How bad will this chargeback reflect on my Paypal account?

Split the worry down Jim!

You will need, on average, 3 strikes of up to $250, or 7(ish) strikes of lower amounts before you get flagged, this is obviously subject to certain *other* criteria that only PP's system knows!

Get rid of just relying on one processor and if possible try and get signed up for a few others, even offering Direct Deposit, Chq in the mail, Branch payment, Cash in the mail is better than 1) giving the vultures that do random chargebacks to screw you over your time 2) PP even more reason to shut your account!

Even bartering for a deal with a buyer for your goods in exchange for services that you can sell for CASH, is sometimes better than being at PP's mercy!

Ugh, I hate chargebacks. I have absolutely no problem issuing a refund -- all the person needs to do is contact me through a PM here or simply drop me an e-mail.

Nonetheless, I have had quite a few chargebacks over the years and have NEVER heard a thing from PayPal. I think the amount of sales I have (with no problems) heavily outweigh the chargebacks I receive.

You're right my friend. Don't rely too much on Paypal, because if they shut you down, your income immediately stops.

Get other accounts as soon as possible, even if you never use them.

Some good ones are:

Clickbank
Google Checkout
2Checkout

Its really easy to quickly swap out buy-now button code if you get limited, but its a nightmare to have your business frozen in its tracks because they are reviewing your documents and stuff due to a limitation.

Just be safe and not sorry.

Welcome to my world. I sell all sorts of products and services using PayPal
as a means of accepting payments... even though I do have a merchant
account. In fact, I do have a large volume of orders come in that are for
custom made products. Custom made products are not covered under Buyer
Protection. I still act as if it does though and work with people if they have
any disputes, claims or chargebacks.

In the event you feel like blowing some steam and venting to the buyer, do
not do it at PayPal's dispute messaging center. Be as professional as you
can with your words. Their dispute resolution specialists may read those
communications.

If you have it in mind you are going to have disputes, claims, chargebacks
and refund requests, it will be easier on yourself. Consider it a cost of
doing business. When these things happen, follow up fast and if necessary,
just give them a refund to resolve the situation.

It's not all that uncommon that after a chargeback is resolved, like 80 days
later, the buyer gets their money back and you get left with a $20 chargeback
processing fee, of which PayPal claims it costs them about $200 to actually
process that claim. It use to be only $10, but they upped that fee.

My merchant account charges me $25 for every chargeback I receive. Knock
on wood, I haven't received one yet with them. One thing you can do is over-
emphasize at your site to have the buyer contact you first to resolve any
issues before taking any actions with their credit card company. Make sure
your checkout information for the buyer is the same as your company info.
The reason being is they could check their credit history on their statement
and see a charge they don't recognize, then file a chargeback for it. I have
multiple businesses and once did a transaction where the buyer didn't
recognize the name on their statement and as a result, I was hit with the
chargeback.

With PayPal I've had about 8 chargebacks spread over several years. Add
several refund requests, disputes and claims. I don't know if PayPal is saying
this to everyone, but they've always been lately saying I'm a "Top Customer".
PP has received many $$ from me for transaction fees. I better be a "Top
Customer". LOL!

Also, to get educated and hear it from the horses mouth, so to speak, call
them and ask about your concerns with chargebacks. They'll tell you straight
about it and how it affects your account. There's also links within your
account about avoiding chargebacks. Looks like in your situation none of
that info could have helped you. Sometimes you get a chargeback and
there's nothing you could have done to prevent it.

I wouldn't sweat one chargeback. If I were you, I'd contact the buyer
and ask them why they did a chargeback. It could have been an error on
their part. There also may be something you could do to resolve the
situation and may get that $97 back. If the buyer is willing feeling the
situation is resolved and to help speed up the process, you can request
the buyer to contact their cc company and have them stop the chargeback
right away. It would be better than having your money tied up for 75+
days because during that time, your money is held in escrow until it's resolved.

LastWarrior