How long to file an A-to-z, eBay or PayPal claim?

It depends on the platform, and the clocks start on different days. Amazon's A-to-z Guarantee covers an order while its last possible delivery date is 90 days ago or less. eBay gives you 30 calendar days after the estimated or actual delivery date. PayPal gives 180 days from payment for an item that never arrived, but only 30 days from delivery for one that is not as described. Etsy gives 30 days from the estimated delivery date. Facebook Marketplace now asks you to escalate within 7 days of delivery. A US credit card dispute runs 60 days from the first bill showing the charge, which is sometimes the longer route.

What a buyer protection claim is

A buyer protection claim asks the platform itself to refund you under its own program. You are not asking the seller, and you are not asking your bank. You are asking Amazon, eBay, PayPal, Etsy or Meta to step in and decide. Each names its program differently: A-to-z Guarantee, Money Back Guarantee, Purchase Protection. Each sets its own deadline.

Most work in two stages. First you report the problem to the seller. Then, if the seller does not fix it, you ask the platform to step in. Both stages have time limits, and people miss the second.

A chargeback is a separate route: your card issuer pulling the money back through the card network. How a payment dispute and a chargeback work covers it in full. It matters here because most platforms close your claim once you open one.

The deadlines side by side

These are the published US policies as of November 2026. eBay's UK page gives the same 30 days.

Most of these clocks start at delivery. PayPal's not-received clock starts at payment. The card clock starts at a bill. So one late parcel can be inside one deadline and outside another.

eBay: 30 calendar days, not business days

eBay's community boards keep asking whether eBay means 30 days or 30 business days. The policy says calendar days. You can report a missing item once the estimated or actual delivery date has passed. The latest is "30 calendar days after the estimated or actual delivery/collection date." An item that does not match the listing gets the same 30 calendar days to start a return. If the seller's own return window is longer, you get that instead.

The confusion has a source. Every step after your report counts business days. The seller has 3 business days to respond. You can ask eBay to step in from 3 business days after your report. If the seller never answers, your last day to ask is 21 business days after the report. On a return, it is 10 business days after the seller's refund deadline. Both kinds of day sit on one page.

The guarantee only covers purchases paid through eBay checkout. If eBay decides against you, you can appeal within 30 calendar days.

The other platforms, one by one

Amazon A-to-z Guarantee

A-to-z covers items "sold and fulfilled by a third-party seller." For marketplace items delivered with Prime, Amazon says to contact it directly instead. The order qualifies while "the last possible delivery date of your order is 90 days or less" ago. That is the end of the delivery window, not the order date.

Some reasons also need a wait. For a parcel that never came, three days must have passed since the latest estimated delivery date, or tracking must show it delivered. You must also have contacted the seller more than 48 hours earlier. For a damaged or wrong item, you must have asked for a return more than 48 hours ago without the seller authorizing it. Digital items, services and cars are not covered.

PayPal Purchase Protection

The 180 days is real, but only for one kind of claim. PayPal's Purchase Protection terms form part of its User Agreement, and they set two windows. For an item that did not arrive, the dispute "must be opened within 180 days of the date you sent the payment to the seller." For an item significantly not as described, it is 30 days from delivery or 180 days from payment, whichever is sooner.

Opening the dispute starts a second clock. You must escalate it to a claim within 20 days, or PayPal closes it. PayPal may ask you to wait 7 days from the payment before escalating. A closed dispute "cannot be reopened or escalated to a claim."

Etsy Purchase Protection

Start with a Help with order request to the seller. You can open a case once the estimated delivery date has passed and 48 hours have gone by since that message. Etsy gives you 30 days from the estimated delivery date to open it. It cannot refund anything more than 180 days after the transaction.

Facebook Marketplace

Purchase Protection only covers orders bought with shipping or checkout on Marketplace. Local pickups and Messenger deals "don't qualify." Meta's page on its updated policy gives you 3 days after the delivery date to contact the seller. If that fails after 2 days, you have 7 days after delivery to escalate to Meta Support.

Some of Meta's seller pages still say buyers have 45 days. Do not plan around that. Meta's buyer help page says that if you miss the 3 days, you may not be able to file a claim. The shorter window is the one Meta announced as its change. If you go to your card issuer instead, Meta says the issuer decides, not Meta.

When a card dispute gives you longer

In the US, the Fair Credit Billing Act lets you dispute a billing error on a credit card. The FTC says that includes things "you didn't accept or weren't delivered as agreed." Your letter must reach the issuer "within 60 days after the first bill with the error was sent to you." That clock starts at the bill, not the purchase. So it can end later than a delivery-based window.

The catch is that you usually cannot run both routes. Amazon says a chargeback request makes you ineligible for A-to-z. eBay may close your case. Etsy will not let you open one. PayPal closes your dispute, and you cannot come back to it later.

PayPal spells out the order. If you paid through PayPal with a card and PayPal rules against you, you can still go to your card issuer. If PayPal's delay makes you miss the card deadline, PayPal says it will cover the rest of your loss. So use the platform while its window is open, and the card once it shuts.

One late parcel, every clock

Suppose you order a $150 item on September 1, 2026, paying by credit card. The estimated delivery date is September 8, and nothing arrives. The charge first appears on a bill sent September 25. You notice on October 20. Worked through each policy:

• Amazon, third-party seller. 90 days from September 8 gives December 7. You are inside. Message the seller, wait 48 hours, then file.
• eBay. 30 calendar days from September 8 ended October 8. Closed.
• Etsy. 30 days from the estimated delivery date also ended October 8.
• Facebook Marketplace. Meta's few days after delivery passed in September.
• PayPal. For an item not received, 180 days from September 1 runs to February 28, 2027.
• Credit card. 60 days from September 25 is November 24. For the eBay and Etsy orders, this is the route still open.

Same parcel, same day, opposite answers.

What these deadlines do not cover

These programs cover goods that do not arrive or are not as described. They are not a change of mind return, which the deadlines for returning things bought online cover. A charge you never made has its own clock, in how long you have to report fraud to your bank. The 60 days is a US credit card law. Debit cards follow other rules, and outside the US your rights differ. Filing in time does not guarantee a refund, since each program has exclusions and wants evidence. Policies change, and the dates on your order page are the ones that count. This is general information, not legal advice.

What to do before the window closes

1. Find the start date. Your order shows the estimated delivery date. Your statement shows the payment date.
2. Message the seller on the platform today. Amazon and Etsy then make you wait 48 hours. Facebook gives you only 3 days.
3. Keep the deal on the platform. A seller who asks you to pay elsewhere is removing your protection, the pattern behind most marketplace and ticket scams.
4. Diary the escalation date the day you report: eBay's 21 business days, PayPal's 20 days.
5. Ignore refund links in texts. Open the app yourself. A missing parcel message may be one of the fake delivery texts.
6. Go to your card issuer when the window shuts. A bank transfer has no such route, and the first hour after paying a scammer matters most.

Before ordering from a seller you do not know, a three minute check on the shop and a credit card keep more of these routes open.