Payment protection
Pay with Buy now and Grails holds your money until the card arrives. This is how it moves.
Pay with Buy now and your money never goes straight to a stranger. It is held by Grails, with our payment partner Stripe, and it moves in four steps.
- Paid. Grails holds the money. The seller can't touch it.
- Posted. The seller has 3 business days to post it tracked. If they don't, you can take every cent back.
- Delivered. The tracking scan starts your 3-day check window.
- Released. You confirm, or 3 days pass, and the seller is paid.
If the card never arrives, the money never reaches the seller. If it arrives damaged, not as described, or fake, report it within the 3-day check window and the money stays frozen while it’s sorted. Counterfeit claims backed by a grading company get 30 days, even after release.
Protection doesn’t cover a change of mind, or anything you agree outside the app. Pay outside Grails and none of this applies, which is why we don’t recommend it.
The protection fee at checkout is charged at cost. It’s what moving the money safely costs us, and it’s refunded in full whenever an order fails.