Shopify Chargebacks in Singapore: Deadlines, Fees and Evidence

When a customer disputes a card payment with their bank, Shopify Payments takes the disputed amount and a chargeback fee out of your account straight away. For Singapore stores, Shopify's Help Center lists that fee as S$16.35 at the time of writing (October 2026). You get it back only if you win. That is the basic economics of Shopify chargebacks: every dispute costs you money and time up front, and the outcome depends almost entirely on the evidence you submit.

This guide explains how Shopify Payments disputes work for Singapore merchants, how long you have to respond, what evidence each dispute type needs, and what you can do to prevent them. It is based on Shopify's Help Center and the card networks' published material, and it is general information rather than legal or financial advice.

Key Takeaways

• Shopify gives you a deadline on each dispute, usually 7 to 21 days after the chargeback is filed, and the bank's eventual decision is final with no appeal.
• Shopify Payments automatically adds order data (tracking, addresses, IP, order history) to your response, so your job is to add the evidence only you hold.
• Evidence files must be PDF, JPEG or PNG, each under 2 MB and under 4 MB combined, with no video, audio or external links.

How Shopify Chargebacks Work for Singapore Merchants

Shopify distinguishes between two kinds of bank-initiated dispute:

	Chargeback	Inquiry
Your money	Disputed amount and chargeback fee withdrawn immediately	Nothing taken during the investigation
If you win	Amount and fee returned	No action needed
If you lose	You lose the amount and the fee	It might escalate to a full chargeback

The sequence for a chargeback, according to Shopify, is: the customer disputes the charge with their bank, the bank initiates the chargeback and the money is withdrawn, Shopify notifies you with a deadline, you gather and submit evidence, the card company reviews it (Shopify says this can take up to 75 days after you submit), and a decision is made. Outcomes can be a win, a partial win, or a loss.

Shopify is explicit that it does not decide outcomes. The customer's bank and the card company decide, based on what you submit. Inquiries follow a similar path; Shopify says their review usually takes 65 to 75 days but can take longer.

If your Singapore account does not hold enough to cover a chargeback, Shopify's Help Center says that outside a listed set of countries (which does not include Singapore) the amount is deducted from your future payouts until it is covered.

Response Deadlines and What Happens if You Miss Them

Shopify says the deadline is "typically 7 to 21 days after the chargeback is filed", and the exact due date is shown on the chargeback in your admin. Three rules flow from that:

1. Shopify submits on the due date regardless. With Shopify Payments, your response, including any automatically collected data, goes to the card company on the due date even if you add nothing.
2. You can edit until the due date, not after. Your progress is saved as you work. Once evidence is submitted, Shopify says you cannot change it or add more.
3. There is no appeal. After the bank decides, the decision is final and you cannot submit further evidence.

You can also accept a chargeback, by not submitting evidence or by accepting through the evidence form. The customer keeps the disputed amount and Shopify says you are not refunded the chargeback fee.

To find open disputes, go to Orders in your Shopify admin and filter by "Chargeback and inquiry status" set to Open. When the card-issuing bank provides it, Shopify also shows an "issuer claim" explaining why the customer opened the dispute. Read it first: it tells you which argument you actually need to answer.

What Shopify Adds for You Automatically

If you use Shopify Payments, Shopify adds the following to your response when the data exists: product details, the customer's name and email, billing and shipping addresses, the IP address used to place the order, fulfilment details (ship date, carrier, tracking number), a tracking PDF (which for some carriers includes the carrier's delivery photo), refund records, the customer's previous undisputed orders, and earlier disputes by the same customer.

That baseline is useful, but it is the same for every merchant. What wins borderline cases is the evidence that sits outside Shopify: your packing photos, your chat history, your listing as it looked on the day of sale.

Evidence That Wins, by Dispute Type

Shopify groups chargebacks into seven categories. The card networks group them more broadly; Visa, for example, describes the main causes as fraud, authorisation errors, processing errors and customer disputes such as goods not received or not as described. Here is what Shopify recommends for the categories Singapore physical-goods sellers see most:

Dispute type	What the customer claims	Evidence Shopify recommends
Product not received	They never received the order	Carrier name, tracking number and delivery status; proof of delivery, ideally with signature or photo; proof it went to the checkout address; carrier delivery notifications
Product unacceptable	Item defective, damaged, or different from your store listing	Listing at time of purchase; order and fulfilment records; pre-shipment photos including packaging and serial numbers; QC records; customer messages; return policy; support ticket history
Fraudulent	They didn't authorise the payment	AVS/CVV results, device and IP data, 3D Secure records, order history, delivery confirmation, communications
Credit not processed	They expected a refund that didn't arrive	Refund records, refund policy, communications, return tracking
Duplicate	They were charged twice	Transaction records showing separate orders, receipts, refund confirmations

Shopify also notes that customers are expected to contact you before filing a dispute. If a customer went straight to their bank, include evidence that they never reached out, and show that you have a clear process for resolving issues.

