How do you handle disputes in a marketplace? Put a simple process in writing before you need it, and follow it every time:
- Publish a dispute policy that says what you cover, what evidence you accept and how long each step takes.
- Ask the buyer and seller to talk first, with a deadline (for example 48 hours) before you step in.
- Collect the evidence: the listing as it was, the messages, payment records, photos and delivery proof.
- Decide within a set time and explain the decision to both sides in plain words.
- Offer a way to appeal to a person, and tell users where they can go next: their payment provider, and in the EU a certified out-of-court body.
- Learn from every case: change listing rules, categories or seller checks so the same dispute doesn't come back.
The rest of this guide shows how to build each step for a classifieds site or marketplace, what eBay, Etsy, Vinted and Airbnb do today, and where a dispute goes when it leaves your platform: a chargeback with the payment provider, or an out-of-court settlement body under the EU Digital Services Act. It is part of our guide Trust and safety for your marketplace.
Part of the guide Trust and safety for your marketplace · Part 5 of 8 Next: How Do Marketplaces Handle Refunds and Returns? →
The two kinds of marketplace disputes
Most disputes fall into one of two groups, and they need different routes:
- Buyer against seller. The item is not as described, never arrived, arrived damaged, or the buyer didn't pay. You act as a referee between two of your users.
- User against your platform. "Why was my listing removed?" "Why was my account suspended?" Here you are one of the parties, so the user needs a fair way to challenge your decision. In the EU, the Digital Services Act (DSA) regulates this kind of dispute in detail (see below).
Buyer-seller disputes usually start from a small set of causes. Knowing them lets you prevent many cases before they start:
| Dispute trigger | Typical outcome | How to prevent it |
|---|---|---|
| Misleading or incomplete listing | Return or refund request, bad review | Required fields per category, clear photos, listing rules |
| Payment problems (late, failed or wrong amount) | Chargeback, frozen funds | Clear prices and fees, receipts for every payment |
| Shipping delays, damage or loss | Refund demand, complaint | Tracked shipping, a stated delivery window |
| Fraud by a buyer or seller | Lost money, lost trust in the site | Seller checks, scam warnings, fast reporting |
| Rule breaches (banned items, fake listings) | Removal, account suspension, appeal | Published rules and a consistent moderation process |
Fraud cases are covered in depth in fraud, scams and spam, and refund rules in refunds and returns.
A marketplace dispute resolution process, step by step
1. Write the policy first
Your terms should answer, in plain words: which problems you will help with, which you won't, who decides, what evidence counts and how long each step takes. Publish it where users see it: next to the Report button, in the help pages and in the email that confirms a sale.
Be honest about your model. On a classifieds site where buyers pay sellers directly or in person, you can't refund anyone. Your role is to remove bad listings, warn or ban bad users, and point the buyer to their bank or payment provider. If payments go through your site, you can do more, such as holding a payout while a case is open. Say which of these applies.
2. Let the buyer and seller try first
Most disputes are misunderstandings that the two sides can settle in a message or two. Big platforms build this in: Etsy asks the buyer to contact the shop and wait 48 hours before opening a case, and eBay lets the seller try to fix the problem before eBay steps in (details in the table below). Give users a clear "I have a problem with this order" path that starts with a message to the other side and a deadline, not a form that goes straight to your team.
3. Collect the evidence
Disputes are decided on records, not on who writes the angriest message. Keep, or ask for:
- the listing as it was at the time of the sale (text, price and photos);
- the messages between buyer and seller on your site;
- payment records and receipts;
- photos of the item received, and tracking or delivery proof.
Let users upload files to the case, and keep this data only as long as you need it. Evidence often contains personal data, so the rules in data privacy and security apply.
4. Decide, and explain the decision
Set a target time for each step and stick to it. Communication matters as much as the decision itself:
- Acknowledge quickly. Tell both sides you have the case and when they will hear back.
- Stay neutral. Ask the same questions of both sides, and judge against your published rules, not against the tone of the messages.
- Explain the outcome. Say what you decided, which rule it is based on, and what happens next.
