I just got a $2.50 paypal chargeback after thousands of paypal charges. Does this hurt my paypal account?
No it should not affect your status as long as you pay the chargeback. You only get your account hurt when you refuse to reimburse paypal the chargeback sum. You may want to dispute the chargeback, maybe write to paypal and ask them for the details of the chargeback and tell them that you complied and have not cheated the other party. It may not do anything but at least it shows that you are not out to cheat anyone.
Some people claim paypal will ban you for sneezing. Seriously, it should cause you no trouble as long as it doesn't start to happen on a regular basis.
You can have many chargebacks and it will not affect your paypal account so long as the ratio of chargebacks dont equal to your total sales. Your account is always debit $10 for each chargeback. This is why paypal dont mind!