How I fixed the deadly Stripe ban
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Eddie shares his experience dealing with Stripe's unexpected account closures and refund policies. He details the steps he took to successfully appeal and restore his account, despite Stripe's initial automatic rejection. Eddie emphasizes the importance of creating public pressure on social media and provides a detailed strategy for gathering and submitting evidence to convince Stripe of a legitimate business. He also offers additional tips on managing disputes and transitioning to safer payment processors to avoid future issues.
Takeaways
- 😨 Eddie experienced a stressful situation where Stripe closed his account and he feared losing all his money.
- 🤔 He advises against filling out Stripe's appeal form as it is often automatically declined without review.
- 📢 Eddie suggests creating a public scene on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to draw attention to the issue.
- 💌 He recommends directly messaging Stripe on various platforms and sending emails to their support addresses.
- 📝 In messages, Eddie emphasizes the need to sound dramatic and mention the possibility of legal action or contacting the Better Business Bureau.
- 📦 When asked for more information, providing detailed documentation like inventory pictures, invoices, and tracking numbers is crucial.
- 📷 Photos should show branded packaging, inventory, and handwritten notes with the date and store name to appear legitimate.
- 🔍 Eddie advises avoiding mentioning China in tracking information and to use 'Last Mile' tracking numbers instead.
- 💻 He suggests providing screenshots of fulfilled orders from Shopify and other proof of business legitimacy.
- 🏦 Offer additional documentation like bank statements and screenshots of low dispute rates from other accounts.
- 🙏 Finally, express passion for the business, a history of low chargeback rates, and a plea for account reactivation, mentioning the possibility of legal action if necessary.
Q & A
What issue did Eddie face with Stripe?
-Eddie faced the issue of Stripe closing his account and wanting to refund all his customers without a clear reason.
How did Eddie initially react to Stripe's actions?
-Eddie initially panicked, fearing that Stripe would take all his money.
What was Eddie's strategy to convince Stripe to give him another chance?
-Eddie's strategy involved arguing with Stripe, causing drama on social media, and messaging them on various platforms.
Why should one avoid filling out the appeal form on Stripe according to Eddie?
-Eddie suggests avoiding the appeal form because it is often automatically declined by Stripe's algorithm without actual review.
What social media platforms did Eddie recommend using to create awareness about the issue?
-Eddie recommended using Twitter and Facebook to comment on Stripe's posts and create a public outcry.
What should one include in the direct messages to Stripe according to Eddie?
-In the direct messages, one should explain the situation dramatically, mention the possibility of legal action, and highlight the potential for an algorithmic mistake.
What kind of evidence did Eddie suggest providing to Stripe to prove the legitimacy of the business?
-Eddie suggested providing pictures of inventory, invoices, tracking numbers, company documents, and screenshots of fulfilled orders on Shopify.
Why is it important to show Last Mile tracking numbers instead of Chinese tracking numbers to Stripe?
-Last Mile tracking numbers are more credible as they show up on official carrier websites like USPS, indicating actual delivery, whereas Chinese tracking numbers might not be as reliable.
What is the significance of providing a screenshot of fulfilled orders from Shopify?
-The screenshot serves as proof of the business's legitimacy and shows that the business has a history of fulfilling orders.
What advice does Eddie give regarding the use of Shopify Payments as an alternative to Stripe?
-Eddie advises processing a significant amount of money through Stripe first before switching to Shopify Payments to reduce the risk of account suspension.
What is the final step Eddie suggests after sending all the requested information to Stripe?
-Eddie suggests sending a passionate message explaining the business's history, low dispute rates, and a plea for account reactivation, mentioning the possibility of legal action if necessary.
Outlines
😓 Struggling with Stripe Account Closures and Refunds
Eddie discusses the challenges faced by many users dealing with Stripe account closures and forced refunds for customers. He recounts his own experience with a similar situation, where he feared losing all his money. Eddie managed to resolve the issue by arguing and negotiating with Stripe, and he offers to share his approach. He warns that success is not guaranteed, but his method has worked for others. He advises against using Stripe's automatic appeal process, which he believes is ineffective due to algorithmic rejections, and instead suggests creating a public outcry on social media to draw attention to the issue.
