Refund Basics

Refund Basics explains when a Stafiel checkout can use a supported original-route refund based on the network, order state, configured after-sales window, refundable amount, and how the customer originally paid.

Original-Route Refunds

Supported refunds return value to the original on-chain payment source, not to a new payout address. In plain terms, the original payment source is the wallet address that sent the payment on-chain. This keeps the refund path aligned with the payment path for anti-abuse, AML, and operational traceability.

Refunds are not a general-purpose payout tool. They are used to unwind a supported payment when the original payment source can receive returned value.

After-Sales Window

Merchant-initiated refunds use the configured after-sales window captured when the checkout session is created. Later merchant setting changes apply to future checkout sessions, not to existing orders.

After the payment window ends, Stafiel completes payment setup automatically. The after-sales window opens when payment setup is complete. Refund availability still depends on network support, refundable amount, and whether a refund has already been recorded.

Once the after-sales window closes, the order is no longer eligible for a merchant-initiated on-chain refund.

For the larger order timeline, see Order Lifecycle and Payment Status.

Refund Amount And Status

The refund amount cannot exceed the payment value actually received for the order. For original-route refunds, each payment source can receive back no more than it paid.

Note: A merchant-initiated refund can be performed only once for a checkout. A partial refund counts as that one merchant-initiated refund.

After a partial refund, the remaining payment value determines the order status: Fullpaid when it matches the requested amount, Underpaid when it is below the requested amount, and Overpaid when it remains above the requested amount. The remaining value can continue through the normal downstream flow when the order is otherwise eligible. Merchant Dashboard may also show Partial Refunded to indicate that a partial refund was recorded.

When the full payment has been refunded, the order becomes Full Refunded and no remaining payment value continues to settlement.

For settlement impact, see Settlement Basics.

Network Support

Only supported networks can use Stafiel's on-chain refund flow. Refund capabilities differ by network and payment rail. The table below describes network-level support only; each refund still depends on order state, the after-sales window, refundable amount, and refund history.

Network	On-chain refund support	Notes
Ethereum	Supported	Original-route refunds can be used when the order is eligible.
Base	Supported	Original-route refunds can be used when the order is eligible.
BNB Chain	Supported	Original-route refunds can be used when the order is eligible.
Polygon	Supported	Original-route refunds can be used when the order is eligible.
Solana	Supported	Original-route refunds can be used when the order is eligible.
Tron	Not supported	Stafiel's on-chain refund flow is not available on Tron.

Businesses that accept Tron payments should account for that limitation in refund policy and customer support.

Centralized Exchange And Custodial Wallet Risk

If a customer pays from a centralized exchange withdrawal flow or some custodial wallet flows, the original on-chain source address is usually not controlled by the customer. An original-route refund returns value to that on-chain source, which may not return the value to the customer's account.

These customer-side recovery cases are outside Stafiel's refund scope.

For more detail, see Payment and Refund Risks.

Merchant Policy

The merchant remains responsible for refund approval, customer communication, refund policy, and handling cases where an on-chain refund is unavailable or where a centralized exchange or custodial wallet payment creates customer-side recovery issues.

Note: Merchant-initiated on-chain refunds require the merchant to pay the applicable network transaction cost, such as a gas fee or transaction fee.

For Merchant Dashboard steps, see Refund Operations. For integration refund status and history checks, see Refunds API.

Platform-Initiated Refunds

Stafiel may, where appropriate or required, perform a platform-initiated refund for legal, regulatory, sanctions, compliance, risk, security, dispute resolution, service integrity, or operational reasons.