Issue refunds with Stripe

If a transaction goes wrong, buyers might ask for a refund from providers. With Stripe, this needs to happen in the admin Stripe account.

Updated over a week ago

If something goes wrong, users can dispute the transaction and ask for a refund in the conversation you have with them. With Stripe, only admins can initiate a refund, the providers cannot.

As the administrator, you can decide to:

  • do a full or partial refund, including your commission fee

  • do a partial or full refund but keep your commission fee fully or partially

IMPORTANT: a refund should only be done before a transaction has been marked as completed. Once a transaction has been marked as Completed, you will be able to refund the buyer, but money will come from your own admin money, not from the seller's balance.


IMPORTANT: a refunded transaction should always be marked as Disputed by the buyer in the transaction conversation thread. If not, there is a risk that buyers will mark it as completed.

How to issue a refund (also the marketplace commission) with Stripe

To initiate a refund (includes your marketplace commission), you should:

  • make sure, from the "Transactions & Reviews / Manage transactions" page in your Admin panel, that the transaction has not been marked as completed by the buyer already

  • click the Dispute button in the transaction details, if this has not been done already

  • log in to your Stripe account at https://dashboard.stripe.com/

  • go to the Payments tab

  • filter and browse payments to find the one you are looking for

  • open the payment by clicking on it

  • click the Refund button

  • enter the amount you want to refund (full or partial)

  • don't forget to check the "Reverse the associated transfer" box to ensure that the money will come from the seller account and not from your own admin account. This is important! Take a look at the image below for reference.

  • add some details and reasons, and confirm the Refund

  • if you issued a partial refund, the seller's remaining balance will be transferred within 90 days by Stripe.

That's it! Buyers will receive the refund within 5 to 10 days.

How to issue a refund but keep (some of) your marketplace commission fee with Stripe

To initiate a refund but keep (part of) your marketplace commission fee, you should:

  • make sure, from the "Transactions & Reviews / Manage transactions" page in your Admin panel, that the transaction has not been marked as completed by the buyer already

  • click the Dispute in the transaction details if this has not been done already,

  • log in to your Stripe account at https://dashboard.stripe.com/

  • go to the Payments tab

  • filter and browse payments to find the one you are looking for

  • open the payment by clicking on it

    click on the "Transfer ID". This will bring you to a page showing the transfer made to the provider. 

  • click on the "Reverse transfer" button at the top of this page. This returns the funds from the provider account back into your Stripe admin account. 

  • again, find the original transaction in the "Transaction" tab. It is the same as the one you selected first. 

  • click the "Refund" button and select the amount you would like to refund. This is where you can take out any admin fee. Note that Stripe's fees will not be refunded.

  • leave "Reverse associated transfer" blank. Add a reason for the refund. 

  • confirm your selection. Now, the amount you indicated is refunded to the buyer. The balance remains in your account. 

  • the seller's remaining earnings (if there are any) will be transferred within 90 days by Stripe.

That's it! Buyers will receive the refund within 5 to 10 days.

Is the Stripe payment processing fee refunded?

No. There are no fees to refund a charge, but the original charge fees are not returned (you can learn more about Stripe fees here).

Did this answer your question?