📢 Leveraging Social Media and Direct Messaging for Stripe Account Issues
The speaker outlines a strategy to address Stripe account issues by creating a public scene on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. He recommends commenting on Stripe's posts and messaging them directly through various channels, including email and direct messages on social media. The goal is to convey the urgency and impact of the account closure on the business. The speaker suggests crafting dramatic messages that may prompt Stripe to investigate the issue further. He provides specific email addresses and social media handles to contact and hints at sharing a template message for consistency.
📦 Proving Legitimacy with Inventory Photos and Documentation
The paragraph details the process of providing evidence to Stripe to prove the legitimacy of a business and refute claims of unauthorized charges. It suggests taking and submitting photos of inventory with a visible date and business name, along with supporting documents like invoices and tracking numbers. The advice includes going beyond the basic requirements to show seriousness and legitimacy. The speaker emphasizes the importance of using branded packaging, thank you cards, and handwritten notes on boxes to enhance the credibility of the submission. He also discusses the necessity of providing an invoice for the stock, suggesting that even if one doesn't own the inventory, creating an invoice may be necessary to save the account.
🚫 Avoiding Common Mistakes and Providing Comprehensive Evidence
This section warns against common mistakes when dealing with Stripe, such as providing only the minimal required information or using Chinese tracking numbers. It stresses the importance of waiting until orders have legitimate tracking information before submitting them to Stripe. The advice includes providing screenshots of fulfilled orders from Shopify, showcasing a history of successful transactions, and offering additional evidence like tracking numbers for past deliveries. The speaker also suggests demonstrating a history of low dispute rates across multiple accounts and providing a bank statement to establish the business's legitimacy.
🙏 Final Plea and Recommendation for Future Payment Processing
In the final paragraph, the speaker makes a heartfelt plea to Stripe to reactivate the account, emphasizing the passion and history in the business, and the low chargeback rate. He hints at the possibility of legal action if necessary and provides a template for a final message to Stripe. The advice concludes with a suggestion to process a significant amount through Stripe initially before switching to Shopify Payments to avoid initial account bans and benefit from lower transaction fees. The speaker encourages continued learning and engagement within the e-commerce community.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Stripe
💡Account Closure
💡Refund
💡Appeal
💡Social Media
💡Drama
💡Algorithm
💡High-Risk Payments
💡Inventory
💡Tracking Numbers
💡Dispute Rate
💡Legal Action
💡Shopify Payments
Highlights
Eddie shares personal experience with Stripe account closure and refund issues.
Provides a strategy to convince Stripe to reconsider account closure.
Advises against filling out Stripe's appeal form due to its automatic decline.
Suggests creating social media drama to draw Stripe's attention to the issue.
Recommends direct messaging and emailing Stripe support across various platforms.
Details a dramatic message template to send to Stripe to emphasize the urgency.
Explains the importance of proving that the business is legitimate and not high-risk.
Instructs on providing evidence such as inventory pictures and purchase orders.
Stresses the need for Last Mile tracking numbers to show order fulfillment.
Advises on the urgency of shipping specific orders to provide timely tracking info.
Suggests providing screenshots of fulfilled orders from Shopify as proof of business legitimacy.
Recommends showing a history of low dispute rates across multiple payment platforms.
Encourages sharing bank statements to demonstrate business activity.
Ends with a passionate plea to Stripe, emphasizing the impact on the business.
Warns about the unpredictability of Stripe's actions and the potential need for legal action.
Advocates for using Shopify Payments as a safer alternative to Stripe.
Provides a strategy to transition to Shopify Payments after initial sales through another processor.
Invites the audience to join Maven for Discord for further e-commerce insights and community support.
