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Your money is safe until you say so

When you buy or swap on BartaBase, we hold the money. The seller doesn't get paid until you confirm the item is in your hands. If it never arrives, you get your money back.

Held by BartaBase, not the seller
When you buy

Four steps, and we hold the money for three of them

Nothing reaches the seller's account while your item is still in transit. That's the whole point — the seller is motivated to deliver, because delivering is how they get paid.

1

You pay

You pay for the item through BartaBase. The money leaves your account and comes to us.

We hold it

Your payment sits with BartaBase. The seller can see that you've paid — which is what tells them to ship — but they cannot touch the money.

Seller has not been paid
3

You get the item and confirm

Once the item is with you and it's what you expected, you confirm receipt on your Orders page. That single click is what releases the payment.

4

The seller is paid

We release the money to the seller and the order is closed.

Only now does the seller get paid
When you swap

Both sides confirm, or nobody is paid

Barter has a problem cash doesn't: someone has to go first. On BartaBase neither of you does. Any money involved in an exchange — a top-up to even out a swap, for instance — is held by us until both people confirm the exchange actually happened.

Both confirmations required

You confirm you received their item. They confirm they received yours. Until both are in, the money stays with us and neither party has been paid.

No cash changes hands in person

Any balancing payment goes through BartaBase, never directly between you. You don't need to carry money to a meet-up, and neither of you has to trust the other to pay up afterwards.

If something goes wrong

Getting your money back

The rule is simple: if the item hasn't changed hands, the money hasn't either — so it can come straight back to you. You don't need to chase a seller for a refund, because we're the ones holding it.

The item never arrived You paid, the delivery never came, and you haven't confirmed receipt. Report the problem and we return your money.
The seller stopped responding They took the order but went quiet and nothing shipped.
The swap fell through You agreed an exchange, money was held to balance it, and the meet-up never happened or the other person didn't bring their item.
What turned up isn't what was listed Report it before you confirm receipt. Once you confirm, the payment is released — so check the item first.
Confirm only when the item is genuinely in your hands. Confirming receipt is what releases the money, and it can't be undone. If a seller asks you to confirm early "to help with the payout", that is exactly the situation this guarantee exists to protect you from. Don't do it — and tell us.
How to claim

Three steps

1

Don't confirm receipt

If you haven't received the item, leave the order unconfirmed. That's what keeps the money with us.

2

Report the problem

Open the order and use Report a problem. Tell us what happened. Reporting pauses any deadline on the order, so nothing is released while we're looking at it.

3

We review and refund

We aim to respond within 48 hours. If the item hasn't changed hands, the money goes back to you — typically within 10 working days of approval, depending on your bank.

Being straight with you

What this doesn't cover

A guarantee is only worth something if it's honest about its edges.

Anything paid for outside BartaBase If you pay a seller directly — bank transfer, cash, or any app — we never held the money and cannot return it. This is the single most common way people lose money, and the one thing we can't fix.
Orders you've already confirmed Confirming receipt releases the payment to the seller. After that it's between you and them.
Ordinary change of mind The guarantee covers items that never arrived or weren't as described. Deciding you no longer want something is a conversation with the seller.
Delivery charges on a completed delivery If a courier delivered the item as agreed, their fee has been earned even if you later fall out with the seller.
Questions

The things people ask

With BartaBase, not with the seller. Their dashboard shows the amount as awaiting settlement — they can see it's coming, but they can't withdraw it. It only moves once you confirm receipt.
We'll remind you. If an item has been delivered and you don't confirm or report a problem within 7 days, the order closes and the seller is paid — otherwise sellers could be left waiting forever on a buyer who's simply gone quiet. If something is wrong, report it before then and the clock stops.
They know you've paid BartaBase, which is what tells them it's safe to ship. Sellers understand the arrangement — it protects them too, since a buyer can't take an item and then reverse a card payment.
No. Please don't, and please tell us. Paying outside BartaBase means we never hold the money, so there is nothing for us to return if the item doesn't arrive. A seller asking you to do this is asking you to give up the only protection you have.
The same confirmation step applies: both of you confirm the exchange happened. Where no money is involved there's nothing for us to hold or return, so the protection is the record itself — confirmations, and the reliability history attached to both accounts. Meet somewhere public, and check the item before you hand yours over.
Typically within 10 working days of approval. Most of that is your bank rather than us — a reversal usually takes longer than the original payment did.

Buy and swap without the leap of faith

Every purchase and every exchange on BartaBase is covered. You keep control of your money until the item is in your hands.

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This page explains how our protection works in plain language. The full terms are in our Terms of Service. Where the two differ, the Terms apply. Questions about a specific order are best sent through Help & Support.