- Offer practical fixes. A partial refund, a return, or a corrected listing often ends a case faster than a yes-or-no ruling.
| Approach | Works | Doesn't work |
|---|---|---|
| Timeliness | A first reply within one working day | Waiting days or weeks before replying |
| Tone | "I understand this is frustrating. Here is what we will do." | "This is not our problem." |
| Clarity | The next steps, with dates | Vague promises |
| Escalation | A clear way to appeal | Ignoring follow-up messages |
How to staff and organise this is covered in customer support for marketplaces.
5. Offer an appeal to a person
Automation can sort and route cases, but the final word on an appeal should come from a person who did not make the first decision. For decisions about listings and accounts in the EU, this is a legal requirement for most platforms (Article 20 of the DSA, below). For complex or high-value buyer-seller cases, a neutral mediator can help both sides reach a compromise.
6. Close the loop
Track every case: its cause, category, outcome and how long it took. If one category produces most disputes, change its required fields or rules. If one seller produces most of them, act on the seller. Clear rules and consistent moderation, covered in moderation and policies, prevent more disputes than any resolution process can settle. Visible reviews and verified sellers help too: see reviews, ratings and verified sellers.
How big marketplaces handle disputes (as of October 2026)
The large platforms all follow the same pattern: the two sides talk first, the platform steps in after a fixed time, and there are firm deadlines. Their current rules make a useful benchmark:
| Platform | How a dispute starts | Key deadlines |
|---|---|---|
| eBay (Money Back Guarantee) | The buyer reports the problem to the seller; eBay can step in if it isn't fixed | Report within 30 days after the estimated or actual delivery date; eBay can step in from 3 business days after the report; either side can appeal eBay's decision within 30 days (eBay) |
| Etsy (Purchase Protection) | The buyer uses "Help with order" to contact the shop, then can open a case with Etsy | 48 hours after contacting the shop if the problem isn't solved; a chargeback filed while a case is open closes the Etsy case (Etsy) |
| Vinted (Buyer Protection, "Buy now" orders only) | The buyer presses "I have an issue" in the order | Within 2 days of Vinted's notice that the item should have arrived; after that, the order completes and the seller is paid (Vinted) |
| Airbnb (host damage claims) | The host sends a request to the guest in the Resolution Centre | Within 14 days of the guest's checkout; the guest has 24 hours to respond before Airbnb support reviews it (Airbnb) |
Scale makes structure necessary. Colin Rule, eBay's first director of online dispute resolution, has described handling around 60 million disputes a year there (Harvard Law School, The Practice, July/August 2020). A small marketplace sees far fewer cases, but the lesson is the same: short deadlines, a "talk first" step and clear evidence rules keep most cases from needing a decision at all.
Chargebacks and payment provider disputes
A dispute your marketplace doesn't resolve rarely goes away. It moves to the buyer's bank or payment provider, on a schedule you don't control. Card payments through Stripe are a good example of how this works (as of October 2026):
| Escalation route | Who decides | Key timelines | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card chargeback | The cardholder's bank | Usually up to 120 days after payment to file (longer in some cases, such as payments for future events); usually 7 to 21 days for the merchant to respond; usually 60 to 75 days for the bank to decide | The disputed amount is held for the whole case, often 2 to 3 months; Stripe's fee for receiving a dispute is not refunded even if you win, except for businesses in Mexico |
| Wallet or pay-later dispute (for example PayPal, Klarna) | The payment provider | Typically up to 180 days to file | Fees and evidence rules vary by provider |
Source: Stripe, "How disputes work" (checked October 2026). Other payment providers have their own rules, so check yours.
What this means for your process:
- Settle on your platform first. Once a chargeback is open, Stripe doesn't let you issue a refund outside the dispute process, so an early refund or partial refund is usually cheaper than a dispute.
- Keep evidence ready to export. Messages, listing snapshots and delivery proof are what you send the bank, and you may have as little as 7 days to do it.
- Know who the merchant is. If sellers take payments with their own accounts, the chargeback goes to the seller, not to you. If your site takes the payment, it comes to you. Your terms should say which applies.
- Consider holding payment until delivery for high-value items, through your payment provider or an escrow service. Paying the seller only once the buyer confirms receipt or a short reporting window has passed, as Vinted does, removes a common cause of conflict.