Transcripts
hey what's up everyone this is Eddie I
see that a lot of you are dealing with
um stri problems and them closing your
account and wanting to refund all your
customers which is absolutely crazy and
unfortunately a little while back I also
ran into that and I really really
freaked out and um I thought it was
actually going to happen I thought they
were actually going to take all my money
but I really really pushed and argued
with them and everything and I did fix
it
and I'll let you know exactly what I did
um to convince them to give me another
chance basically give me another chance
although this is completely unfair uh so
I'll let you know exactly what I did but
understand that it doesn't mean it will
100% work for you as well um they could
just not cooperate at all but I shared
this with multiple people and it worked
for them so I'll just share with you and
and you just give it a shot as well and
try your best and make it work so uh let
me tell you what worked for me I wrote
some notes in here I'll probably uh
share them in Discord somewhere too but
um the first thing is uh they'll give
you the chance to file an appeal like
fill in a form or something on your
stripe account and uh you shouldn't do
that if you did it it is what it is but
the point is um this appeal will
immediately be declined automatically
they don't actually care I think it's
just their algorithm just declining your
appeal so ideally don't fill it in if
you filled it in um it is what it is it
might complicate things a little bit uh
I filled it in and it was declined so I
think I had to fight a little more than
necessary but anyway after that after
you ignore that um you need to um cause
some drama on social media so you go and
comment on uh Twitter under Stripes last
post just comment um as well on Facebook
and say that oh strip's about to ruin my
business they're just uh going to refund
my customers for no reason I ship my
orders out I don't understand what's
going on it just cause a lot of drama um
it's a bit annoying and awkward to have
to post like that but you just got
to do what you got to do to save your
account and save your money and that's
what I did and uh it worked out so first
just comment under their posts uh tag
them say no one cares about you from
there no no one helps you um on strip
side and stuff like that it's even
better if you get some friends to like
like your post and stuff um and the
comment say oh me too and then um what
you have to do is message them like
pretty much on all their accounts the
ones that I messaged them on our on
Facebook and on Twitter as well like
directly message them I also sent them
emails and I'll tell you what to say in
those messages but um I send them emails
to [email protected] and account
stripe.com it might not your email might
not get through but just try anyway and
then on their Facebook page at stripe HQ
and on Twitter uh @ Stripes support
again I'll uh find a place to leave some
notes on what I'm saying right now so
you can follow through with it a little
easier and what I said in those messages
and I'll give you a copy paste message
for this but what I said was basically
hey um strive just um ruined my business
something like that like you got to
sound a bit dramatic and say that you
need help or otherwise you will be
forced to get a lawyer and uh get in
touched with the
BBB uh Better Business Bureau that is
and explain to them you got an email
that there are unauthorized charges or
payments on your account but that's
impossible and you have to explain this
say that this must be an algorithm
mistake because you're using Shopify to
process payment so customers just have
to come to your store manually to put in
their information credit card numbers
CVV uh ZIP code all of that they have to
put all that in there manually so
there's no risk that's what you say and
um it's impossible to have unauthorized
payments when that's what the customer
has to go through so it must be an
algorithm error that your account got
suspended for that and explain you don't
have highrisk payments you don't have
chargebacks blah blah maybe you do but
just say you
don't and um explain you shipped all of
these orders and that this is not legal
you own stock maybe you don't but say
you own stock you ship your own products
you own uh a company like an LLC
whatever and uh explain that you can
provide tracking numbers inventory
pictures invoices uh purchase orders
company documents blah blah blah anyway
I'll give you a message that says this
that you can just copy paste to them and
and um you have to keep fighting with
them until they ask you to provide more
information that's what you're looking
for that's your way out as soon as they
ask you to provide more
information that's your second chance to
get your account back and generally the
information that they ask for is um a
picture of your inventory with a sheet
of paper somewhere in the picture
showing today's date and then also
supporting documents for some orders
that you process through stripe like
invoices tracking numbers stuff like
that the thing is you don't want to give
them just this because if you give them
just this they might look at it and it's
you know just some superficial janitor
that works as strip's going to look at
that and be like Oh yeah this guy's a
scammer or something and uh you know not
help you you need to go above and beyond
and provide a lot more information that
they requested so they see they're
really serious and you actually um have
a legitimate business right and I'll
tell you what I provided them with so
that you can replicate it and just give
yourself the best chance to fix this I
gave them um a few pictures of my
inventory now my inventory is branded uh
it's it's not like you know it doesn't
