Chargeback prevention checklist for resellers

For resellers who take card payments (phones, electronics, sneakers, watches). The rules below come from Stripe's public docs, which summarize card network practice. Your own processor's rules win if they differ.

1. Make the charge recognizable

• Set a statement descriptor customers will recognize: your website domain or the business name they bought from.
• Don't use a generic word or an internal code. Stripe requires the descriptor to reflect your DBA name and not be a single common term.
• Stripe's descriptor limits: 5 to 22 characters, at least one letter, and no angle brackets, backslashes, quotation marks or asterisks. Other processors have their own limits.
• One business, one account and descriptor. Don't run a second brand through the same account.

Why: "I don't recognize this charge" disputes are, in Stripe's words, effectively indistinguishable from fraud disputes.

2. Send a receipt every time

• Email a receipt at payment with date, amount, currency, item description and your contact details.
• Make it easy to reply to. A customer who can reach you is less likely to call the bank.
• Keep a copy. The receipt is standard dispute evidence.

3. Collect checkout data you can use later

• Customer name, email, full billing address and postal code, CVC, and shipping address if different.
• Reject payments where address or CVC verification fails, if your risk tolerance allows.
• Keep the purchase IP address if your system records it.
• Consider 3D Secure, which can shift liability for fraud disputes to the issuer. You can still get early fraud warnings.

4. Publish and enforce a refund and return policy

• Put refund, return and cancellation terms in writing and make them easy to find.
• Make the customer agree before paying, with the full policy shown on the checkout page (or a pop-up), not only a link. Issuers may reject a checkbox that only links to the policy.
• Save a clean screenshot of how the policy appears at checkout.
• Refund or replace quickly when a customer is entitled to it. Customers who get fast answers are less likely to dispute.
• A refunded payment can't be disputed, but a partially refunded one can be, even for the full amount. Record the refund amount and date.

5. Prove delivery

• Ship with a carrier that gives online tracking and delivery confirmation. Send the tracking to the customer as soon as you have it.
• Save shipping labels and the delivery confirmation showing the full delivery address, not just city and postal code.
• Ship promptly, give honest delivery estimates, and tell the customer about delays.
• Issuers don't follow links, so keep screenshots or PDFs of tracking, not just the URL.
• Ship to the verified billing address when you can. Orders to a different address are extra dispute risk.

6. High-value items (phones, watches, limited sneakers)

• Require a signature on delivery for high-value products.
• Treat these as higher risk: unusually large orders, only your most expensive items, address changed after ordering, rush shipping requested, ship-to different from billing or card country.
• Optional: hold shipment for a short window so a cardholder can spot a fraudulent charge before the goods leave. Stripe suggests 24 to 48 hours.
• For local pickup, get a signed pickup form.
• Photograph the item and the serial number, IMEI and box at dispatch, so you have your own record of what you sent.

7. Answer disputes and inquiries on time

• Watch the email and dashboard where dispute alerts land, and assign one person to check daily.
• Deadline: Stripe says the response window is usually 7 to 21 days depending on the card network, and missing it means an automatic loss. Confirm the exact date on each dispute.
• Inquiries (a pre-dispute request, used mostly by American Express and Discover per Stripe) should be answered immediately. Ignoring one can escalate it to a chargeback that is likely unwinnable.
• You get one submission. Assemble everything first, then submit.
• Read the bank's claim details, and email the customer if the dispute page allows. They may withdraw. A withdrawn dispute still needs your evidence response to close in your favor.
• Evidence: receipt, tracking and delivery address, signature, customer communication, the policy they agreed to, and a short factual summary in date order.
• Don't include links, audio or video, or "call us" requests. Keep it relevant to the dispute reason.
• File limits on Stripe: 4.5 MB combined, and 19 pages for Mastercard. Check your own processor's limits.
• If the customer is right, accept it. Accepting still counts toward your dispute rate, so prevention matters more than winning.

8. Track your dispute rate

• Count disputes received, not won. Networks look at how many you get.
• If you process few payments, a couple of disputes can swing your rate a lot.

Timing facts worth knowing

• Cardholders can typically dispute within 120 days of the payment, sometimes longer.
• A full dispute can take 2 to 3 months to resolve.
• Fees apply per dispute on Stripe and the received fee is generally not returned. Check your own processor's fee.

Sources

• Stripe: dispute prevention best practices
• Stripe: statement descriptors
• Stripe: dispute categories
• Stripe: dispute best practices
• Stripe: responding to disputes
• Stripe: how disputes work

Next step

For the longer explanation behind this list, read how resellers can stop chargebacks before they start. If you buy inventory in volume, see the Shield business credit card.