Dispute resolution under the EU Digital Services Act
For user-against-platform disputes, the EU now sets clear rules. If your marketplace has users in the EU, these apply (as of October 2026):
| Rule | Who it applies to | What it means for a marketplace |
|---|---|---|
| Statement of reasons (DSA Art. 17) | All hosting services, whatever their size | Each time you remove, hide or demote a listing, or suspend an account or payments, tell the user what you did, the facts, whether automated means were used, which law or rule it broke, and how they can challenge it (CMS, DSA Art. 17) |
| Internal complaint system (DSA Art. 20) | Online platforms that are not micro or small enterprises | Users can complain electronically and free of charge for at least six months after a decision. Complaints must be handled in a timely, non-arbitrary way, decided under the supervision of qualified staff and not solely by automated means, and the reply must mention out-of-court settlement (CMS, DSA Art. 20) |
| Out-of-court settlement bodies (DSA Art. 21) | Same as Art. 20 | Users can take a decision to any certified body. Its decision is not binding, but you must engage in good faith; if the body rules for the user, you pay its fees and the user's reasonable costs. Bodies aim to decide within 90 days (DSA Art. 21). The European Commission lists 11 certified bodies in its 11 September 2026 update (European Commission) |
| Small-platform exemption (DSA Art. 19) | Micro and small enterprises: fewer than 50 staff and annual turnover or balance sheet of no more than EUR 10 million | Exempt from Articles 20 and 21 and most other platform duties, until 12 months after they outgrow that size. Very large online platforms are never exempt (CMS, DSA Art. 19) |
| EU ODR platform closed | Everyone selling to EU consumers | The Commission's Online Dispute Resolution platform shut down on 20 July 2025 under Regulation (EU) 2024/3228. Remove any link to it from your terms and footer. Consumers are now pointed to national dispute resolution bodies (European Commission). It was little used: only about 2% of complaints, roughly 200 a year, got a reply from the trader (National Law Review, 15 July 2025) |
| Revised ADR Directive (EU) 2025/2647 | Traders in consumer disputes | Published 30 December 2025, in force since 19 January 2026; national laws are due by 20 March 2028 (EAPIL). Once it applies, EU traders contacted by an alternative dispute resolution body must say whether they will take part, in principle within 20 working days (up to 30 for complex cases); non-EU traders that target EU consumers can take part if they are willing; and if a procedure is automated, either side can ask for review by a person (Conflict of Laws) |
Turning these rules into practice:
- Use a template for every moderation decision. A short message with the action, the rule broken and how to appeal meets Article 17 and prevents many follow-up tickets.
- Keep appeals human. Both the DSA and the new ADR rules point the same way: automation can sort, a person decides.
- Build the process before you need it. Even if the small-platform exemption covers you today, it ends 12 months after you outgrow it, and Article 17 applies from day one.
- Set your own reply deadline shorter than the ones the law will set. A marketplace that answers complaints within days earns trust.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check the rules that apply in your country with a local lawyer.
Dispute resolution best practices for e-commerce marketplaces
As a marketplace grows, the same problems come up again and again. These are the usual ones, and what works:
| Challenge | What works |
|---|---|
| Too many cases for a small team | Tiers: templates and automatic routing for simple cases, a person for complex or high-value ones |
| Bias, or the look of bias | Decide against published rules, ask both sides the same questions, let a second person handle appeals |
| Unhappy users | Fast first replies, dates for each step, and a written reason for every decision |
| Cross-border sales | Return and refund rules per country, prices shown in the buyer's currency, tracked shipping |
| Legal risk | Terms that match what you actually do, statements of reasons, records of every decision |
| Repeat problems | Review case data every month and change rules, categories or seller checks |
For the full set of practices, the joint online dispute resolution standards of the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution and the International Council for Online Dispute Resolution (ICODR) are a good reference.
Handling disputes on a Yclas marketplace
Yclas gives marketplace owners the tools for the platform side of a dispute and for preventing many buyer-seller disputes:
- Reports and statements of reasons. Every listing has a Report button with the DSA reasons, reports land in a reports queue, and when you act on a listing the seller gets a statement of reasons by email.
- Control over publishing. Choose whether listings go live straight away, after your approval, after the seller confirms their email, or after payment.