look like a random Drop Shipping product
um it comes in branded packaging it has
thank you cards maybe you're not in that
situation either way ask your agent from
China if you're shipping from China or
whoever is dealing with your inventory
to take some pictures where you can see
a lot of boxes and your product should
be shown like kind of you know visible
that it's in the Box you just got to get
the right angle so ask your agent to
like take multiple pictures from
multiple angles and if you have branded
packaging make sure some products are in
the packaging some products are out and
um if you have thank you cards make sure
they're showing as well and if you don't
don't have thank you cards you can just
ask your agent or who whoever is dealing
with your inventory to just print out
some like fake thank you cards with your
logo on them saying thank you for your
order something like that just simple
piece of paper they can do that all of
them have printers and stuff uh it just
makes you picture look more legit and
make sure that that's visible in the
picture and then make sure that on the
big carton boxes that your inventory is
in um your agent writes like handwrites
as to be handwritten your
name um today's date and the name of
your store so all of that should be
visible there and that will make
everything look very legit but make sure
it's handwritten for for this part uh
use a piece of paper if you don't have
big carpon boxes I don't know but uh get
that done and um then you
need you need to get um an invoice for
your stock so basically like a purchase
order to show them that you own this
inventory so you bought it from China uh
or wherever you bought it from a factory
that's basically what you have to tell
them now maybe you don't actually own
your inventory I don't really know if
you do or you don't but you have to
somehow get this invoice now I'm not
telling you to fake invoices or whatever
but if you don't have an invoice uh for
it you might want to go the extra mile
in order to save your account and just
put together an invoice where you bought
I don't know 9,000
units um on X date whatever a month ago
let's say and you paid this much blah
blah
blah um have a stamp on there from like
a Chinese Factory your company name on
there as it is written on
stripe um and give them that and say
that you designed
manufactured this stock that you bought
and you already have it you own it it's
made specifically for you and no one
else is selling this product you say
that okay maybe that's not the case but
you say that then U make sure to give
Last Mile tracking numbers to the orders
that they requested information about so
um what do I mean by Last Mile tracking
numbers you all should know what that
means but I don't mean give them Chinese
tracking numbers never do that don't
make sure to stay away from mentioning
China as much as possible besides on the
invoice everyone's ordering stock from
China but don't give them Chinese
tracking numbers like un Express get the
last mile tracking number um from your
orders ask your agent if you don't know
how and give them that now the problem
is that generally when they ask you for
information for some orders on your
stripe account it generally orders that
you receive like literally 7 hours ago
something it's impossible for you to
have shipped
them
so before you reply to that stripe
message
entirely you need to you know ideally
put together all this information in a
document or something you need to ship
those specific orders cuz in my case I
didn't even get to ship them because I
my stripe account got locked like during
the weekend and I received those orders
that they asked about literally that day
or something so it's hard for me to it
was impossible for me to ship them in
time although I Shi most of the orders
so what I did is I talked to my agent
and this is what you should do as well
and I told her we need those orders
delivered as fast as possible like
especially those that stri P about and
there's a way to ship from China using a
Last Mile track number like that
directly like straight the first
tracking number that you get be USPS or
Australian AA post or Royal Mail or
whatever there is a way to ship like
that from China I'm I'm not sure exactly
how but if you tell your agent they
should know so tell them ship directly
with USBS from China it's going to be
more expensive but it doesn't matter
right because you really need to get
this
information and um don't send them this
information though until your orders
have tracking info
on um your carrier
um website like USBS right make sure to
check every few hours the USPS received
the package or whatever and they there
must be some type of tracking
information in there I think in my case
there wasn't much tracking information
but he said the USPS received
um information about my package or
something like that but the point is it
it needs to be clear
that um these are not fake tracking
numbers and they show up on usps's
website so um what as soon as you get
the information it might take a day
maybe two hopefully this didn't happen
to you during the weekend but it might
take one or two business days but only
then you give them that information
because otherwise they they'll use those
tracking numbers and check them and
they're not going to be on usps's
website or Australia Post or wherever
you
shipped and they're going to think
you're scamming or something and um then
obviously you would think that that's
enough but not so like I said go above
and beyond after this you want to give
them a screenshot of a full page or
fulfilled orders on Shopify so go on
Shopify click on orders scroll until you
find all of them that are fulfilled and
just take a a full screenshot of that
including the URL so your your store
