, which means the work needs another pair of hands even if the chargeback app does the drafting. A VA on a small retainer for reviewing and logging is often the cheapest way to add that second pair of hands, and a retainer of a few hours a month is easier to budget than open-ended time. Ask any VA what the retainer covers, what happens to unused hours and how quickly they can start.
When you hire for review, keep the VA's job narrow: check each claim in the draft against the records, confirm the evidence is attached, and file or flag. A narrow job is easier to train, easier to check and cheaper than asking a VA to run the whole dispute process from scratch.
What does this look like for three UK stores?
These stores are made up to show the decision. They are not real merchants.
Marlow Mugs. Three disputes a month, about £25 each. Neither a VA nor a chargeback app pays for itself. The owner skips the chargeback app and uses Shopify's default response, a written checklist and a calendar. Time spent: about 90 minutes a month.
Fennimore Fashion. Eighteen disputes a month, around £75 each. A VA at an assumed £18 an hour and 30 minutes a dispute would cost £162. A flat-fee app at a made-up £30 costs £30, plus about 15 minutes of review per dispute, which is 4.5 hours of the owner's time or £81 at the same rate. Together about £111, with fewer deadline risks. This store should test a chargeback app, in Manual mode, and keep the VA for other tasks.
Highcross Audio. Eight disputes a month averaging £280, mostly fraud, with a team of three. Fraud disputes need judgement about whether to fight, which an app scores but cannot decide. The store uses a chargeback app to draft and a manager to review, and reserves the VA for customer emails that prevent disputes.
How do you test each option for a month?
A dated trial beats a debate. This plan starts on Monday 26 October 2026 and lets you compare.
| Date | Task | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 26 Oct | Record your current time per dispute for the next three | 10 minutes each |
| Tue 27 Oct | Write down your decision rules for fight or accept | 30 minutes |
| Wed 28 Oct | Install an app in Manual mode or brief a VA on one old dispute | 45 minutes |
| Fri 30 Oct | Compare the draft with what you would have sent | 30 minutes |
| Mon 2 Nov | Run live disputes through your chosen route | Ongoing |
| Fri 6 Nov | First weekly check: deadlines met, evidence complete | 20 minutes |
| Fri 13 Nov | Second check: time per dispute and errors found | 20 minutes |
| Fri 20 Nov | Compare cost, time and errors against your baseline | 45 minutes |
Decisions on filed disputes can take a long time. ChargeFix's help page says 30 to 75 days, so judge the first month on process: deadlines met, claims accurate and time saved, not on wins and losses.
What is different for UK merchants?
- Wages. The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for those aged 21 and over from April 2026. If you employ someone, employer costs come on top. Check the government guidance or ask an accountant, because I have not priced them.
- Freelancers and agencies. Rates are market-set and I could not verify typical figures, so get at least two quotes.
- Data protection. UK GDPR applies to anyone who sees customer data on your behalf. Put a written agreement in place.
- Fees in dollars. Some apps price in US dollars, so ask about GBP billing before you compare.
- The dispute fee. Shopify's UK fee is £10, returned only on a win, whichever route handles the dispute.
- Shopify Protect. It is for US stores only, so UK merchants have no free guarantee to lean on.
What I could not verify: typical UK VA and agency rates, employer on-costs, the win rate of any VA or app, and how any particular VA handles data. Every VA figure here is an assumption, so replace it with real quotes before deciding.
One last point on time. Whichever route you pick, put a fixed monthly review in your calendar: ten minutes to count disputes, time spent, deadlines met and money recovered. That single habit tells you when the answer has changed, for example when your volume doubles after a sale, and it stops you paying for the wrong option for a year.
What are the common mistakes in this decision?
- Comparing a VA's hourly rate with a chargeback app's fee without counting review time. Include your own time.
- Hiring before writing down the process. A VA cannot follow a process that lives in your head.
- Giving a VA your own login. Use separate staff permissions and remove them on exit.
- Ignoring the deadline owner. One named person, with a backup.
- Choosing a percentage chargeback app without doing the sum. Fees grow with your wins.
- Switching on auto filing on day one. Read the first batch of drafts.
- Assuming either creates evidence. Both depend on the records you kept.
- Skipping the hybrid. An app that drafts and a person who reviews is often best.
- Judging by results in week two. Decisions take weeks.
- Never revisiting. Re-run the comparison each quarter, because volumes change.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to hire a VA or use a chargeback app?
It depends on volume. With fewer than about three disputes a month, your own time or a VA is similar to an app. From about five a month, a flat-fee app is usually cheaper than hourly VA time. A percentage-fee app becomes expensive as your wins grow, so work out your own break-even.
How much does a VA cost for chargebacks?
I could not verify typical rates. The UK National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for those aged 21 and over from April 2026, which is a floor for employees. Freelance and agency rates are higher and vary, and employer costs apply if you employ someone. Get at least two quotes and test before committing.
Can a VA replace a chargeback app?
For a small number of disputes, yes, if the VA is trained, has a written process and never misses a deadline. A VA cannot match an app on speed or consistency at volume, and a person on holiday is a single point of failure. Many stores use both, with the app preparing and a person reviewing.
What are the risks of giving a VA access to my Shopify store?
They can see customer details, so use separate staff accounts with the minimum permissions, put a confidentiality and data agreement in place, and remove access when they leave. Under UK GDPR you remain responsible for the data, so treat the VA as a processor and keep a record of what they can see.
How long does it take to train a VA to handle disputes?
Expect a few weeks before a new VA is fast and reliable, and check every response at first. Give them written documents: a dispute reasons guide, an evidence checklist, response templates, decision rules and a deadline rule. The training time is a real cost and repeats if you replace them.
Does a chargeback app work without a VA?
Yes. In Manual mode the chargeback app gathers records and drafts the response, and you review and send it. That typically takes far less time than writing from scratch. You can add a VA or team member for review later if volumes grow, without changing the app.
Which option is safer for meeting deadlines?
A chargeback app tracks due dates automatically, but a broken connection or unmonitored alert can still cause a miss. A VA depends on a person being available. Whichever you use, put the due date in your own calendar two working days early. Shopify submits collected evidence on the due date if you do nothing.
Can I use a VA and a chargeback app together?
Yes, and it is a common setup. The app spots disputes, gathers the records and drafts the response. The VA or you read the draft, check each claim against your records and file it. This keeps a person in the loop without the hours of copy-pasting.
How many disputes do I need before an app is worth it?
There is no fixed number. As a rough guide, a flat monthly fee of £30 beats hourly help at about 3.3 disputes a month when each takes 30 minutes at £18 an hour. Use your own fee, rate and time. Below that, a checklist and Shopify's default response may be enough.
What should I check before hiring a VA for disputes?
Check their experience with Shopify and payments, ask for references, run a paid trial on an old dispute, agree who files and when, agree a data and confidentiality contract, and set up limited staff permissions. Ask what happens when they are away, because a missed deadline loses the dispute.
Start free trial with ChargeFix
If you decide a chargeback app suits your store, ChargeFix is built for Shopify Payments disputes. It gathers the real order, payment-check and delivery records for each dispute, scores the evidence and drafts the response from your own data, never inventing facts. You or your VA review and file it, or let Auto mode handle them, and a free plan lets you test it on real disputes. Start free trial
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