What evidence helps in a PayPal dispute?

A buyer paid through PayPal and says the parcel arrived empty. It happens on Depop, on Vinted, on your own checkout, on an invoice you sent. Whatever the shopfront, the argument now moves through PayPal, and three different processes look alike from the outside. The evidence that decides one does very little in another, so the first job is knowing which one you are in.

Everything below comes from PayPal's own UK pages, checked on 16 August 2026. PayPal changes its rules, so treat the sources at the end as the live version and this as the map.

Dispute, claim, chargeback: three different processes

• A dispute is a structured conversation, not a verdict. The buyer opens it in the Resolution Centre, and PayPal's own help page says PayPal does not get involved or decide the outcome at this stage. The two of you have 20 days to exchange messages and settle it. While it runs, PayPal holds the money from the transaction in your account.
• A claim is what a dispute becomes when either side escalates it, which must happen within 20 days of the dispute opening or PayPal closes the dispute automatically. Now PayPal investigates and decides, usually within 14 days, though some cases take 30 days or longer.
• A chargeback never belonged to PayPal at all. The buyer goes to their card issuer, and the issuer runs and decides the process. PayPal's role is to compile your evidence together with its own transaction data and pass it to the issuer, which can take up to 75 days to reach a final decision.

The windows are long. An Item Not Received dispute can be opened up to 180 days after the buyer paid. A Significantly Not As Described dispute must be opened within 30 days of delivery or 180 days of payment, whichever comes sooner. Keep your packing evidence at least that long.

One rule runs in your favour: a buyer cannot pursue a PayPal claim and a card chargeback on the same transaction at the same time. If they open a chargeback while a PayPal case is running, PayPal closes its own case and the card process carries on alone.

Item Not Received or Not As Described: the framing decides what matters

An empty parcel complaint can be filed under either heading, and which one the buyer picks changes your position more than anything you write.

• Item Not Received means nothing arrived. The decisive evidence is proof of delivery. PayPal's Buyer Protection terms say that when a seller presents evidence of delivery, PayPal may find for the seller even where the buyer maintains they never received the goods.
• Significantly Not As Described means something arrived, but not what was ordered. PayPal's own examples include an item missing major parts and a completely different item, which is where an empty or half-empty box usually lands. Delivery is agreed, so proof of delivery answers nothing. The whole argument is contents, and contents evidence is what carries it.

Two smaller Not As Described rules are worth knowing. PayPal may require the buyer to send the item back, at the buyer's expense and with proof of delivery, as part of settling the claim. And Not As Described claims for wholly or partly custom-made items are not eligible for Buyer Protection at all.

Seller Protection: what it covers and what voids it

PayPal Seller Protection applies to two complaint types: Item Not Received claims and unauthorised transaction claims. When it applies, it entitles you to retain the full purchase amount, and PayPal decides eligibility in its sole discretion. What sits outside it matters as much as what sits inside:

• Significantly Not As Described claims are not covered. An empty-parcel case filed that way sits outside the programme entirely.
• Item Not Received chargebacks filed directly with the card issuer are not covered either, even though the same complaint filed through PayPal can be.
• Shipping anywhere other than the address on the Transaction Details page voids it. So does a parcel redirected after posting, which is why PayPal recommends against shipping services arranged by the buyer.
• Missing PayPal's deadlines for documentation can void it. The purchase must also be a single payment from one PayPal account, and friends-and-family payments never qualify.
• Items handed over in person are not covered, with one exception for in-person payments made by PayPal's goods-and-services QR code.

Proof of delivery has a specification, not a vibe: online documentation from the shipping company with a verifiable tracking number, a delivered status with its date, and a recipient address that matches the Transaction Details page or at least shows the city and postcode. The UK programme page, last updated 15 July 2026, sets no signature requirement by order value. If you sell high-value items, ask PayPal in writing what proof it wants for your order rather than assuming.

Responding: the order of operations

1. 1

   Reply within 10 days, even imperfectly

   PayPal's guidance for sellers is to respond within the first 10 days of a dispute, and its warning is explicit: fail to respond in those 10 days and, if the buyer escalates to a claim, PayPal will “resolve the case in the buyer's favour”. An incomplete answer inside the window beats a complete one outside it. You can add evidence as the case develops.

2. 2

   Lead with delivery evidence

   For any Item Not Received case, start with the tracking number, the delivered status and date, and the address match against the Transaction Details page. PayPal's own list of what it asks sellers for runs to third-party shipping receipts, tracking numbers or signature confirmation, and proof of any refund already given. Attach the documents themselves rather than describing them.

3. 3

   Add contents evidence for the empty claim

   Delivery evidence says a parcel arrived. For a Not As Described case, and for any empty-parcel complaint, add what speaks to contents: your packing record, the item and packaging weights against the courier's recorded weight, and the listing photos the buyer bought against. How to build that evidence is its own guide.

4. 4

   If it becomes a chargeback, front-load everything

   You will not argue with the buyer's bank yourself. PayPal compiles your evidence with its own transaction data and forwards it to the issuer, the response deadlines are strict and set by the issuer, and the issuer's decision can take up to 75 days. Hand PayPal the complete file at the first request and answer every follow-up promptly.

This guide describes PayPal's processes as published on its UK pages on 16 August 2026. It is not legal advice, PayPal's current terms prevail wherever they differ from this summary, and no payment provider or card issuer is bound by anything here.

Common questions