Library · Chargebacks · How to run this
Chargeback rate by cut
A chargeback rate on the whole merchant account can look calm while one slice is on fire. The blend is an average. Averages hide the row you should kill.
Pair: Chargeback rate by cut on Chargebacks. The line in the agreement is a different job: rate vs your threshold.
Pick one grain
Do not mix grains in one table. Source, affiliate, rebill cycle, and BIN are four different cuts. Run one table per grain.
Source. Paid, native, email, organic. Media quality shows up here.
Affiliate. Each partner is a row. CPA volume often looks cheap until you see that partner’s share of chargebacks. If they are a small slice of sales and a large slice of disputes, that is the work. A clawback clause in the insertion order is how you get the CPA back: Put a clawback in the insertion order. This calculator names the partner. It does not write the clause.
Rebill cycle. First bills and later MIT bills are not the same dispute mix. Cancelled-recurring lands on continuity. Type cycle 0 versus cycle 1 versus later as rows.
BIN. First six digits. Prepaid and some issuers run hot. The blend on the account will not tell you which.
If you only type the hot row, you only have that row’s rate. Add “Rest of this account” as a row so the blend has something to hide.
What the numbers mean
Each row is that cut’s primary chargebacks divided by that cut’s approved sales. The blend is the sum of chargebacks divided by the sum of sales. A row is hot when its rate sits above the blend.
Share of chargebacks versus share of sales is the same idea in different clothes. A cut that is a tenth of sales and a third of chargebacks is carrying the dispute load.
Use the same window and the same primary-versus-refund rule on every row. Do not put authorization attempts in the sales column.
After you see a hot cut
Stop sending that traffic, or that partner, or that BIN, onto this account. Move it, pause it, or change the offer. Do not “fix the brand rate.”
Related: Traffic (source and affiliate), Subscriptions (rebill cycles), MIDs (the account the ratio still attaches to).
Procedure
- Pick one grain: source, affiliate, rebill cycle, or BIN.
- Add a row per value. Type that cut’s primary chargebacks and approved sales.
- Add Rest of this account if you did not type every slice.
- Read rate, then share of chargebacks versus share of sales.
- Pause or move the hot cut. Open the insertion order if that cut is an affiliate.
Failure modes
- Reading the account blend and calling the work done.
- Mixing affiliates and BINs in one table.
- Typing only the hot row, so there is no blend to beat.
- Putting authorization attempts in the sales column.
- Waiting for a second affiliate page instead of adding partner rows here.
Worked example
None on this page yet. When one lands it will be a real case: what broke, the number, and what changed. Not a composite.
Glossary
- Cut
- One grain on the account: a source, an affiliate, a rebill cycle, or a BIN. Mix grains and the table is noise.
- Blend
- Sum of primary chargebacks across typed rows, divided by sum of approved sales. The average that hides the hot row.
- Clawback
- The insertion-order right to reverse CPA when that partner’s orders charge back. The table names the partner. The contract moves the money.
Work with us — We run this job on your accounts. Services
FAQ
- Is the blended rate on the account the number I operate to?
- The processor scores the account on the blend. You operate to the hot cut. Pause that source, partner, cycle, or BIN.
- Do I need a separate affiliate chargeback page?
- No. Type each partner as a row in this table. The clawback lives in the insertion order: [Put a clawback in the insertion order](/manuals/affiliate-clawback).
- Why does the table start empty?
- Your counts. A filled sample affiliate would look like a default. Add a row and type.