PayPal Buyer and Seller Protection

This document establishes PayPal's Buyer Protection program, which authorizes refunds of the full purchase price plus original shipping for claims of Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described on eligible transactions. The program excludes payments designated as friends and family transfers, gift cards, NFTs, donations, vehicles, and real estate. PayPal makes the final determination of claim eligibility, with an internal appeal process available.

This document governs PayPal's Purchase Protection program for US users, establishing the terms under which buyers may seek refunds for 'Item Not Received' and 'Significantly Not as Described' claims, and forms part of PayPal's broader user agreement. The terms authorize PayPal to determine claim eligibility 'in its sole discretion,' require buyers to open disputes within specified timeframes, escalate to a claim within 20 days of opening a dispute, and may require buyers to return items at their own expense; the terms also state that temporary refunds issued during investigations may be recovered as amounts owed to PayPal if the dispute is not resolved in the buyer's favor. Notably, the program explicitly excludes a broad range of transaction types including NFTs, donations, crowdfunding payments, gift cards, real estate, vehicles, personal payments sent via friends and family functionality, and items intended for resale; the sole-discretion determination standard means buyers have limited procedural recourse beyond an internal appeal process. The document engages the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's oversight of payment services and interacts with FTC consumer protection frameworks regarding unfair or deceptive practices; applicable law, including Regulation E and state consumer protection statutes, may independently govern certain disputes and may provide protections beyond or distinct from what this program offers. Compliance teams should note that the program's internal appeals process and sole-discretion standard do not necessarily displace consumers' statutory dispute rights, and the interaction between this program's timelines and Regulation E error resolution timelines warrants evaluation.

Eligible transactions processed through PayPal's goods and services payment option may result in full refund of purchase price and original shipping upon approval of a qualifying claim. Transactions using the friends and family payment designation, along with gift cards, NFTs, donations, vehicles, and real estate purchases, are excluded from coverage. PayPal retains sole discretion to determine eligibility and approve or deny claims, with internal appeal procedures available.