A customer reviewing their MasterCard, Visa, American Express, or Discover statement sees a charge they do not recognize. Possibly the date on the charge does not match their records, or they are not accustomed to the name of the merchant, or the location listed on the bill. Whatever the reason for their concern, it can prompt a customer to call their bank to question or challenge the charge. Unfortunately, in such situations, merchants can end up with a chargeback . . . even when the charge is legitimate.

Regardless of the reason for the chargeback, chargebacks are costly to your business. A business must take into consideration the dollar amount of the original transaction, chargeback fees, discount rates, pick-pack-and-ship fees, and most importantly the lost and unreturned cost of goods.

Chargebacks are an unavoidable part of doing business and we are here to help. The fact of the matter is the best defense against chargebacks is to prevent them from happening in the first place. You can go a long way toward reducing the number of chargebacks you'll incur by using SellitSAFE.com before you process the sale. For tips on how to prevent chargebacks and fraud APPLY NOW.

• Do not accept orders unless complete information is provided from the customer including full name (no initials), full address, and day and evening phone numbers.
• Request a phone number where the customer can be contacted after goods or services have been shipped. Confirming sales is always a good idea. A customer that is reluctant to provide a contact phone number may be contemplating fraud.
• Have a customer service phone number appear on the cardholders billing statement. This number will appear next to your business name on the cardholders billing statement. In the event of a problem the customer will call you before calling their bank to chargeback. You can call your merchant service provider and ask them to do this for you. This service is free from credit card processors.
• Be careful when accepting orders that originate from free or web-based Email services. The chances of fraud are less when the customer originates from an ISP or domain based address. An address that can be traced back to a "real" person.

Use caution with electronic downloads or shipping to addresses where "funny" email names are used. Example: radicaldude@surfsup.com

Use Internal Edits! Quite often, customers using fictitious account numbers will input one number after another until they receive an authorization. Have internal edits check for multiple transaction attempts in which the last 3 or 4 digits are different for each transmission. Such a system may also be programmed to flag card numbers for which a chargeback has been previously associated.

Get Signed Proof-of-Delivery!!! Ship your orders in such a manner that you receive a signed proof-of-delivery. This, combined with a positive AVS response, will help you to defend some types of disputes.

Flag Recurring Transactions! If you charge your customers on a recurring basis, make sure that you identify each transaction as a recurring transaction. (Check with your vendor to find out if the software/system you use will allow for this.) By flagging transactions as recurring, you will help protect yourself from chargebacks for "duplicate processing." Providing cardholders with a clearly marked and easy-to-use cancellation form helps them to notify you if they decide to cancel services.