Sift Logo Several blue dots forming a sphere to the left of the word Sift in italic font.
  • Products

    Digital Trust & Safety Suite

    Fight fraud without sacrificing growth

    Learn more →

    Passwordless
    Authentication

    Account
    Defense

    Content
    Integrity

    Payment
    Protection

    Dispute
    Management

    Sift
    Connect

    PSD2
    Solution

    New Releases & Enhancements

  • Partners

    Sift Partner
    Program

    Join the leader in Digital Trust & Safety

    Learn more →

    Commerce platform partners


  • Industries

    One solution, many applications

    Learn how Sift can work for your industry

    Learn more →

    Featured industries


    Fintech

    Retail

    Food & Beverage

  • Customers

    See case studies by industry

    Sift works across every use case and region

    Learn more →

    Featured customers


  • Resources

    Explore our resources

    Access trends, guides, and insights from Sift

    Learn more →

    Blog

    Ebooks

    One Pagers

    Demos

    Videos

    Webinars

    Infographics

    Podcasts

    Trust & Safety University

  • Fraud Center
  • Company

    Why leaders choose Sift

    Technology, community, and partnership

    Learn more →

    Our mission: Help everyone trust the internet


    About

    Careers

    News & Press

Request a demo
Products
  • Digital Trust & Safety Suite
  • Passwordless Authentication
  • Account Defense
  • Content Integrity
  • Payment Protection
  • Dispute Management
  • Sift Connect
  • PSD2 Solution
  • New Releases & Enchancements
Why Sift
  • Salesforce
  • Magento
  • Shopify
Industries
  • Fintech
  • Retail
  • Food & Beverage
Customers
Resources
  • Blog
  • Ebooks
  • One Pagers
  • Demos
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Infographics
  • Podcasts
  • Trust and Safety University
Fraud Center
About
  • Search Careers
  • Our Company
  • Contact Us
  • Engineering Blog
Request a DemoSign In
  • Blog Home
  • Chargebacks
  • Digital Trust & Safety
< prev / next >
Share this article on LinkedIn
Tweet this article
Share this article on Facebook
SOCIALICON
Share this article via email

The Twitch Troll that PayPal Refused to Refund

By Joe Vignolo  / 

24 Aug 2016

We’ve all seen trolling on the internet before. Whether it’s in the comments on a popular Facebook post or Instagram share, these trolls enjoy the thought of ruining someone’s day. So what? Most are able to dismiss a troll’s lewd or hurtful comments, because they’re just that, comments.

Enter Twitch, the video streaming platform centered around video games that exploded in popularity last year when Amazon purchased it for $900 million. A number of entrepreneurial individuals make a living off of the donations or sponsorships they receive from those viewing their stream.

Paid subscribers vs. donations

There are three ways in which Twitch streamers can make money: sponsorships, paid subscribers, and donations. Sponsorships typically come from video game companies, that range from game creators to accessories like headsets and controllers. As you can imagine, sponsorships aren’t the most common form of income generation, as these are reserved for the small percentage of Twitch streamers who have a huge following.

Which leaves paid subscriptions and donations for the Twitch masses to earn money. In paid subscriptions, Twitch users pay a monthly fee (typically ranging from $5 to $10) to receive special perks from the channel’s host, including things like subscriber-only chat features, access to custom emoticons, and removing ads. While all of these features drive subscriptions, users really subscribe to support a Twitch streamer that they enjoy watching.

Twitch streamers don’t need to offer a monthly subscription program to ask for and/or receive donations. Donations are just what you would expect: viewers donate money to a stream because it provides them entertainment, they want to support the streamer’s cause, etc. Viewers who donate large sums of money are typically heralded by the streamer during their stream. But even those who donate small amounts receive shout-outs from streamers.

Twitch and chargebacks

Like we said earlier, trolls in the chat stream or comments of other social media platforms don’t (or shouldn’t) have an impact on the actual lives of those sharing content. However, now trolls are able to hit streamers where it hurts—in their wallets.

We constantly monitor the social spheres for the conversations occurring around chargebacks. If someone is bragging about a chargeback, we will use that information to aid in responses for our clients. A few months ago, we began to see more and more Twitch streamers lamenting chargebacks on donations they received.

Countless Twitch streamers, with small and large followings, have been hit by the one-two punch of troll donations and chargeback fees. First, the streamer has to deal with the fact that they won’t get the donation they were anticipating. Then, to make matters worse, whenever a chargeback occurs through PayPal, a fee of $20 is billed to the streamer. PayPal’s application of its fees on Twitch streamers isn’t new, every merchant who receives a chargeback is charged $20 for each chargeback occurrence.

PayPal takes a stand

Managing the chargeback process is no walk-in-the-park for PayPal, even when the chargeback is valid. So, it’s no surprise that it’s difficult for PayPal to make subjective calls on whether a chargeback was filed due to legitimate or sinister reasons. That being said, PayPal is certainly not deaf to Twitch streamers’ outcries of chargeback fraud.

A recent move by PayPal should make trolls think twice before donating to chargeback. According to a thread on NeoGaf, Twitch user iNexus_Ninja made a habit of donating large sums of money to various streamers. His donations ranged from $1,000 to $5,000 and added up to a whopping $50,000. When iNexus_Ninja attempted to file chargebacks for these donations, PayPal refused to refund him one cent of the donated money. The young man’s Twitter feed shows outright denial of this story and he claims he only submitted a chargeback on one Twitch streamer.

Other reports indicate that he tweeted mockingly about the $1,010 monthly payment he now must deliver to PayPal, but it appears those tweets have been deleted.

Unfortunately, not all instances of fraudulent chargebacks are as glaring as those allegedly committed by iNexus_Ninja. Most Twitch streamers will need aid in the process of responding to chargebacks to have a chance of PayPal denying the donators refund request. So, for you Twitch streamers out there, here are a few posts we think will be helpful if you’re ever burned by what you suspect to be a fraudulent chargeback:

  • Fighting Chargebacks 101: Your First Steps
  • 5 Warning Signs of Chargeback Fraud (and 5 Ways to Fight It)
  • Customer vs Merchant: Two Sides to a Chargeback
  • Don’t take Chargebacks Personally: 5 Mantras to Keep Your Cool

As always, we’re here to help you manage the chargeback process.

Related

chargeback disputeschargeback fraudchargeback representmentchargebacksdonationshow to file a chargeback disputenewspaypaltwitch

Joe Vignolo

Joe Vignolo is the Director of Content Marketing at Sift, specializing in authentic storytelling that connects and converts. Before joining Sift, he ran content at Outreach and Datanyze and was an award-winning broadcast journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also believes Point Break (the original) is a shining example of American cinema.

  • < prev
  • Blog Home
  • next >
Company
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • News & Press
  • Partner with us
  • Blog
Support
  • Help Center
  • Contact Support
  • System Status
  • Trust & Safety University
  • Fraud Management
Developers
  • Overview
  • APIs
  • Client Libraries
  • Integration Guides
  • Tutorials
  • Engineering Blog
Social

Don't miss a thing

Our newsletter delivers industry trends, insights, and more.

You're on the list.

You can unsubscribe at any time. Please see our Website Privacy Notice.

If you are using a screen reader and are having problems using this website, please email support@sift.com for assistance.

© 2022 Sift All Rights Reserved Privacy & Terms

Your information will be used to contact you about our service and subscribe you to our direct marketing communications. You can, of course, unsubscribe at any time. Please see our Website Privacy Notice.