How do I open a dispute with a seller?

Contacting the seller is often the best way to solve a problem. You can find their contact details by going to your Activity and selecting the payment. They may be able to issue a refund or help with a return.

Make sure you file your dispute within the correct dispute-filing timeframe.

Here's how to open a dispute from the web:

1. Go to the Resolution Center and click Report a Problem.
2. Select the payment and click Continue.
3. Select the reason for your dispute, such as:
• Unauthorized activity in your PayPal account (a payment you don't recognize or are confident you didn't authorize).
• Issues with your purchase (a purchase doesn’t arrive or match the seller’s description).
• Issues with the Seller (a seller is not co-operating and doesn’t respond to your messages, or you're simply unable to reach an agreement).
• Billing errors or Issues with subscriptions (you've been charged more than once).
4. Select the option that best describes your issue and click Continue.

In a Purchase Protection (Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described) dispute, you can exchange messages with the other party in your Resolution Center to try to solve the problem.

If you’re unable to settle the dispute, you can escalate it to a claim. To escalate a dispute, we often require that at least 7 days have passed since the payment date.

By escalating a dispute to a claim, you’re asking PayPal to investigate and decide the outcome. A dispute will automatically close after 20 days unless it’s been escalated. Closed disputes cannot be reopened or escalated to a claim.