You saw “SR* STANSBERRY RESEARCH” on your credit card statement and the number 888-261-2693 next to it. That charge is a subscription or auto-renewal for a Stansberry Research financial newsletter. Stansberry Research is a Baltimore-based publisher owned by MarketWise, Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTW). The company’s Q2 2026 earnings showed billings of $91 million — the SR* charge on your statement is a small piece of that revenue engine.
The charge might also appear as “PSVSTANSBERRY RESEARCH” or “PSVSTANSBERRY RESEARC” with a phone number like 855-493-8301 or 866-627-1362. These are alternate descriptors for the same publisher. If the charge says “STANSBERRY RESEA888-261-269” or similar truncated variations, that is the same entity. The “MD” that sometimes appears stands for Maryland, where the company is headquartered. For the full publisher backstory, the Porter Stansberry dossier covers the founding and the 2024 departure that led to the current MarketWise structure.
If you do not recognize the charge at all, skip to the “What If You Don’t Recognize the Charge” section below. Stansberry Research does not bill people who have not subscribed to a product, but shared cards, family members, or a forgotten free-trial-to-paid conversion are common explanations.
What Products the SR* Stansberry Research Charge Covers
Stansberry Research publishes roughly two dozen paid investment newsletters. The SR* descriptor covers all of them. The most commonly billed products include:
- Stansberry’s Investment Advisory (flagship, edited by Whitney Tilson)
- True Wealth (edited by Brett Eversole)
- Retirement Millionaire (edited by Dr. David Eifrig)
- Extreme Value (edited by Dan Ferris)
- True Wealth Systems
- Crypto Capital (edited by Eric Wade)
- The Stansberry Alliance (lifetime bundle)
The charge amount depends on which product you subscribed to. Entry-level front-end newsletters like True Wealth and Retirement Millionaire typically bill at $49 for the first year and auto-renew at $199 annually. Higher-tier back-end products like Extreme Value ($999) and Crypto Capital ($2,500) bill at full price. If you are seeing a $199 charge and originally paid $49, that is the standard renewal after the promotional first year.
The Charge Descriptors Decoded
Stansberry Research uses several billing descriptor formats depending on the payment processor and the age of the subscription. Here is what each one means:
- SR STANSBERRY RESEARCH* — the current standard descriptor. The “SR*” prefix stands for Stansberry Research. The phone number 888-261-2693 follows it on most statements.
- SR STANSBERRY RESEA 888-261-2693 MD* — the same charge, truncated by the card processor. The “MD” is Maryland.
- PSV*STANSBERRY RESEARCH — an older descriptor format. “PSV” was a processing prefix used on earlier subscriptions. The phone numbers attached to PSV descriptors include 888-261-2693, 855-493-8301, and 866-627-1362.
- PSV*STANSBERRY INVES — a charge for Stansberry’s Investment Advisory specifically, using the older PSV prefix.
- STANSBERRYRESEARCH 888-261-2 — a truncated variation without a prefix. Same publisher.
All of these map to the same company at the same address: 1125 N. Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21201. If your statement shows any of these, you are being billed by Stansberry Research.
How to Cancel the Subscription
Stansberry Research offers two cancellation methods: online self-service and phone.
Method 1: Cancel Online (Fastest)
- Go to members.stansberryresearch.com and log in with your email and password.
- Navigate to Account Settings.
- Follow the cancellation instructions on that page.
- Your account will be closed and any applicable refund will be processed back to your original payment method.
Stansberry Research confirms on their official charge-explanation page (stansberryresearch.com/stansberry-research-charge, verified July 17, 2026) that the online portal is the primary self-service cancellation path.
Method 2: Cancel by Phone
- Call 1-888-261-2693 (toll-free, U.S.).
- Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
- International callers: 443-839-0986.
- Have your account email or order number ready.
- Ask the representative to cancel your subscription and confirm whether you are within the refund window.
Stansberry Research states their average call wait time is under one minute. The phone line is staffed by in-house representatives in Baltimore.
Method 3: Cancel by Email
Email stansberrybilling@stansberryresearch.com with your account details and a request to cancel. Stansberry Research states that email inquiries receive a response within 1-3 business days. Email is slower than the online portal or phone, but it creates a written record of your cancellation request, which can matter if there is a dispute about timing.
The Refund Fine Print
Stansberry Research’s refund policy has two tiers, and which one applies to you depends on the product and the timing.
Front-End Products (Entry-Level Newsletters)
On entry-level products like True Wealth, Retirement Millionaire, and Stansberry’s Investment Advisory, Stansberry Research offers a 30-day cash refund window from the start of your subscription. If you cancel within the first 30 days, you get your money back to your original payment method. After 30 days, no cash refund is available, but you can still cancel future auto-renewals.
This is confirmed on their disclosures page (stansberryresearch.com/disclosures, verified July 17, 2026) and in their Terms of Use (stansberryresearch.com/legal/terms-of-use, verified July 17, 2026). The Terms of Use state: “If you are a User for a Term longer than a month… and you cancel within the first thirty (30) days of your initial subscription, you may receive a refund of your subscription fee minus the equivalent of one-month pro-rated charge.”
