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iSpyCams · 02-24-2014, 02:37 PM

I have been analyzing stats and dealing with chargebacks for 5 years now, it's the main thing I do.

I see you noticed the target thing. That's good. I noticed it too and there was a dramatic spike of affiliate fraud in my network but I was ready for it and dealt with it.

Also be aware this about the time people are trying to get their CC balances down from the Holidays and at the same time are preparing for tax season and statements are being looked at closely. Buyer's remorse is, in my opinion the #1 cause of chargebacks.

I am going to assume, since I am not sure, that you have enough joins coming in to make your stats meaningful. That means at least 10 a day. Even that is pretty low, but any less than that and fluctuations in your stats are likely to be random and not meaningful at all.

All the tweaking you do onsite is going to affect your conversion and retention, but chargebacks will generally stay within the same basic parameters regardless of anything on your site, outside of pricing itself. (I have seen that anything over 24.95/mo can cause chargebacks to rise all by itself, regardless of other factors. - I see you are doing 29.95 which I believe SHOULD be the new 24.95 with inflation and all but consumers may not be on board with me yet)

To reduce chargebacks you need to do a combination of the following which I have ordered from most effective to least effective based on my experience:

1) Eliminate the affiliates who bring you chargebacks. Look at affiliate stats over a 30 day, 60 day and 90 day period and determine your base CB rate, then get rid of anyone operating at a higher rate. Start with the worst offenders and if you can get your CB's into the acceptable range then stop there, if not continue pruning till the problem is solved.

2) Analyze your joins and declines daily. Look for repetetive patterns in your joins. Repeat IP addresses, billing addresses, fake or strange emails. Look for commonalities in fraudulent transactions. This is another thing that's hard to do with 3rd party billing.

3) Increase the scrub settings on your biller. Unless you have a huge problem don't go too hardcore, baby steps. Remember every fraud scrub filter you put in place is going to raise false flags with legit purchases at the same time it shuts down thieves, so only scrub as much as you have to. If you use netbilling its easy. For CCbill you will need to contact your rep there. Probably the same for Epoch. There are some things they can do for you, not a lot but in general you are going to need to take control of that sooner or later by going private merchant.

4) Engage your customers. Be in touch with them. Make sure you are easy to reach in case of problems or questions. Make sure they know you are aware of them. I get very few chargebacks from people I manage to engage via email or telephone.

There is one more technique I have found to be pretty effective that I can tell you about but I won't post it on a public board because I think its too valuable for the unwashed masses to know about. You have me on IM so hit me up sometime and I'll tell you about it.

02-24-2014, 02:37 PM
iSpyCams Amateur Gynecologist Industry Role: Join Date: May 2009 Location: Medellin Posts: 4,436	I have been analyzing stats and dealing with chargebacks for 5 years now, it's the main thing I do. I see you noticed the target thing. That's good. I noticed it too and there was a dramatic spike of affiliate fraud in my network but I was ready for it and dealt with it. Also be aware this about the time people are trying to get their CC balances down from the Holidays and at the same time are preparing for tax season and statements are being looked at closely. Buyer's remorse is, in my opinion the #1 cause of chargebacks. I am going to assume, since I am not sure, that you have enough joins coming in to make your stats meaningful. That means at least 10 a day. Even that is pretty low, but any less than that and fluctuations in your stats are likely to be random and not meaningful at all. All the tweaking you do onsite is going to affect your conversion and retention, but chargebacks will generally stay within the same basic parameters regardless of anything on your site, outside of pricing itself. (I have seen that anything over 24.95/mo can cause chargebacks to rise all by itself, regardless of other factors. - I see you are doing 29.95 which I believe SHOULD be the new 24.95 with inflation and all but consumers may not be on board with me yet) To reduce chargebacks you need to do a combination of the following which I have ordered from most effective to least effective based on my experience: 1) Eliminate the affiliates who bring you chargebacks. Look at affiliate stats over a 30 day, 60 day and 90 day period and determine your base CB rate, then get rid of anyone operating at a higher rate. Start with the worst offenders and if you can get your CB's into the acceptable range then stop there, if not continue pruning till the problem is solved. 2) Analyze your joins and declines daily. Look for repetetive patterns in your joins. Repeat IP addresses, billing addresses, fake or strange emails. Look for commonalities in fraudulent transactions. This is another thing that's hard to do with 3rd party billing. 3) Increase the scrub settings on your biller. Unless you have a huge problem don't go too hardcore, baby steps. Remember every fraud scrub filter you put in place is going to raise false flags with legit purchases at the same time it shuts down thieves, so only scrub as much as you have to. If you use netbilling its easy. For CCbill you will need to contact your rep there. Probably the same for Epoch. There are some things they can do for you, not a lot but in general you are going to need to take control of that sooner or later by going private merchant. 4) Engage your customers. Be in touch with them. Make sure you are easy to reach in case of problems or questions. Make sure they know you are aware of them. I get very few chargebacks from people I manage to engage via email or telephone. There is one more technique I have found to be pretty effective that I can tell you about but I won't post it on a public board because I think its too valuable for the unwashed masses to know about. You have me on IM so hit me up sometime and I'll tell you about it. __________________ - As soon as I think up a good sig it's going here. Last edited by iSpyCams; 02-24-2014 at 02:41 PM..