How to avoid chargeback fee?

[charmony]

Last time I had a chargeback was years ago, I had no option *not* to dispute it, and I lost the case even though the seller left feedback saying they received the item. So I had to pay the $25 fee.

So now I'm wary about what to do... The chargeback is for unauthorised purchase and I'm happy to just refund it to make this go away, but will I get charged the fee anyway?

Do I just select "I'll issue a refund and close the case" and will this avoid the fee?

Thanks.

Related matter: How the heck to you get to the Resolution Centre via Paypal? I had to google it and follow one of the hits. There are no links in my account that I can find, certainly not following the steps in Paypal's email ("Log into account, click Resolution center near the top"), and no warnings or notifications that there's a case open even on the transaction itself unless I click on it.

[lyndal1838]

I have only seen discussions on here about chargebacks.

There is a general opinion that paypal is the only one who can check if the transaction is authorised....the seller cannot do anything but rely on paypal to tell you when to post.

If it were me I would contact paypal and ask if you are covered since you relied on them to tell you that it was safe to post.

[davewil1964]

Paypal have a disclaimer that chargebacks are still possible in the future.

The OP is relying on Paypal seller protection, which hasn't been triggered due to no tracking.

The best thing is to refund, block the buyer and move on. Disputing the chargeback will result in a further charge. $15, I believe.

[eol-products]

here is some information

https://www.paypal.com/au/brc/article/understanding-chargebacks?utm_source=email&utm_medium=trigger&... 

[charmony]

>The best thing is to refund, block the buyer and move on. Disputing the chargeback will result in a further charge. $15, I believe.

The chargeback fee happens regardless of whether I refund and close the case (because I'm not covered by Seller Protection) because the bank charges that, not Paypal.

However - an update in this case. I asked Paypal about how to avoid the fee and there is no way to avoid it (even though tracking shouldn't even matter, given the reason for the chargeback wasn't "item not received" but "unauthorized use"). But for some reason the buyer's bank did not charge me (i.e. Paypal) a fee. 

The person I talked to didn't know why, but she presumed it was because the value of the sale ($5.50) was so small.