- AI listing check (Starter, Professional and Marketplace plans). Every new listing is screened for scam patterns and for your own rules written in plain language. Risky listings wait in a moderation queue with the reason, and nothing is deleted.
- Scam warnings in messages. Buyer-seller messages that ask for gift cards, wire transfers or one-time codes show a warning.
- Seller verification and reviews. Sellers can upload an ID or business document for your team to approve (the document is deleted once decided), and earn badges such as Verified, Top rated and Fast responder. Business accounts can be approved with their trader details.
- A record of decisions. An audit log that nobody can edit or delete, plus moderator roles so more than one person can review cases.
- Spam protection and safety tips on listing pages, which cut down the fake listings behind many disputes.
For high-value items you can also let buyers pay through Escrow.com: sellers connect their own Escrow.com account, Escrow.com holds the payment until the buyer accepts the item, and its own dispute process applies if they don't agree.
Payment disputes and chargebacks are handled by your payment provider, so keep your Stripe or PayPal dispute settings and evidence in order. See all the trust and safety features in Yclas, or try them with a free 15-day trial.
Dispute policy template
Copy this into a page on your site, replace the parts in brackets, and link it from your footer, your help centre and every message thread.
Template: dispute policy
How we handle disputes between buyers and sellers
[Site name] is where buyers and sellers meet. Sales are agreed between the buyer and the seller, but we help when something goes wrong.
1. Talk to each other first
Most problems are solved quickly. Message the other person on [Site name] and explain what happened. Keep the conversation on our site, so we can see it if you need our help.
2. Ask us to step in
If you can't agree within [3] days, open a dispute from [where: the listing, the order or the message thread] or write to [support email]. Tell us the listing, what you expected, what happened and what you would like us to do.
3. Send your evidence
Within [5] days, send anything that shows what happened: photos, messages, tracking numbers, receipts or the listing as it was. We ask the other person for their side and evidence too.
4. Our decision
We aim to decide within [10] working days. We look at the listing, the messages and the evidence from both sides, and we tell both of you what we decided and why. Possible outcomes include: no action, a warning, removing a listing, limiting or closing an account, or [a refund or partial refund, where payment was made through our checkout].
5. Payments and chargebacks
[If you paid through our checkout: refunds are made through [payment provider] to the original payment method.] If you paid outside [Site name], we can't recover the money, but we can act on the seller's account. Card chargebacks are decided by your bank and our payment provider, and we share our records with them.
6. If you disagree
You can ask us to look again within [6 months] of our decision by writing to [support email]. A different person on our team reviews it. [EU users: you can also take a decision about content or your account to a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body.]
7. What we don't decide
We don't decide on matters outside [Site name], such as private agreements made offline. For crimes or threats, contact the police and tell us so we can act on the account.
Questions: [support email]. Last updated: [date].
Adapt it to your site, your categories and the law where you and your users are. This is a starting point, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
How do you handle disputes in a marketplace?
Publish a dispute policy, ask the buyer and seller to talk first with a deadline, collect the evidence, decide within a set time and explain why, offer an appeal to a person, and use each case to improve your rules.
What are the most common causes of marketplace disputes?
Listings that don't match the item, payment problems, shipping delays or damage, fraud, and rule breaches that lead to removed listings or suspended accounts.
Do I have to offer dispute resolution under the DSA?
Every hosting service, whatever its size, must send a statement of reasons when it restricts content or accounts (Article 17). The internal complaint system and out-of-court settlement duties (Articles 20 and 21) apply to online platforms that are not micro or small enterprises. This is not legal advice; check your own situation.
What is an out-of-court dispute settlement body?
An independent body certified by an EU country's Digital Services Coordinator. Users can ask it to review a platform's moderation decision. Its decision is not binding, but platforms must engage in good faith and pay its fees if the user wins.
How long does a chargeback take?
With Stripe, the whole process usually takes 2 to 3 months: cardholders usually have up to 120 days to dispute, you usually have 7 to 21 days to respond, and the bank usually takes 60 to 75 days to decide (as of October 2026).
Should I use automation to resolve disputes?
Use it to sort, route and answer simple questions. Keep the decision on appeals with a person: the DSA requires human supervision of complaint decisions, and the new EU ADR rules let either side ask for a person to review an automated procedure.