name should be visible in the URL and
then just a massive list of fulfilled
orders straight from your Shopify store
basically you give them that and you
tell them look these are so you just
list all of the the stuff that I'm
telling you so uh what whatever it was
number one invoice number two pictures
number one number three tracking numbers
and you make it clear like just give
them a whole like document or something
or at least just list them very nicely
and say these are the tracking numbers
these are blah blah blah I Shi them just
now blah okay and uh so tell them look
these are a lot of other ores that I
fulfilled on my store I've been running
the store for a long time and then um
another piece of information is you want
to get give them more orders like
specific orders so so like five to six
extra orders where you say you give them
the order number from Shopify you give
them the last Mount Trucking number
again only last Mount Trucking numbers
but those have to be like from the past
that are already delivered and say
listen look these are five or six other
orders that I've already delivered um
because I've been running this business
for a while and you give them last M
tracking numbers you give them a
screenshot of the order in Shopify uh
which is show The Last Mile tracking
number then make make sure you edit the
order with the last M tracking number
and a screenshot of the carrier's
website with your tracking number in
there and it has to say delivered so you
give them that and say I can literally
give you information this information
for thousands of orders that I've
delivered but if if you really want to
and then move on and say um something
like if you think that my business is
high risk it's not let me show you I've
run uh a lot of my companies with stripe
and PayPal for six years just say a big
number of years and I had a tiny dispute
rate and then show pictures of different
stripe accounts of yours and a PayPal
account um where you can see the dispute
rate if you don't know how to find them
Google it whatever I'm not going to tell
you how to find find them but show them
that and uh they need to see like you
Pro that you processed a lot of money
through other accounts and you have
small dispute rates like 0.1 or whatever
if you need to
those screenshots are easy to
manipulate um you just need to log into
a different strap account and use like
inspect element you know like uh those
uh scammy Drop Shipping gurus do when
they show you big numbers uh you inspect
element and you just change the
information like make the dispute rate
really low change the name of the store
or whatever inside that stripe account
and take a screenshot and like put an
arrow and point it that at the small
dispute rate if will help your case
basically so do that for stripe and for
PayPal and then give them a screenshot
of uh your of the last month's bank
statement from your company bank account
if you don't have a company bank account
I don't know what to tell you but this
would help you a
lot um and say hey look this is
also last mon last month's bank
statement for my company it just helps
them see okay this this is a business
that's active that's you know actually
legitimate and then just like a last um
statement uh where you explain I'm
passionate about this business I've been
doing it for the past however many years
I never had um I never had a business
with stripe that had more than a 0.5
charge back rate say something like that
0.4 which I know significantly better
than the average and I'm asking you very
nicely to uh reactivate my account
otherwise I'll really be forced to get a
lawyer and try to go the legal way
because this is money that I deserve and
blah blah so a message like that at the
end I'll give you a copy paste of what I
said too just uh to make it easier for
you and once you send that over to them
they'll say okay thank you please wait
something like that and if you sent all
the information there's a high chance
that they'll uh restore your account any
will take a day or two um and they'll
they're likely to give your money back I
cannot obviously guarantee it
because um they might not but I've done
this and multiple other people um in
Maven for Discord have done this after
taking my advice and they got their
money back so it's possible but don't
get all your hopes up because it's
stripe and they're scumbags so it's
possible that they won't actually save
your account but give it a shot if it
doesn't work out and you have a lot of
money on there I guess get a lawyer and
try to get your money back because
obviously I would think this is illegal
for them to just take all this money
from you um just last piece of
advice process like 50 to 100K through
stripe and then switch to Shopify
payments shy payments is a lot less
likely to do this to you uh and to
refund the money to your customers so
you're safer with them and they have
lower transaction fees uh but don't
start with Shopify payments I would say
because they're more likely to just ban
your account anyway and you don't want
that but if you first process like 50 to
$100,000 or so on your store through a
different payment processor and then
switch to stripe uh sorry then switch to
Shopify payments then you're way more
likely to work with shop five payments
long term without them messing up your
account uh just piece of advice works
really well for me um that way so uh try
to try to do the same but hopefully this
was helpful and uh yeah make sure to uh
be active in Maven for Discord and learn
as much as possible about e-commerce
from me and the community we're massive
here we're doing amazing numbers so many
success posts so many success stories so
many life Chang
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