Shopify holds money in a reserve when its risk systems see a chance your store can’t cover future refunds and chargebacks. Common triggers are a sudden sales spike, rising refunds or disputes, long delivery times, or simply being in an industry Shopify sees as risky. The money comes back after the expiry date in Shopify’s email, or sooner if you request a review with clean numbers.
By Maria Sparagis · 20+ years in payments · Last updated November 5, 2026
A reserve is money Shopify Payments holds back from your payouts to cover future refunds and chargebacks. A chargeback is when a customer asks their bank to reverse a card payment.
Why does Shopify care so much? Because it is ultimately on the hook. If your business goes bankrupt or runs short of cash and can’t pay a chargeback, Shopify has to pay it for you. So when Shopify, or its risk algorithm, senses that risk or fraud is rising in your business, it holds some of your money to make sure the funds are there.
This year, Shopify has quietly raised reserves and payout delays for many stores. In my work, health and beauty brands are hit hardest: skincare, supplements, hair care and wellness. I regularly see reserves of around 30% on these stores.
That happens even when chargebacks are well within the card networks’ limits. You don’t have to break a Visa or Mastercard threshold for Shopify to act. If it senses risk is rising, it will hold funds to protect itself.
The most frustrating part for merchants is timing. Shopify isn’t reacting to a problem you have today. It is protecting itself against refunds and chargebacks it thinks could come months from now.
Below I explain what triggers a reserve, where to see it, how long it lasts, and what you can do to get it lowered or lifted.
What is a Shopify Payments reserve?
A Shopify Payments reserve is a temporary hold on part, or sometimes all, of your sales. Shopify uses two kinds: a fixed amount held for a set period, or a percentage of each sale held for a set period.
Shopify’s own examples are $1,000 held for 120 days, or 10% of each sale held for 120 days with the other 90% paid out normally. Each reserve has an expiry date, and funds not needed for refunds or chargebacks are returned at the end.
In practice, Shopify doesn’t always stick to those examples. I regularly see reserves extended past their end date or raised after a review, and around 30% is common for businesses Shopify treats as high risk. Sometimes a review ends in a closure instead of a release. To see whether your business is on Shopify’s restricted list, check Shopify Payments’ prohibited businesses.
A reserve usually does not stop you from selling. Shopify says it generally doesn’t affect your ability to accept payments unless it tells you otherwise.
Stripe helps power Shopify Payments behind the scenes, so the logic is similar to a Stripe reserve. Stripe also says reserves cover expected future disputes and are reviewed shortly before they end.
This is why processors can be so conservative. Your customer carries no liability when they dispute a card payment. If your business can’t cover that chargeback because it went bankrupt or ran out of cash, the processor must pay the money back in your place.
If Shopify Payments is your only way to get paid, that’s the real risk. Our team sets up backup merchant accounts for Shopify stores, so a reserve slows you down instead of stopping you. You can also see the Shopify store payment options we set up for clients.
Why are my Shopify payments on hold?
Your payouts can be slowed in three different ways: a reserve, an account hold, or a custom payout schedule. Each one has a different cause and a different fix, so check which one you have first.
| Reserve | Account hold | Custom payout schedule | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What happens | Part or all of each sale is held until an expiry date | All payouts stop until an issue is fixed | Payouts arrive later than normal |
| Typical cause | Risk of future refunds and chargebacks | Missing or wrong business or bank details, unsupported products, legal or creditor action | Shopify rates the store as higher risk |
| How long | Set in Shopify’s email (its example: 120 days) | Until you resolve the issue | Typically 5 to 20 business days per payout |
| How to fix it | Reply to the reserve email or meet the listed requirements | Send the requested information and reply to Shopify’s email | Improve your risk profile over time |
For comparison, a normal US Shopify Payments payout settles in a minimum of 3 business days.
What triggers a Shopify Payments reserve?
Shopify lists five risk factors that can lead to a reserve: long billing cycles, more chargebacks, a higher refund rate, long delivery times (including preorders), and big jumps in sales volume. These match what we see in the merchants who come to us. Shopify also reviews your marketing claims, shipping times and customer support.
Watch the month after a big month. Seasonal stores get caught by this. Refunds and chargebacks from a strong month arrive the following month, when sales are lower. If sales drop 30% but refunds stay the same, your refund and chargeback ratios jump even though nothing got worse. Shopify sees the ratio, not the reason.
