I started my store Oct 2023, it’s been a experience. I started slow due to Google Merchant issues, all got resolved. I finally got some sales, all was progressing well, the Shop App generated me sales as well. Then, I was targeted by a gang of fraudsters. I sell goods that have resell value for a fraudsters; I do get targeted a lot. I vet all orders now, I reach out to customer, if I do not hear back, I cancel the order. I’m now banned on the Shop app due to three chargebacks.
In my inexperienced days, I was targeted by a gang, I shipped the orders because Shopify said low risk (I have learnt to ignore this and extra careful), I lost the Chargeback, I knew I would.
Fraud orders happened:
Two - 27th May 2024
One - 29th May 2024
Does the Shop app ban start from the date of the order or Chargeback lost date. I assume date Chargeback is lost?
If I’m not on the Shop App for Christmas, I will set up a eBay account this weekend and sell on that, I have no intention integrating eBay into Shopify, I may leave Shopify altogether, renew happens October, I have turned it off.
Hi! I know that chargebacks can be stressful to deal with, so I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had a few.
Your assumption is correct—Shop app eligibility regarding chargebacks is determined from the date of the bank’s decision, not the date the transaction was first disputed. You’re eligible to display your store in the Shop app if the store’s chargeback rate is less than 1% over the last six months. For your reference, more details regarding eligibility can be found here: Requirements for displaying your store in Shop.
I make two or three sales a week, with the Shop App was around 5 or 6. No business can survive making such low volume sales. The chargeback against my store were fraud, not disgruntled customers. I was new to Shopify, learning on the job, it was Shopify fraud indicator saying fulfil the orders, low chance of a chargeback. Instead of Shopify helping the merchant through a tough period, they kick them when they are down. Now Shopify decides to play the Big Brother role, and boot me off the Shop App, without taking anything else into consideration. Shopify thank you for the support through a tough period.
I went live October 2023, I had Google Merchant issues Christmas 2023, I got them resolved on Christmas day. I was hoping Christmas 2024 I could kick on, without Shop App, no point being on Shopify. I will always have fraudsters targeting me, I’m cancelling at least one order a week. Throw in the one rogue customer, that wants something for nothing, I’m doomed.
I do sell items that fraudsters desire because of resell value. I won’t renew my Shopify subscription in October, I will shut up shop and move to a third-party platform like eBay, Vinted, Etsy etc. I assume because they accept and manage payments on the behalf of the seller, such platforms take the chargeback risk. I hope they take the risk, given I do won’t see any payment information, just the shipping address. The fees are high, but the sponsored ads on Google etc, probably makes to sell on eBay.
I suspect these fraudulent chargebacks are the work of syndicated “chargeback prevention” app owners/developers to kick start their business. They know how the transactional loopholes, ridiculous policies between PayPal, card/finance companies, they probably paid some vendors to create these fraudulent chargebacks to target e-commerce businesses.
I’ve had 3 chargebacks in a month in September 2024, with similar characteristics of suspicious customer information, tiny details which is easy to overlook. Shopify didn’t flag the paypal transaction as fraudulent even though only 1-2 criteria was met out of maybe 10-12 required criteria of a typical low risk transactions. With all the required proof that it was a fraudulent transaction, submitted and reported to PayPal, as expected, PayPal only sided with the “buyers”.
Then October 2024 onwards, “Chargeback” prevention ads start to pop up everywhere. Coincidence? Citing massive reduction in chargebacks with ridiculous fees, some as high as 25% of your cart value if disputes were in your favour. Seriously? They ‘probably’ paid people to perform these chargebacks, if you lose, you lose everything, if you win, you lose 25%. Either way, you lose. Some even charge you a fee for every ‘alert/notification’. Chargeback prevention apps/companies are a scam. Plenty of unethical companies out there to take a chunk out of you.