If a PayPal purchase never arrived, is nothing like the listing, or went through without your say-so, open a case in the Resolution Center. That is the process PayPal actually uses. A refund is not automatic.
Many purchase disputes are measured against 180 calendar days from the transaction date. Unauthorized payments, some funding sources, your account country, and the terms attached to the account can change eligibility, so treat the date on the case itself as the one that matters. Pick the reason that matches the facts. An authorized purchase that the seller won't refund is not fraud.
Choose the reason that matches the problem
| Problem | Appropriate route | Useful evidence |
|---|---|---|
| The order never arrived | Item Not Received | Order confirmation, promised delivery date, tracking history, and messages to the seller |
| The item is materially different from the listing | Significantly Not as Described | Original listing, invoice, photographs, videos, and a clear explanation of the difference |
| You didn't authorize the payment | Unauthorized Transaction | Account and transaction details, when you noticed the charge, and any account-security information |
| You were charged twice or billed after canceling | The billing or transaction option shown by PayPal | Duplicate receipts, cancellation confirmation, subscription terms, and charge dates |
A correctly described item you simply don't want anymore usually will not qualify as "significantly not as described." A carrier scan marked "delivered" can also sink an Item Not Received case unless you can show the scan is wrong, the address doesn't match, or the carrier confirmed a delivery problem.
Check the payment before you file
Sign in by typing PayPal's address yourself or using the official app. Open Activity, select the payment, and write down the transaction date and amount, the seller's name, the funding source (credit card, debit card, bank account, or PayPal balance), the dispute option PayPal offers, and any deadline in the Resolution Center.
Contacting the seller does not pause that clock. If the deadline is close, open the case first and keep talking inside it.
A short written message is still worth sending. Say what you ordered, what went wrong, and what you want. Don't wait indefinitely.
A timeline like this is easier for everyone to follow:
- January 5: Paid $50 for the order.
- January 15: The promised delivery date passed.
- January 20: Contacted the seller and received no response.
- January 21: Opened an Item Not Received dispute with PayPal.
Save messages, emails, order pages, and the seller's promises. If a refund is offered, leave the PayPal case open until the money actually posts unless PayPal tells you otherwise.
How to open the dispute
- Sign in to PayPal. Use the Resolution Center or open the payment from Activity.
- Select the transaction. If it isn't listed as eligible, use logged-in Help rather than opening a second case.
- Choose the most accurate issue. Item Not Received, Significantly Not as Described, Unauthorized Transaction, or the billing option that fits.
- Write a precise explanation. Include the transaction date, what should have happened, what did happen, and how you contacted the seller.
- Attach the documents that prove the issue. Skip a pile of unrelated files.
- Submit and save the case number, submission date, and any response deadline.
- Check the case. PayPal may ask for more information or give you a date to respond or escalate.
Keep the statement specific and calm:
I paid $50 on January 5 for an order expected by January 15. The tracking has not shown delivery. I contacted the seller on January 20 and received no response. I am requesting a refund because the item was not received.
For a not-as-described case, swap the delivery facts for a direct comparison: what the listing promised, what arrived, and why the difference is substantial.
When a dispute becomes a claim
The dispute is the first stage. The seller can reply, offer a fix, or upload tracking. A claim asks PayPal to decide under its rules.
The case page should show when you can escalate. Use Escalate to PayPal or the equivalent before the date on that screen if the seller hasn't resolved it. If the button is missing or the case looks about to close, contact PayPal through logged-in support and keep a screenshot.
Older write-ups often say every dispute has a 20-day escalation window and every seller gets 10 days to answer. Those periods have shown up in PayPal workflows, but they are not safe universal deadlines. Follow the dates on your case. An untouched dispute can close with no refund.
PayPal may require a return before it decides a significantly-not-as-described claim. Use only the instructions and address supplied through the case, ship with tracking, and upload that tracking if asked.
Evidence that actually helps
Put the files in the order the problem happened. Label each one and add one sentence on why it matters.
For an item that never arrived, the useful set is the receipt, the promised delivery date, tracking (including stalled scans or exceptions), your messages asking for an update, the delivery address on the order, and a carrier statement if tracking wrongly shows delivery. If the seller produces a delivery scan, say exactly why it doesn't prove the package reached you. "It's missing" is weaker than a wrong address, a carrier error, or a documented exception.
