---
title: Refund a buyer
description: How to refund a buyer for a Tapmy order paid through Stripe, handle their access or booking, and tell them when to expect the money.
lead:
  - To refund a buyer, find the matching Tapmy order and Stripe payment, issue the refund through the supported refund control, then update the buyer's access or booking. You are the seller, so the refund decision is yours under your published policy.
tags:
  - payments-fees
source: docs/tapmy-wiki/pages/refund-a-buyer--35b7a288.md
---

## What do I check before refunding? {#before-you-start}

- Find the exact Tapmy order and the matching Stripe payment.
- Confirm who bought, what they bought, the amount and currency, and whether it was already delivered.
- Apply your published refund and cancellation policy the same way you would for any buyer.
- If a paid booking is still ahead of you, cancel and refund it before you delete your creator account.

A refund on a buyer's purchase is a different thing from a refund of your own Tapmy subscription.

## How do I refund a buyer? {#what-to-do}

1. **Match the order.** Decide whether the refund is full or partial, and only offer a partial one if the refund screen lets you. Never refund a payment that merely looks similar.
2. **Decide what happens to access.** Think about file downloads, course enrollment, community access and bookings. A refund does not always remove access by itself.
3. **Refund through the supported control.** Use the refund option connected to Tapmy and Stripe. Do not send money outside the system.
4. **Watch the status.** A refund can be requested, pending, succeeded, failed or canceled. The buyer's bank may add days before the money shows.
5. **Update access or the booking.** Remove access or cancel the session if your policy says so, and note any manual change.
6. **Tell the buyer.** Give the refunded amount, the date, what changes for their access, and a reminder that their bank decides when the funds post.

## How do I know it worked? {#what-success-looks-like}

- The right payment was refunded once.
- Tapmy and Stripe show the same refund status.
- Access or the booking matches your policy.
- The buyer has a clear confirmation and no made-up arrival date.

## What if something goes wrong? {#troubleshooting-and-limits}

- **The refund button is missing.** Check the payment status, your connected Stripe account, permissions and whether a dispute is open. Ask for help rather than paying the buyer another way.
- **The buyer cannot see the money.** Confirm the refund succeeded in Stripe and share the date and reference. Their bank controls posting time.
- **Fees do not match.** Tapmy takes no fee on Free, 3% of your sales on Pro and 1% on Max. Standard payment processing fees from Stripe still apply, as they do on every platform. Stripe processing fees are set by Stripe and may not be returned on a refund. Check the amounts in Stripe. For how the Tapmy fee is treated on a refund, check the order in your Tapmy dashboard.
- **Access is still active.** Remove it with the access or cancel controls and keep a note. Do not delete unrelated customer data.

## What should I keep on record? {#keep-a-useful-record}

Save the order and payment references, original and refunded amounts, the reason, the policy you applied, the access or booking action, refund status and dates, and what you told the buyer. Never store card or bank details.

## What if the buyer opened a dispute? {#next-steps}

Use the dispute or chargeback guide instead of issuing a second correction. For anything else unresolved, [contact Tapmy Support](/help/tapmy-support) with your site URL, the buyer's email, the approximate time and time zone, the amount and currency, and a safe order or Stripe reference. Never send passwords, one-time codes, full card details, bank logins, ID documents or secret keys.