Buyer protection: what's covered and how to open a dispute

Most orders complete without incident. When one does not, the sequence you follow decides how quickly it is resolved — far more than the tone of the message you send.

What buyer protection is for

• An order that was paid for and never arrived.
• An item materially different from the listing — wrong model, wrong quantity, not as described.
• An item that arrived damaged in transit.

It is not a substitute for a change of mind. That route is the returns policy, which has its own conditions and timeframes.

Evidence that actually helps

1. The order number from your account order history.
2. Photographs of the parcel as it arrived, including the label and the packaging.
3. An unboxing video for anything valuable — the single most persuasive item.
4. The original listing text, if the seller has since edited the offer.

How a dispute proceeds

1. Contact the seller first; a good share of cases end here within a day or two.
2. If they do not respond or the answer is inadequate, escalate through the disputes process.
3. We review the evidence from both sides against the listing and the order record.
4. The outcome is a refund, a replacement, a partial adjustment, or no action, with reasons.

How to reduce the odds of needing it

Read the specification rather than the title, compare offers on total cost and delivery window, prefer sellers whose accounts are verified, and film the unboxing when you are paying cash on delivery. Full terms sit on the buyer protection page.