industry What are chargebacks on OnlyFans

Chargebacks are when customers pay for a service or good and then decide to take the money back, often after having already received said product. Depending on the industry and payment method chargebacks are sadly more prevalent than healthy for many businesses and particularly freelancing online models are hit hard.

With the issue having such a bad financial impact the question remains why do people charge back and why are models left stiffed without help?

How do chargebacks work?

How exactly a chargeback is implemented depends on the payment method that is used, but generally there are 2 ways. One involves the buyer contacting the platform on which a transaction happened, for example OnlyFans, and demanding a refund based on their claim, which may be lack of quality or the service was different than expected.

The second, and much more relevant, method is the customer will dispute a transaction with their payment provider. In the case of a credit card a buyer could call their bank and say that they haven't purchased the service themselves or that they never received what they paid for. In this case the bank will contact the merchant (OnlyFans) that issued the charge and demand proof that a service was delivered.

Why is OnlyFans not stopping chargebacks?

First of all it is important to point out that OnlyFans does not benefit from chargebacks, neither do they have an interest in refunds to customers nor do they pocket the money of models. In the case where a user is requesting a refund from OnlyFans they will only do that if the creator agrees or it is obvious that the user has been scammed, sadly not all models are honest or fair to their fans.

In the case of a chargeback from a bank OnlyFans will have to abide by their decision, which more often than not is to side with the customer. That means OnlyFans actually does not get the money from a purchase and also does not have an option to keep and give it to the model. Generally OnlyFans does follow the procedure of disputes which is to reply to a customers bank and submit proof for the disputed transaction, however wether the bank will accept that or refund the money to their customer is out of OnlyFans control.

What can models do to avoid chargebacks?

While the decision to charge back on a model is ultimately with the customers there are a few things creators can do to reduce chargebacks. Generally it is important to be honest and fair with fans, try to not engage in conflicts or overpromise and underdeliver. Also avoid misrepresenting your profile or the content you offer to not feel fans cheated.

Ultimately some people however will still chargeback and there is nothing you can do about it, as unfortunate as it is some customers are in the end just scammers that try to game the dispute system to get free content. While this is incredibly annoying it is important to not blindly blame the platform on which it happens and focus on the many better fans that are happy to pay and keep paying for your content.