For product-not-received disputes on high-value orders, Shopify suggests requiring signature confirmation at delivery. Our guide to item-not-received claims and proof of delivery goes deeper on what a carrier record should show.

How to present it

Shopify recommends ordering evidence from strongest to weakest: direct proof (signed delivery confirmation, tracking screenshots showing delivered status and the matching address, refund records), then the customer's own acknowledgements (messages confirming receipt or discussing the product), then the policies they accepted, then supporting context such as order history.

Label each file descriptively rather than "attached screenshot", and use screenshots of tracking pages instead of links, which banks may not open. Shopify's file rules are strict:

• PDF, JPEG or PNG only; PDFs should be PDF/A compliant and under 50 pages.
• Each file under 2 MB, and all files combined under 4 MB.
• One file per evidence type; merge multiple items into one PDF or image.
• No audio, video, or links to external resources.

The no-video rule matters if you rely on packing videos. Export a few clear still frames showing the item, packaging and label, and put them in a single PDF. Our packing station evidence SOP shows how to capture stills that work for this.

Even strong evidence does not guarantee a win. Shopify's own guidance says banks have discretion to rule for the customer even when you provide delivery confirmation.

Your Chargeback Rate and Why It Matters

Shopify calculates your chargeback rate as the number of chargebacks in a month divided by chargeback-eligible transactions that month. Winning does not remove a dispute from the rate, because it counts disputes filed, not outcomes. Shopify says a high rate can affect your Shopify Payments account status and feature eligibility, and that Visa and Mastercard run monitoring programmes that can lead to fines or processing restrictions if you exceed their thresholds.

So prevention matters as much as response.

A Prevention Checklist for Singapore Shopify Stores

Shopify's prevention guidance, plus a few practical additions:

• Set a recognisable billing statement. Use your store name or domain so customers recognise the charge; Shopify Payments lets you set this in the admin.
• Make contact details easy to find and reply quickly when customers raise problems.
• Publish clear refund, return and shipping policies and link them at checkout.
• Send receipts and shipping updates, with online tracking and delivery confirmation where possible.
• Review suspicious orders before fulfilling them.
• Refund accidental double charges immediately and tell the customer.
• Photograph every order at packing with the order number visible, and keep a screenshot of each product listing whenever you change it.
• Keep customer messages together with the order, so the "customer acknowledgment" evidence is one search away.

For example, suppose a customer says a S$120 order arrived damaged and files a chargeback a week later. If you have pre-shipment photos, the listing screenshot and a chat where you offered a replacement, you can answer the "product unacceptable" claim directly with the evidence types Shopify lists. Without them, you are relying on Shopify's automatic data alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to respond to a Shopify chargeback?

Shopify says the deadline is typically 7 to 21 days after the chargeback is filed. The exact due date appears on the dispute in your admin, and Shopify Payments submits your response on that date.

What is the Shopify chargeback fee in Singapore?

Shopify's Help Center lists S$16.35 for Singapore at the time of writing. It is returned if you win, and not refunded if you accept the chargeback or lose.

Can I upload a video as evidence?

No. Shopify's evidence rules exclude audio and video files and external links. Use still images or a PDF instead.

Can I appeal a lost chargeback?

No. Shopify says the bank's decision is final and you cannot submit additional evidence afterwards. Make your first response complete.

Does winning a chargeback lower my chargeback rate?

No. Shopify counts disputes filed, not outcomes, so prevention is the only way to keep the rate down.

Build the File Before the Dispute Arrives

Shopify chargebacks are won or lost on records you create weeks before the dispute. Hail Pilot connects to Shopify and helps you organise order evidence, capture packing and dispatch photos, track dispute deadlines, and assemble chargeback evidence packs you review before submitting in Shopify. Find out more at hailpilot.com.