Shopify says it holds stores to a stricter standard than the card networks, and may act before network limits are reached. It also says chargebacks are only “one of many signals.”
Warning signs before a Shopify reserve
These numbers aren’t guesses. I’ve run DirectPayNet since 2010, and merchants bring me Shopify holds every week. These are the warning signs I see again and again before a review:
- Refunds above about 5% of sales. That is where Shopify starts treating refunds as high.
- Sales growth of about 20% or more over the previous month. This often triggers a manual review.
- Long money-back guarantees. A 6- or 12-month guarantee means customers can come back for refunds long after the sale.
- Bold result claims. “Results in 7 days,” unrealistic before-and-after photos, or AI-generated results get flagged.
- Shipping delays and slow support. Late orders and unanswered emails turn into chargebacks.
- A failed debit. If Shopify can’t collect a refund or chargeback from your sales or your bank account, expect a review and a reserve.
- Lifetime promises. “Lifetime access” or a “lifetime membership” leaves Shopify exposed to refunds indefinitely, even if your business closes. If a customer later loses access to something sold as lifetime, they can dispute the charge, so reviewers treat these offers as open-ended risk.
Health and beauty brands face extra scrutiny because they promise results that vary by person. In my experience, a promise-based product can land in Shopify’s high-risk group even with excellent numbers.
Does Shopify hold payouts for preorders?
Often, yes. Shopify lists preorders and custom orders as “long delivery timelines,” one of the factors that can lead to a reserve. In my experience, it only takes a few customers complaining that an order marked fulfilled never arrived. If a review confirms it, a payout hold usually follows.
The reason is simple. If you take payment today and ship in eight weeks, a customer has eight weeks to change their mind or dispute the charge. If the product never ships, Shopify may have to refund them.
To lower the risk:
- Show the expected ship date on the product page and at checkout.
- Send regular updates while customers wait.
- Make it easy to cancel and get a refund before the order ships, and refund quickly if a date slips.
- Turn on 3D Secure, the extra check where the customer’s bank confirms the payment, for example with a one-time code. It cuts fraud chargebacks.
- For long lead times on products that can’t easily be returned, have customers sign an electronic agreement, not just tick a terms box. A signed agreement is much harder to dispute.
Where do I see my Shopify reserve balance?
In Shopify admin, go to Finance, then Payouts, and click Reserve. That option appears only when funds are held.
The Payouts page shows two figures: Pending (money waiting to be paid out) and Reserve (money being held). Your total balance is the two added together. You can export your reserve transactions as a CSV file from the same screen.
After funds are released, go to View transactions and filter by the “Reserved Funds” type to see them.
How long does Shopify hold your money?
As long as the reserve’s terms say, which Shopify sends you by email. There is no published maximum, and a reserve can be extended if Shopify still sees risk at the review.
Shopify reviews each account before the reserve expires. It then keeps, reduces, raises or removes the reserve. If nothing changes, the held amount goes into your upcoming payouts, which can take a few business days.
In practice, the 120 days in Shopify’s example is not a promise. I’ve seen reserves extended by months while Shopify runs more reviews. Even after you stop processing, each new refund or chargeback on the account can push the release back again.
If your release date passes and the money hasn’t arrived, follow up in writing. I have seen merchants pass the stated date and not get paid until they contacted the processor. Keep following up every 3 days until you get a response.
How do I get a Shopify reserve removed?
Read the reserve email first. If it invites an appeal, reply within the stated timeframe with evidence. If it lists requirements instead, meet them and the reserve lifts automatically; replying won’t speed it up.
Shopify says some reserves can’t be appealed. Even then, what you do now shapes the review before the expiry date. These are the steps I walk clients through:
- Find the email. It goes to the store owner’s address. Check spam, and note the reserve amount, period and any requirements.
- Fix the trigger. Cut refund-driving issues, tone down result claims, and remove any unrealistic before-and-after images.
- Prove fulfillment. Gather tracking numbers, delivery rates and supplier agreements that show orders ship on time.
- Show you can cover refunds. Recent business bank statements with a healthy balance help a lot.
- Reply once, completely. Send one organized response with every document attached, and keep a copy.
