Refunding when your Stripe balance is low

What to do

1. Open your Stripe balance. Click Open Stripe dashboard on Payouts.
2. Check how much is available, not only how much is pending.
3. If it's enough, refund as usual. See refund an order.
4. If it isn't, wait for more sales to become available, or add funds on Stripe.
5. Tell your buyer what's happening. Dockstall doesn't email them about refunds.

What Stripe explains

This comes from Stripe's refunds guide:

• Refunds use your available Stripe balance, not pending amounts.
• If it's too low, a card refund stays pending until the balance is enough.
• Refunds on other payment methods don't go through.
• A pending refund can eventually fail if the balance stays too low.
• Where it applies, Stripe may debit your bank account to recover a negative balance.

Stripe also explains how to add funds to your balance. Availability depends on your country.

What you'll see on Dockstall

• A message that the refund was sent to Stripe. The order updates once Stripe confirms it.
• Or "Stripe declined the refund", with Stripe's reason. Nothing has been refunded, so you can try again later.

We haven't confirmed exactly how a pending refund displays on the order page. Your Stripe dashboard is the place to check. It shows the refund's real status.

Who pays

You do. Dockstall doesn't lend money for refunds, or pay them for you. We don't hold your money, so we have nothing to cover them with.

If you want our fee back, keep the date in mind. The Refund card shows the deadline, 30 days after the purchase. See fees and access after a refund.

Avoiding this

If you often refund, you can leave some money in your balance. Stripe explains that you can set a minimum balance with automatic payouts. Payout settings are in your Stripe dashboard.