How chargeback alert volume pricing works when nobody publishes the tiers
Every alert vendor prices by volume. Two of them will admit it in public, and neither will show you the curve.
Chargeflow says a better price is available above 50 alerts a month. Disputely references a custom rate above 500. Neither publishes what the better price is. Everyone else publishes one number, or none at all. Checked August 17, 2026.
That leaves merchants negotiating a curve they cannot see, which is exactly the position the pricing model is designed to create.
What the tiers actually look like
Here is our own card, which is the only published tier structure I am aware of in this category.
| Monthly alerts (per network) | Visa RDR and CDRN | Ethoca |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 2,500 | $15.00 | $24.00 |
| 2,501 to 5,000 | $14.50 | $23.00 |
| 5,001 to 10,000 | $14.00 | $22.50 |
| 10,001 to 30,000 | $13.50 | $22.00 |
Three structural features matter more than the numbers.
Tiers count per network, per month. 3,000 Ethoca alerts and 1,200 RDR alerts in the same month price at the second Ethoca tier and the first Visa tier. They do not combine into a blended 4,200. Ask any vendor whether their tiers aggregate across networks, because a blended count reaches discounts faster and is materially better for you.
Tiers apply to the month you are in, not a committed volume. A quiet month prices at the quiet month's rate. The alternative, which several vendors in this category use, is a committed annual volume where you get the discounted rate up front and true up if you miss. That is a better headline rate and a worse deal if your dispute volume is seasonal.
The curve is shallower than people expect. Top to bottom across that range, the discount is 10% on the Visa programs and about 8% on Ethoca. Not 40%.
Why the discounts are small
Because the reseller is not marking up much of a fixed cost. Almost all of what you pay is wholesale network access, which the reseller buys per alert and which itself only tiers modestly.
This is the part the quote-based model obscures. A merchant walking into a negotiation expecting to halve a $25 alert is negotiating against a cost floor they cannot see, and the vendor has no reason to correct the misunderstanding. The realistic range of movement on a per-alert rate is single-digit percentages at most volumes, and a vendor offering dramatically more than that is either taking a loss to win the logo or making it back somewhere else on the contract.
The lines where the real money is
Volume discount is the least valuable thing to negotiate. Four other terms move more.
Duplicate fees. Ethoca and CDRN overlap on Visa disputes at something like 15 to 20% of the same orders. At a 15% duplicate rate, an unwaived policy costs more than the entire spread between the top and bottom tier above. Getting duplicates waived is worth more than any discount you will win.
The billing event. Billed on alerts received, or on chargebacks deflected? Those are different products, and the answer changes your effective cost more than the rate does.
Minimums and commitments. A discounted rate attached to a monthly minimum is a discount you pay for in the months you do not hit it. Get the minimum in writing alongside the rate, and price the two together.
Network enrolment. A cheap rate on networks that do not cover your issuer mix is not cheap. Confirm which programs you are actually enrolled in, and what happens to pricing if you drop one.
The five questions that make a quote comparable
- What is the rate per network, and do tiers count per network or aggregate across them?
- What are the tier thresholds and rates above my current volume, in writing?
- Do you waive duplicate fees, and how exactly do you define a duplicate?
- Am I billed when an alert is received or when a chargeback is prevented?
- Is there a minimum, a setup fee, or a term commitment attached to this rate?
Ask all five of every vendor including us. A quote that answers three of them is not a quote, it is a starting price.
We publish the tiers because the missing curve struck me as the single most useful thing to fix in how this category sells, and because the rest of our rate card is not much use without it. Deflecting disputes before they are filed is a paid product and I would rather compete on a published number than on how well a given merchant negotiates.
The honest part
Published tiers cut against you in one specific case. If you are a large account with real leverage, a vendor willing to negotiate will beat a published card, because published pricing means we are not going to discount because you asked twice. Above 30,000 alerts a month on a single network our own rate becomes negotiated for exactly that reason, which is a partial admission that the model has a ceiling.
The 8 to 10% spread across our published range is also not a law of the category. It reflects our cost structure, and a vendor with different wholesale terms could have a steeper curve or a flatter one. Do not use our tiers to argue another vendor's discount is unreasonable.
And volume pricing rewards the wrong thing at the margin. Moving into a better tier means your dispute volume grew, which is not a win. A store that fixes its descriptor, its delivery estimates and its subscription messaging will get worse alert pricing and a much better business, which is the trade you should want.
Frequently asked questions
Do chargeback alert prices drop with volume?
Yes, but less than most merchants expect. Across Redo's published range, from under 2,500 alerts a month to 30,000, the per-alert rate falls 8 to 10%, from $15.00 to $13.50 on Visa programs and $24.00 to $22.00 on Ethoca. Most of what you pay is wholesale network access, which limits how far any reseller can discount.
Which alert vendors publish volume tiers?
As of August 2026, Redo is the only one publishing a full tier structure. Chargeflow states a better price is available above 50 alerts a month and Disputely references a custom rate above 500, but neither publishes the rates. Every other vendor either publishes a single number or no pricing at all.
Do volume tiers count per network or across all my alerts?
It depends on the vendor and it materially affects your bill. Redo counts per network per month, so 3,000 Ethoca alerts and 1,200 Visa alerts sit in different tiers rather than combining into 4,200. A vendor that aggregates across networks reaches discounts faster, which is better for you, so ask the question explicitly.
What should I negotiate instead of the per-alert rate?
Duplicate fee waivers, the billing event, and minimums. At a 15% duplicate rate on an overlapping enrolment, getting duplicates waived is worth more than the entire discount available between the smallest and largest published volume tier. The billing event matters too, since being charged on alerts received rather than chargebacks deflected changes your effective cost per outcome.
The number to take into your next renewal: your actual monthly alert count per network for the last twelve months, not your average. Vendors quote against the average and bill against the peak, and if your volume swings seasonally, a committed-volume discount priced off the average is a worse deal than a published tier that follows you down in the quiet months.