Buyer & Seller Protection Policy
Pending legal review · Last updated May 24, 2026
item is a marketplace venue, not the seller, buyer, carrier, insurer, escrow agent, mediator, or guarantor of any transaction. This policy explains tools item may provide and actions item may take when something goes wrong. It is incorporated into our Terms of Service.
Buyer responsibilities
Buyers must review listings carefully, ask questions before purchase, provide accurate delivery information, inspect items promptly, communicate in good faith, and submit any dispute or evidence within the time and method item provides. Buyers should not misuse disputes, chargebacks, refund requests, or payment methods.
Seller responsibilities
Sellers must accurately describe items, own or have the legal right to sell them, ship or make items available for pickup promptly, package items safely, provide accurate tracking or pickup confirmation, respond to buyer issues, honor lawful return/refund obligations, and keep connected Stripe account and seller information current.
Disputes and evidence
item may let users open disputes and submit evidence such as messages, photos, shipment records, tracking, pickup confirmation, payment records, claim packets, and listing details. We may review available evidence and take actions we believe are appropriate, including requesting more information, asking users to resolve directly, issuing or facilitating refunds, rejecting a dispute, restricting an account, or escalating to Stripe, carriers, insurers, or law enforcement. item is not required to investigate every dispute and any internal decision is not a legal adjudication.
Payout holds and negative balances
We may hold, delay, reverse, or offset payouts where we detect or suspect fraud, non-shipment, counterfeit goods, prohibited activity, chargebacks, buyer disputes, insurance claims, compliance issues, Stripe restrictions, sanctions risk, account takeover, negative balances, or other marketplace risk. Holds may continue while a transaction, dispute, claim, payment review, or legal/compliance review is pending.
No guaranteed protection
item may provide marketplace safety tools, but we do not guarantee refunds, recoveries, reimbursements, claim approvals, seller performance, item authenticity, buyer payment behavior, carrier performance, or dispute outcomes. Card-network chargebacks and Stripe disputes are governed by Stripe, card-network, bank, and applicable legal rules.