Payment Protection & Refund Policy

ProxyPals uses Stripe as our regulated payment processor. When you fund a request, Stripe authorizes the full estimated total against your card and places it in a held, non-spendable state until the Pal completes the job. ProxyPals never touches your raw card details and does not commingle buyer funds with operating capital.

This is a payment hold (authorization + delayed capture), not a bank-trust escrow account. Functionally it gives you the same protection: nothing is captured until items are bought and approved, and unused authorizations expire automatically.

When you fund a proxy request, your payment method is authorized for: item budget + Pal fee + estimated shipping + 8% service fee + estimated sales tax. Funds are only captured after the Pal purchases items you approve, and released to the Pal after the 48-hour inspection window closes without an open dispute.

If the Pal buys less than your budget, the unused authorization is voided automatically — you only pay for what they actually bought, plus the Pal's service fee, shipping, and applicable taxes.

Sales tax is collected at the point of the Pal's in-person purchase per the estate-sale jurisdiction's rules, and is included on the receipt the Pal uploads. Where ProxyPals is a marketplace facilitator, we collect and remit the marketplace component on top of the line-item total. Your final charge reflects actual tax paid; estimates above are reconciled at capture.

• Approval window: while the Pal is at the sale, you have a short window to approve or reject candidate items via the dashboard.
• Inspection window: 48 hours from delivery (or in-person handoff) to inspect items.
• Dispute window: open a dispute within the 48-hour inspection window.

You can request a full or partial refund if:

• An item arrived materially not as described (condition, attribution, age)
• The wrong item was shipped
• The item was lost or destroyed in transit before delivery
• The Pal no-showed without warning and the sale window expired

The marketplace fee is refunded along with the item price for items refunded due to misrepresentation or Pal fault.

• Buyer's remorse on accurately described items
• Color or finish differences within reasonable expectation of estate-condition goods
• Items damaged by the buyer after delivery
• Disputes opened after the 48-hour window without exceptional cause
• Service fees once a Pal has attended the sale, unless the Pal was at fault

1. Open a dispute from the request page, choosing the affected item(s).
2. Upload photos and a brief description within 48 hours of delivery.
3. The Pal has 48 hours to respond with their evidence.
4. Our trust team reviews and decides: refund in full, partial refund, denied, or escalated.
5. Refunds are issued to your original payment method within 5–10 business days; reversals to the Pal are processed at the same time.

If a return is required, we provide a prepaid label. Refunds are issued after the Pal confirms receipt of the returned item in the same condition delivered.

For items damaged in transit, the carrier claim is filed by ProxyPals or the Pal, and you are made whole regardless of claim outcome (subject to evidence).

Please use ProxyPals's dispute process first — chargebacks initiated with your bank may freeze funds and account access until resolved. Repeated chargeback misuse may result in suspension.

Pal payouts are released after the dispute window closes. If a dispute is resolved against a Pal, the payout (or a portion) may be reversed; if the payout has already been transferred, the Pal's payout balance will be debited or recovered via their payout account.

• Buyer cancels before Pal accepts: the authorization is voided in full — no charge.
• Buyer cancels after Pal accepts but before the sale starts: a $10 Pal-time reimbursement may apply; the rest of the authorization is voided.
• Buyer cancels after the sale starts: the Pal fee is non-refundable for time already committed; item budget and shipping are released.
• Pal no-show (no arrival, no message within 30 minutes of sale open): the full authorization is voided and you receive a service credit toward a re-match. The Pal's account is flagged.
• Pal cancels mid-sale: we attempt concierge re-match; if none is possible, your full authorization is voided and any captured Pal fee is refunded.

If a card declines at capture time (e.g. funds moved, card expired between hold and capture), the request is paused and you have 24 hours to provide a working method. If unresolved, the Pal is reimbursed up to the actual receipt total from a platform safety pool and your account is suspended pending settlement. Repeated failures may result in permanent removal.

Email support@proxypals.com with your request ID and a brief summary, or open a case in the Resolution Center.