- Keep the numbers clean until the review. Stripe, which powers Shopify Payments, treats dispute rates above 0.75% as high risk, and refunds above about 5% draw attention. Watch for sudden swings too: a store that normally runs 0.25% chargebacks and jumps to 0.65% can trigger a review and a reserve, even below that line.
- Follow up in writing. Check in every 30 days while the reserve runs. Once the release date has passed, follow up every 3 days until you get an answer.
- Ask for a reduction, not a removal, if your numbers are still high. If chargebacks and refunds haven’t improved by the review date, asking Shopify to remove the reserve can backfire and lead to a closure. Ask for a smaller reserve or a partial release instead, and back it with your current numbers.
How can I avoid a Shopify reserve in the first place?
Grow steadily, keep refunds and chargebacks low, make realistic claims, and don’t rely on Shopify Payments as your only way to get paid.
Fast growth is the hardest one, because a winning ad can double sales in weeks. Instead of slowing down, have a second processor ready to take the extra volume, so Shopify keeps seeing a steady pattern. If you don’t have one yet, our team can set up a backup merchant account before your next push.
Shopify now lets you run one direct third-party card provider alongside Shopify Payments. The third-party provider takes card payments first, and Shopify Payments retries any it declines, at standard rates plus a 1.25% premium. Shopify charges its own fee on third-party payments: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus.
That second provider is usually a backup merchant account connected through a payment gateway that works with Shopify. It gives you a named risk contact and reserve terms agreed in writing before you process.
Yes, Shopify charges an extra fee on payments through an outside provider. In my experience, it’s worth it: a backup keeps you selling if Shopify places a hold or closes your account. Some merchants avoid the fee by running a second store on another platform, such as WooCommerce, with the backup processor connected there.
Also keep enough cash in your bank account to cover refunds and chargebacks. A failed debit is one of the fastest ways to get a reserve.
For a fuller picture of the platform, see my Shopify Payments guide and reasons you might not want to use Shopify Payments.
Frequently Asked Questions About Shopify Reserves
Shopify sets it per store based on risk and doesn’t publish a standard rate. Its own example is 10% of each sale. In my experience, health and beauty stores often see around 30%.
Usually, yes. Shopify says a reserve generally doesn’t stop you accepting payments unless it tells you otherwise. An account hold is different and can pause all payouts.
Sometimes, but you usually have to ask. Shopify reviews the reserve before it expires, and some reserves can be appealed by replying to the reserve email within the timeframe it gives. Shopify won’t necessarily offer an early review, so request one in writing and back it with clean refund and chargeback numbers.
The reserve stays in place until its expiry date. Keep the bank account linked and follow up in writing until it is paid out.
One thing many merchants get wrong: in our experience, Shopify debits refunds, fees and chargebacks from your bank account first, not from the reserve. If that debit fails, Shopify sees you as a credit risk and can keep the reserve even longer.
If you’d rather these come out of the reserve, ask Shopify and get the agreement in writing. Otherwise, let it debit your bank account. That’s what we see get reserves released faster.
Chargebacks are only one signal. Shopify also looks at sales growth, refunds, delivery times, product claims and support, and it holds stores to a stricter standard than the card networks.
Its algorithm can also link your store to patterns it has seen in similar accounts in your industry. That’s why we see Shopify place reserves pre-emptively, before your own numbers show a problem.
Shut down, on hold, or worried you’re next?
Talk to our team. Send us your reserve email and your last three months of sales, refunds and chargebacks. Our payments specialists will tell you what triggered it and how to get your money moving again.
Sources
- Shopify Holding Your Money? Here’s the EASY FIX (Maria Sparagis, YouTube)
- Why Having Low Chargebacks Is No Longer Enough to Keep Your Account Safe (Maria Sparagis, YouTube)
- Shopify store payment processing (DirectPayNet)
- Backup merchant account (DirectPayNet)
- Overview of reserves in Shopify Payments (Shopify Help Center)
- Shopify Payments risk evaluation process (Shopify Help Center)
- Shopify Payments account holds (Shopify Help Center)
- Understanding Shopify Payments payout timing (Shopify Help Center)
- Using Shopify Payments with a third-party provider (Shopify Help Center)
- Shopify pricing (Shopify)
- Shopify customer story (Stripe)
- Reserves: frequently asked questions (Stripe)
