What are chargebacks actually costing you?
Most merchants only count the network fee. The lost revenue and ops time are usually 5–10× larger. This calculator shows all three.
Your chargeback profile
Industry average chargeback rate is 0.5–0.9%. Anything above 1% is a red flag with card networks.
| Cost component | Per month | Per year | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lost revenue (cases you don't win back) | $975.00 | $11,700 | 48% |
| Network / processor fees | $346.15 | $4,154 | 17% |
| Ops & dispute handling time | $692.31 | $8,308 | 34% |
| Total | $2,013.46 | $24,162 | 100% |
Most merchants forget the ops time — it's often the second- largest line. A processor with zero chargeback fees and built-in dispute automation cuts the bottom two rows.
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Talk to a specialist →Frequently asked questions
Why is my chargeback cost so much higher than the network fee?
The $15-25 network fee is the smallest part. You also lose the goods/service value (if you can't recover it) on every case you don't win — and win rates on representment hover around 25-40%. Then there's the operational cost: 30-60 minutes per case across customer service, evidence gathering and submission. At $40/hour loaded cost, ops time adds $20-40 per case. The calculator shows the three components separately.
What's a normal chargeback rate?
Industry averages run 0.5-0.9% of transactions. Anything above 1% draws attention from card networks (Visa/Mastercard chargeback monitoring programs trigger at ~0.9-1.5% depending on volume). Sustained rates above 2% mean fines, mandatory remediation programs, and ultimately termination of your processor agreement.
Do all payment processors charge a chargeback fee?
No. Stripe ($15), PayPal ($20) and Adyen (variable) charge per dispute. Square and several crypto-native gateways (NowPayments, PayRam) do not. For businesses with elevated chargeback rates, this single line item can shift annual cost by thousands of dollars.
How do I lower my chargeback rate?
The biggest wins are usually descriptor clarity (so customers recognize the charge on their statement), pre-dispute resolution (Ethoca, Verifi alerts), and shipping/delivery confirmation. AVS and CVV checks reduce fraud-based chargebacks. For digital goods, double-opt-in receipts and easy self-serve refunds prevent friendly-fraud disputes from ever being filed.