Stripe’s New Dispute Fees Are Coming: Here’s What Merchants Need to Know

Starting June 17, 2025, Stripe is rolling out a major change to how it charges merchants for disputes, and if you’re not prepared, it could get expensive fast.

This post will walk you through what’s changing, why it matters, and how merchants should think about Stripe chargebacks.

For more information, see Stripe’s announcement here.

What’s Changing with Stripe’s Dispute Fees?

Today, Stripe charges a $15 dispute fee when a customer initiates a chargeback, whether you fight it or not. That’s not changing.

But starting June 17, 2025, Stripe is introducing a second fee for merchants. This one applies only if you decide to fight the chargeback.

The amount of the fee varies by location, but for US merchants, it will be an additional $15. You can view the full fee schedule here.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Regardless of whether you fight the dispute or not, you pay the original $15 dispute fee.
• If you fight the dispute, you’ll be charged an additional $15 counter-dispute fee.
• If you win, Stripe refunds the counter-dispute fee.
• If you lose, you’re out $30 total in fees (the original $15 + the new $15 counter-dispute fee).

While some of these charges may not be passed to you, a higher fee in case of a lost dispute changes some of the economics around disputes. While historically disputing 100% of chargebacks made sense in most cases, merchants now need to better understand the financial dynamics behind their decisions, since there is a fee if a chargeback is disputed and then lost. 

Understanding Partial Dispute Wins

It’s also important to know that not all dispute outcomes are all-or-nothing. Stripe allows for partial dispute wins, where a merchant may recover part of the disputed amount.

In cases of a partial win:

• The dispute counter fee is not refunded.
• Neither is the original fee.

This means even if you win part of a dispute, you’ll be paying both fees to Stripe. It’s essential for merchants to factor in the net recovery after fees to determine if fighting the dispute was worth it.

Partial wins add another layer to why being selective and data-driven about which disputes you counter is crucial.

Why This Matters for Merchants

Chargebacks already eat into your margins. Now, Stripe’s update increases the potential risk of losing a chargeback.

Let’s say you sell a $40 product. If you lose the dispute, you lose the $40 and an additional $30 in fees. That’s a $70 hit to your business from a single transaction.

Is Stripe’s Answer the Right Answer?

As part of the announcement, Stripe is offering a solution which disputes chargebacks automatically. 

Well, there’s a catch:

• If you win, Stripe charges a 30% success fee.
• Stripe’s system doesn’t use your proprietary or third-party data, which can seriously weaken the strength of your evidence.
• Win rates compared to specialized chargeback management solutions are unclear. And Stripe doesn’t have a history of chargeback expertise.
• Using Stripe’s tool means adding a Stripe-only system to your chargeback management process, increasing complexity and variability in your tech stack.

Bottom line: Stripe’s solution may help you avoid the new fee, but it might not be your best choice for maximizing net revenue recovery.

Strategic Dispute Management: How Merchants Should Adjust to Stripe’s New Fee

As a general rule, the way merchants should think about chargebacks is to understand and measure Net Dollar Recovery. The logic here is simple: revenue lost to chargebacks should be recovered, but the costs of recovery should also taken into account:

• Fees paid for each chargeback
• Fees paid for a lost chargeback (such as the new Stripe fees in this post)
• Labor costs to dispute chargebacks (these can be quite steep in case of internal or manual approaches)
• Costs of additional services (such as chargeback alerts)
• Other technology costs (e.g. the cost of a dispute automation tool)

Accounting for these costs truly measures the impact of a change in your chargeback management strategy. 

In short – merchants should optimize disputes by ensuring they maximize net dollar recovery. 

With Stripe’s new fees in play, the real question becomes: what’s the ROI of fighting this chargeback?

• What’s the likelihood of winning?
• How much will you recover?
• How much could you lose if you’re wrong?

Merchants may need to shift from trying to dispute 100% of chargebacks to optimizing based on the likelihood of recovery and the associated costs. 

Fighting smart, not fighting everything, is how merchants can best adapt to the new fees levied by Stripe.

How to Respond to the Change and How Justt can help

Optimizing disputes and net dollar recovery is the response. It begins with using an automation solution like Justt, and then by selecting the right disputes and winning them. 

At Justt, we offer:

• One platform for everything chargebacks. From alerts to dispute management, it’s all in one easy-to-use dashboard.
• Full automation backed by complete data integration. We work with your proprietary data and third-party insights to build stronger cases.
• Tailored arguments, not templates. Every dispute is customized, and our system continually tests and optimizes to boost your win rate.
• Expertise in selecting the right disputes – our experts help our clients find out which disputes are worthwhile and which ones to drop.

This approach consistently outperforms templated, one-size-fits-all dispute management methods.

The Bottom Line

Stripe’s new dispute fee structure raises the stakes for chargebacks, and winning those that you challenge will be more important than ever.

If you are managing Stripe chargebacks, it’s time to get strategic about what you fight and what you don’t.