Delivery, Hand Delivery, Disputes and Refunds

1. Shipping

The shipping label is purchased automatically after payment, on the seller’s account with the carrier integrated into the Platform. Tracking information is transmitted automatically by the carrier and can be viewed from the order.

2. Escrow

The sums paid by the buyer are not transferred to the seller at the time of payment: they are held by our payment service provider Stripe until they are released.

3. Release of funds

The funds are released to the seller:

4. Confirmation of receipt

The buyer confirms receipt only after having checked the goods. For a private seller, confirmation immediately releases the funds: a dispute can no longer be opened thereafter. For a professional seller, the funds remain in escrow until the withdrawal period expires, and a dispute may be opened until they are released.

5. Hand delivery

Where the listing provides for it, the buyer who has paid on the Platform agrees on a meeting with the seller via the messaging service. No delivery fees or coverage apply. At the time of hand delivery, the buyer checks the goods and then confirms receipt from their order: the funds are then released to a private seller and, for a professional seller, 14 days after that confirmation, when the withdrawal period expires. In the absence of confirmation, the funds are released automatically 7 days after confirmation of the payment (14 days where the seller is a professional), unless a dispute has been opened in the meantime. Where the item is viewed and paid for on site, without payment on the Platform, the sale takes place outside the Platform and this document does not apply (Terms of Use, Article 23).

6. Opening a dispute

If the goods are not received, have a major defect that was not mentioned or do not match the listing, the buyer may open a dispute from their order as long as the funds have not been released to the seller. Opening a dispute immediately freezes the payout. For a grouped offer, the dispute concerns the item in question, the other items in the bundle following their normal course.

7. Evidence

The listing video constitutes evidence of the condition of the goods at the time they were listed, without excluding other evidence produced by the parties. The seller keeps the original video until the funds are released. The buyer is strongly advised to film the unpacking of the parcel in one continuous take.

8. Decision

Spotitem examines the evidence provided by both parties and rules solely on the destination of the funds held in escrow: refund to the buyer (price, delivery and service fee; for a bundle, the share relating to the item concerned), or release to the seller. Its decision is recorded. It is without prejudice to the rights of the parties, who retain the option of bringing the matter before the courts; the return of the goods is not organised by the Platform in the context of a dispute, unless the parties agree otherwise.

9. Chargeback

A chargeback requested by the buyer from their bank freezes the payout to the seller until its outcome.

10. Exercise

Where the seller is a professional, the consumer buyer may withdraw within 14 days of receipt of the goods, without giving any reason, from their order or by means of the form annexed to the Buyer Terms of Sale. This right also applies to goods received by hand delivery where the order was paid for on the Platform: the period then runs from the handover, confirmed by the buyer from their order. Withdrawal suspends the payout to the seller. It covers the whole order and, for a bundle offer, the whole bundle. It cannot be exercised on the Platform where a refund is already in progress; if the funds have already been paid out to the seller, the buyer exercises their right directly against the seller.

11. Return of the goods

The buyer sends the goods back no later than 14 days after communicating their decision, using the return label generated by the Platform. For goods received by hand delivery, the buyer returns them to the seller within the same period, at the seller’s address or at a meeting agreed via the messaging service, or sends them at their own expense; the seller may not refuse the return. As soon as the seller has recovered the goods, they confirm it from their account, which triggers the buyer’s refund; failing such confirmation, the buyer may open a dispute, attaching proof of the return or of the shipment.

12. Return costs

Where the return label is issued via the Platform, the return costs are borne by the professional seller. For goods received by hand delivery, any costs of returning them (travel or shipping) are borne by the buyer.

13. Refund

The buyer is refunded all sums paid (price, delivery fees and service fee) no later than 14 days after giving notice of their decision, although the refund may be deferred until the goods have been recovered or until proof of their dispatch has been provided, whichever is earlier. The refund is made to the card used for payment.

14. Cancellation

15. Refunds

Unless otherwise provided herein, any refund covers all sums paid by the buyer (price, delivery, service fee and declared value coverage) and is made to the card used for payment.