Chargeback policy
What happens when a buyer disputes a payment with their bank rather than with us.
What a chargeback is
A chargeback is a buyer asking their bank or card issuer to reverse a payment. It is decided by the card network, not by Gain Arcade.
A chargeback is different from a dispute opened on Gain Arcade. A dispute is decided here, on the order record, usually within days. A chargeback is decided by a bank, can take months, and costs both sides more.
If something has gone wrong with an order, opening a dispute here first is faster and produces a better outcome for the buyer in most cases.
What we do when one is filed
We present the order record to the card network: the listing as it stood, the order timeline, the messages between buyer and seller, delivery evidence, and where a code was involved, the timestamp at which it was revealed.
We ask the seller for any additional evidence within the deadline the network sets. Those deadlines are short and are not extendable.
We cannot guarantee the outcome. A bank, card network or payment processor decides a chargeback, and it may decide against the evidence.
Effect on the seller
Where a payment is reversed, charged back, or determined to be fraudulent, Gain Arcade may:
- reverse the seller proceeds for that order;
- debit the seller's available balance;
- offset the amount against future proceeds;
- hold future payouts;
- establish or increase a reserve;
- suspend selling privileges.
Commission taken on the order is returned at the same time. A chargeback costs the platform as well as the seller.
Negative balances
Where a reversal exceeds the seller's available balance, the balance may go negative.
A negative balance is recovered from future proceeds before any further payout is made. We do not charge interest on it.
Where a seller has left the platform with a negative balance, we may seek recovery of the amount owed.
Repeated chargebacks
A chargeback rate materially above the card networks' thresholds puts the platform's ability to accept card payments at risk, for every seller.
A seller with a persistent chargeback rate may face a longer clearing period, an increased reserve, restriction to lower-risk categories, or removal.
We look at the rate in context. A single chargeback on a long clean history is not treated as the same thing as a pattern.
Buyers who charge back after delivery
A chargeback filed on a delivered order, where the buyer did not first open a dispute here, may result in the buyer's account being closed and the associated order funds remaining held pending the network's decision.
Where a code was revealed, the reveal timestamp is presented as evidence of delivery.
