So your buyer filed a completely bogus chargeback and somehow the credit card company agreed with them for unknown reasons; perhaps you didn’t submit the correct evidence (Read: A Complete List of Evidence You Need to WIN a Chargeback) or perhaps the credit card employee never actually reviewed the case, there’s no way of knowing what went wrong but now you have the opportunity to appeal. If you want to appeal here’s everything you need to know:

AN APPEAL IS NOT FREE! MasterCard, for example, charges a $150 “filing fee” followed by a $250 “Administrative fee. Keep in mind, you already were charged $30 - $60 for the first chargeback! That means if you go through with the appeal involving a MasterCard you will be spending $400+ just on the fees. This only makes sense if the item is a big ticket item that you have a lot of cost invested in.

APPEALING DOES NOT GUARANTEE VICTORY. When you Appeal, in theory, your evidence should be examined thoroughly. However this doesn’t mean you will win. You absolutely may lose a second time.

TIME IS VERY LIMITED. I believe Visa only allows an appeal within 10 days following the dispute decision. So if Visa decided to let the buyer keep the couch and also refund them in full on January 10th, you must appeal by January 20th.

IT MIGHT BE CALLED “ARBITRATION” INSTEAD OF “APPEAL”. If you want to appeal the decision you should be able to do this in the same area where you disputed the original chargeback. For example, if you use BrainTree (PayPals payment processing service), you can find the Appeal option in your dashboard, under Disputes. If you can’t find anything that says “Appeal Decision”, look for something that mentions “Arbitration”.

SOME PAYMENT PROCESSORS NO LONGER OFFER APPEALS. This means the decision, even if completely wrong, is 100% final. Your only further option would be to sue the buyer. I believe Stripe.com is one of the processors who has eliminated Appeals.

If you are confident that you want to move forward with appealing, you will be able to revise your evidence ONE TIME. After you submit the appeal there is no way to edit what you submitted. It is important that you first read these four blog posts to make sure you have the best odds of winning the appeal:

A Complete Guide to Fighting and Winning a Chargeback

A Complete List of Evidence You Need to WIN a Chargeback

5 Tips for Disputing Chargebacks

Chargebacks: What is Friendly Fraud

Lastly, if you have decided that Appealing doesn't make financial sense, be sure to log the loss and write it off on your taxes.