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Cancelled High Risk Order, my balance is now negative

Nick-K
Excursionist
15 1 1

Hi, yesterday I had to cancel an order due to "High risk of fraud detected" and a failure from the customer to present any valid ID verification to comply with my shop policy. The customer used Shopify payments to pay for that order and I refunded it same day as mentioned. Now my balance is negative with the amount of the transaction fee. Can somebody please explain if this is normal and if I'll have to cover that fee out of my pocket for some reason? 
Thanks, Nick

Accepted Solution (1)
Nick-K
Excursionist
15 1 1

This is an accepted solution.

I've found the answer to my question in another thread while waiting for a Shopify representative to confirm my concerns - https://community.shopify.com/c/Shopify-Discussion/Transaction-Credits-on-Refunds-Fees-After-March-1...

This is indeed truly disappointing and a huge let down. It just does not make sense for you guys to claim the transaction fee for a deal that's been canceled within hours to prevent a fraud. It's just not fair towards us, the sellers on your platform that are trying to work and be correct. Consider the thread as solved.

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Replies 4 (4)

Lana
Shopify Staff (Retired)
849 77 107

Hello @Nick-K!

This is Lana from Shopify. 

What you are seeing with the negative balance is totally normal. The Balance section that you see when you click to View payouts shows the amount that you are yet to receive from orders, and it can also show any reserved funds. The negative can appear due to a few different things such as refunding an order, or when a chargeback is issued against you. That negative can become positive again once you make more sales.

If a negative balance payout fails, then the payout is tried again in 3 business days. For more information about issuing refunds with Shopify Payments, refer to the Shopify Payments FAQ.
Also, in this case you might not be able to issue a refund if it is requested. You will see refunds as Pending until you have made enough sales to have a positive balance in your Shopify Payments account, and then it can be successfully issued.

I hope this was helpful, but do let me know if you have any other questions on this.

Thanks! -Lana

Lana | Social Care @ Shopify
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Nick-K
Excursionist
15 1 1

Hi, @Lana 
Thank you for your reply! I know that the balance shows the money I am yet to receive from orders and I'm also aware that whenever a customer wants to get a refund, my balance is shown as negative since Shopify issues the refund to my customer directly and then I owe the refunded balance which is covered from my future sales. However this is the first time I am cancelling an order for any reason (it just happened to be a high risk of fraud one) and I just don't understand why I owe the fee for the deal which is shown as negative in my balance. The order was placed yesterday and got canceled yesterday, so no money came in to my account (I am based in the UK and it takes 3 Business days), the order wasn't dispatched. Please let me know if I am missing something because it's truly disappointing if I owe the transaction fee to Shopify for a deal that didn't happen it literally took a few hours for it to be canceled. The fee is by no means peanuts money, it's actually £20+.

Nick-K
Excursionist
15 1 1

This is an accepted solution.

I've found the answer to my question in another thread while waiting for a Shopify representative to confirm my concerns - https://community.shopify.com/c/Shopify-Discussion/Transaction-Credits-on-Refunds-Fees-After-March-1...

This is indeed truly disappointing and a huge let down. It just does not make sense for you guys to claim the transaction fee for a deal that's been canceled within hours to prevent a fraud. It's just not fair towards us, the sellers on your platform that are trying to work and be correct. Consider the thread as solved.

KD23
New Member
4 0 0

Hello. I got many orders from the same buyer who tried to repeat ordering on my store with different email/phone/address. All of their orders are high risk order, so I have to canceled them... and I lost a lot of money. Shopify answered that they did not refund transaction fee... even thought for fraudulent orders. I'm really disappointed about it... I'm thinking of switching to another platform.