Back-End Products (Higher-Tier Services)
Higher-priced products carry different terms. True Wealth Systems offers a “Stansberry Research Credit” rather than cash if you cancel within 30 days. Extreme Value and Crypto Capital have been documented as no-cash-refund products. The BBB complaint record (verified July 17, 2026) contains cases where subscribers to $2,500 products were offered credit toward other Stansberry products instead of cash refunds, even when they believed a cash refund had been promised in the sales presentation.
Stansberry Research’s position, stated in BBB responses, is that the order form terms govern. If the order form says “credit refund,” that is what you get. The distinction is in the fine print of the product’s order page, not in the marketing video.
No-Refund Offers
Stansberry Research’s disclosures page acknowledges that some promotional offers do not include any refund option. These are positioned as offers for “serious readers” only. If you purchased one of these, the only remedy is a credit toward another Stansberry product.
Auto-Renewal Refunds
If your charge is an auto-renewal and you missed it, the rules are specific. Stansberry Research sends a pre-charge notification email approximately 30 days before the renewal date. If you cancel before the renewal date, no charge occurs. If the charge has already posted and you are within 30 days of it, you may be able to get a refund — but only if the product’s terms allow it. After 30 days post-renewal, the charge is generally non-refundable.
BBB complaints (verified July 17, 2026) document cases where subscribers caught the auto-renewal a few days past the 30-day grace period and were refused refunds. The 30-day clock starts from the renewal charge date, not from when you noticed it.
The Auto-Renew Trap to Watch For
Stansberry Research subscriptions auto-renew by default. When you buy a $49 first-year subscription, the order form discloses that the subscription will automatically renew at $199 each year until you cancel. The renewal charge is what most people see on their statement and do not recognize — a year has passed and they forgot the auto-renew was coming.
The fix is simple: turn off auto-renew in Account Settings at members.stansberryresearch.com immediately after subscribing. You keep access for the full term you paid for. The subscription simply does not renew at the end. Stansberry Research confirms this option exists and is available through the self-service portal.
If you want to keep the subscription but avoid surprise charges, calendar the renewal date when you subscribe. Stansberry sends a reminder email roughly 30 days before the charge, but those emails land in the same inbox as their heavy promotional volume and are easy to miss.
Confirmation Checklist
After cancelling, verify each of these:
- You received a cancellation confirmation email from Stansberry Research. If you did not get one within 24 hours, call 888-261-2693.
- Your Account Settings page at members.stansberryresearch.com shows the subscription as cancelled or expired.
- Auto-renew is turned off for all products listed in your account, including any bundled with the one you intended to cancel. Stansberry sometimes bundles products, and cancelling one may leave the others active.
- Check your credit card statement the following month. No new SR* or PSV* charges should appear. If one does, call immediately.
- If you were promised a refund, confirm the amount and the timeline. Cash refunds process in 7-14 business days per Stansberry’s Terms of Use. Credits are applied to your account for use toward other products.
What If the Charge Is Not Yours
If you have never subscribed to any Stansberry Research product and the charge is unfamiliar, contact Member Services at 888-261-2693 or email stansberrybilling@stansberryresearch.com. Common explanations include a family member who used a shared card, a free trial that converted to paid, or a subscription purchased under a different email address.
Stansberry Research requires the cardholder to contact them directly before filing a chargeback. Their Terms of Use state that initiating a chargeback without first contacting customer service can result in account termination. If you have contacted them and the issue is unresolved, a chargeback through your card issuer is the escalation path. Try the publisher first — their phone line is staffed and BBB records show they resolve a high percentage of billing complaints when the subscriber calls.
When a Chargeback Makes Sense
A chargeback is the last resort, not the first. Use it only if:
- You contacted Stansberry Research by phone and email and received no response within a reasonable timeframe.
- The charge is clearly fraudulent (you have no account and never subscribed).
- You cancelled within the refund window and were denied a refund you are owed under the product’s terms.
Filing a chargeback without first contacting the publisher will likely result in Stansberry disputing it, and their order-form records are thorough. If you have the cancellation confirmation in writing, your card issuer will have what it needs to side with you.
Contact Reference
All contact information verified July 17, 2026 against stansberryresearch.com/contact and stansberryresearch.com/stansberry-research-charge.
| Method | Details |
|---|---|
| Phone (U.S.) | 1-888-261-2693 |
| Phone (International) | 443-839-0986 |
| Hours | Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Eastern Time |
| Billing Email | stansberrybilling@stansberryresearch.com |
| General Email | info@stansberryresearch.com |
| Online Portal | members.stansberryresearch.com |
| Stansberry Research, 1125 N. Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21201 |
Flack Jacket Finance is an independent publisher and is not affiliated with Stansberry Research or MarketWise, Inc. We may earn affiliate commissions from links on this site. This page was last verified July 17, 2026. Publisher phone numbers, portal paths, and refund policies change — always confirm directly with the publisher before acting.