The Reading Room recommends dispute-ratio thresholds of 5 percent (healthy), 10 percent (red flag), and category-specific exceptions above that. This reading explains why those numbers.
Below 5 percent
Historically stable vendors on both WeTheNorth and larger international markets cluster below 5 percent. This is not because vendors below 5 percent are perfect, it is because vendors above 5 percent tend to accumulate more disputes over time, so the healthy population converges to a lower steady state.
A vendor with 400 orders and 3 disputes running at 0.75 percent is not the exception, it is the default for a working vendor with a normal customer base.
5 to 10 percent
The uncertain zone. Might be a vendor going through a temporary bad patch. Might be a vendor with a naturally higher baseline because of product category. Might be a vendor sliding toward exit. Read the recent reviews to work out which.
Above 10 percent
Red flag. Whatever the cause, one in ten orders opening a dispute is not a healthy pattern. Either the product is inconsistent, the packaging fails often, the vendor ignores messages, or something structurally does not work.
Category exceptions
Some categories have naturally higher dispute baselines: fragile items that arrive damaged, products where quality metrics are ambiguous, orders that require complex customer configuration. In these categories, up to 12-15 percent can be healthy. Above 15 percent is bad in every category.
How to use the number
Together with the finalisation ratio and the recent-reviews pattern. All three should agree. A vendor with 3 percent disputes and 98 percent finalisation and consistent recent reviews is healthy. A vendor with 3 percent disputes but 85 percent finalisation and dropping recent reviews is going through something.