For a significantly-not-as-described item, start with the original listing, photos of the item and packaging, a side-by-side with the listing, the invoice, and seller messages. Add serial-number, authenticity, repair, or inspection records when those are relevant, plus return tracking if PayPal told you to send the item back. An item sold as new that arrives used, or sold as authentic and looking counterfeit, is the kind of gap PayPal's own examples treat as material. Explain the difference; photos alone often aren't enough.
Report an unauthorized payment through PayPal's unauthorized-transaction process, then change your PayPal password, turn on two-factor authentication, and contact the card issuer or bank tied to the account if that login may have been exposed. Don't use this category for a subscription you authorized and later forgot to cancel. Cancel future automatic payments in PayPal or with the merchant, then dispute a charge made after a documented cancellation only if PayPal still offers that option.
What Buyer Protection covers, and what it doesn't
Buyer Protection is a policy for eligible transactions, not a satisfaction guarantee. Purchase type, payment method, location, timing, and whether another dispute process already handled the payment can all affect coverage.
Digital goods, services, subscriptions, custom orders, personal transfers, and other nonstandard payments may follow different rules. Read the terms on your own account instead of assuming every PayPal payment is protected the same way. The Buyer Protection terms published by PayPal describe the dispute-then-claim structure and examples of materially misdescribed goods. That page is the U.K. version; U.S. users should use the terms and case instructions shown for their accounts.
A merchant's return policy is separate. If you changed your mind or ordered the wrong size and the seller sent exactly what was advertised, the merchant's policy may control. Local consumer laws can add rights, but a PayPal dispute doesn't replace those rights or promise a refund.
How long a case can take
There's no single guaranteed timeline. A simple tracking gap may move quickly; international shipping, a required return, conflicting scans, digital access, or extra documents can stretch things out.
Reply before every stated deadline. Watch the Resolution Center and the email on the account. Keep the case number and copies of what you uploaded. Don't change your story across messages, and don't close the case because the seller promised a refund.
A "PayPal is reviewing" status is not an approved credit. Wait for the written decision, then confirm the money reached the funding source you expected.
PayPal claim or card chargeback?
The funding source decides what else may be available.
- PayPal dispute or claim: PayPal applies its own program and the dates on the case.
- Credit-card billing dispute: The issuer, and sometimes the card network, apply their own rules. The issuer sets the deadline; 120 days is common in many situations and is not universal.
- Debit card or bank-funded PayPal payment: Ask the bank about its error or unauthorized-transfer process. That payment is not automatically treated like a credit-card chargeback.
- PayPal balance: There may be no separate issuer, so the PayPal case and a merchant refund request are often the immediate routes.
PayPal's published terms say buyers must choose between a Buyer Protection claim and a card-issuer claim rather than run both at once or recover twice. Tell the issuer that PayPal processed the payment and disclose any decision or refund. Don't seek a second recovery after the first route has already paid you.
If a credit card funded the purchase, ask the issuer about its process before that issuer's deadline runs out. Keep making any separate card or bank payments unless the issuer tells you otherwise.
If PayPal denies the case
Read the decision before you reply. It may cite a missing document, a delivery scan, an eligibility problem, or a missed deadline.
If an appeal option appears, file it by the date shown and lead with new, relevant evidence. When the denial rested on delivery, show that the tracking address was wrong or that the carrier confirmed an exception. Repeating the original complaint without answering the stated reason rarely helps.
If a credit card funded the payment, ask whether a billing dispute is still available. Give the issuer the PayPal case number and decision. Don't open a duplicate claim without explaining the PayPal history.
For a complaint about PayPal's handling, rather than only the merchant's conduct, U.S. consumers can use the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaint portal. That can document a service problem. It does not automatically reverse PayPal's decision or extend a PayPal or card-issuer deadline.
Don't share passwords, one-time codes, or full card numbers with a seller. Don't wait until the last day, upload blurry or cropped files, ignore a PayPal request, or assume a tracking scan is conclusive without checking the address.
Open Activity, confirm the deadline on that payment, and file a short timeline with evidence that proves the actual problem. That's the record PayPal, and any later card issuer, will review.