A buyer opened a PayPal 'item not received' dispute. What do I send?

1. PayPal's pages say the buyer can open an Item Not Received dispute within 180 days of paying. PayPal places a hold on the funds for that transaction in your PayPal account until the dispute is resolved or closed.
2. You and the buyer talk in your Resolution Center. The buyer must escalate to a claim within 20 days of opening the dispute or PayPal closes it; you or PayPal can also escalate it.
3. In a claim, PayPal decides. Its help pages ask for a third-party shipping receipt, a tracking number or signature confirmation, proof of any refund, and other evidence the buyer received the item.
4. PayPal's Buyer Protection page says an Item Not Received claim does not qualify for a refund if the seller has provided proof of delivery. The US page says proof of shipment or delivery; the UK page says proof of delivery. Treat delivery proof, with a 'delivered' status, as the safe target.
5. Use the dates in your own Resolution Center. PayPal decides at its sole discretion, and nobody can promise the outcome.

Source: PayPal's Buyer Protection Program (UK page); PayPal's Purchase Protection program (US page); PayPal Help: respond to Item Not Received and Significantly Not As Described disputes; PayPal UK Help Centre: respond to Item Not Received and Significantly Not As Described disputes; PayPal's Seller Protection Program (UK page); PayPal's Seller Protection program; PayPal User Agreement (UK), read 4 October 2026.

1. Open the PayPal Resolution Center, find the case, click View under Action, and reply to the buyer with the tracking details, then Send.
2. Reply early and politely. PayPal's help says continuing to engage positively with the buyer may encourage them not to escalate.
3. Upload what PayPal lists: the third-party shipping receipt, the tracking number or signature confirmation, and any proof of refund or of download for digital goods.
4. If the dispute becomes a claim, answer every PayPal request for documents within the time it gives. PayPal's Seller Protection page says a missing or late response can cost you eligibility.
5. Check the case status in the Resolution Center and your email until PayPal closes it.

PayPal's help lists the first four items for these disputes. The proof of shipment and proof of delivery wording is from PayPal's Seller Protection page.

• A third-party shipping receipt
• A tracking number, or a signature confirmation
• Proof of delivery, as PayPal's Seller Protection page defines it: online or physical documentation from the carrier with a verifiable tracking number, the date of delivery and 'delivered' status, and a recipient address that matches the shipping address on the PayPal Transaction Details page
• Proof of shipment, as PayPal defines it: a verifiable tracking number, the date of shipment and a matching recipient address
• Proof of refund, if you refunded
• For digital goods, evidence the buyer received or downloaded the item (PayPal's page for intangible goods says compelling evidence could be a system record showing the date it was sent and that it was electronically sent to the recipient or received or accessed by them)

Timeline and money, as PayPal states it

• Dispute stage: 20 days to exchange messages, and the dispute closes automatically after 20 days unless escalated (US and UK pages). If you need more time, PayPal's UK help says to contact it before the deadline and it will look at extending.
• Where the pages differ: the buyer-side pages say PayPal may ask the buyer to wait at least 7 days before escalating, counted from the transaction date on the US page and from the dispute filing date on the UK page. PayPal's US seller help says you must respond within 10 days of the dispute being created; the UK help article does not mention that rule.
• Claim stage: PayPal's US help says it usually decides within 10 days; the UK article says usually within 14 days and some cases 30 days or longer. The US article says you can appeal within 10 days of closure if you responded in the claim stage.
• If you lose a Buyer Protection claim, the UK user agreement says you forfeit the full purchase price plus the original shipping cost, and you do not get your PayPal fees back.
• Seller Protection can cover an Item Not Received claim if you meet its conditions, but not one the buyer files with their card issuer. The US page says a US primary address is required; the UK page says an address in a country the user agreement covers. The two pages' proof requirements differ slightly: the US page asks for a recipient address that matches the Transaction Details address, the UK page allows either a match or an address showing at least city and postal code.

Plain words: The issuer is the bank that issued the customer's card.

Plain text. Replace every [bracket] with a fact from your records and delete any line you cannot back with a file.

Hello [buyer name],

Thank you for letting us know about order [order number], placed on [date] for [amount].

Our records show it shipped on [date] with [carrier], tracking number [number], to the address on the PayPal Transaction Details page. The carrier shows it as delivered on [date]. I have attached the tracking record ([file name]).
[If you have it: signature confirmation attached ([file name]).]
[If a refund or replacement was already offered: what was offered, the date, and the attachment.]

If the parcel is not with you, please check with [household, neighbours, a safe place] and let us know by [date]. I am glad to help trace it with the carrier. [Offer you are actually willing to make, or delete this line.]

[Name], [store name]

Never state anything you cannot prove. Every sentence in the response should point to a file you can attach. Delete any line you have no file for.

• Sending only a tracking link or number with no 'delivered' status. PayPal's page defines proof of delivery as carrier documentation that shows a delivered status and date.
• Shipping to a different address than the one on the Transaction Details page, or using a shipping service the buyer arranged. PayPal's Seller Protection page says this can cost you eligibility.
• Treating the 20 days as time to wait. PayPal's US help says to respond within 10 days of the dispute being created.
• Assuming Seller Protection covers a buyer who goes to their card issuer for an item not received. PayPal's page says those claims are not eligible.
• Not answering PayPal's later requests for documents. Both Seller Protection pages say a missing or late response can make you ineligible.

What counts as proof of delivery for PayPal?

PayPal's Seller Protection page lists online or physical documentation from a shipping company with a verifiable tracking number, the date of delivery and 'delivered' status, and a recipient address matching the Transaction Details page (the UK page also accepts an address showing at least city and postal code).

Proof of shipment or proof of delivery: which do I need?

PayPal's Buyer Protection page for the US says an Item Not Received claim fails if the seller provided proof of shipment or delivery. The UK page says proof of delivery. For Seller Protection on an Item Not Received claim, PayPal's page requires proof of delivery. Aim for delivery proof.

How long does a PayPal dispute last?

PayPal says 20 days in the dispute stage unless escalated. In a claim, the US help says PayPal usually decides in 10 days and the UK help says 14 days, with some cases 30 days or longer.

Will PayPal hold my money?

Both Buyer Protection pages say PayPal places a hold on all funds related to the transaction in the seller's account until the dispute is resolved or closed.

What if the buyer goes to their bank as well?

PayPal's Buyer Protection page says if a buyer pursues a claim with PayPal and with their card issuer for the same transaction, PayPal closes its claim, and the card issuer process continues. The card issuer, not PayPal, decides a chargeback.

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• A Stripe dispute on my Shopify store: where do I submit evidence?

We did not read PayPal's dispute fee amounts, the Chargeback Guide it mentions, or other countries' PayPal pages. How a PayPal dispute shows on a Shopify order is not described by Shopify beyond its note that third-party disputes may follow different processes. Rules and deadlines can change, so use the due date and form on your own dispute.

The Chargeback Evidence Checklist, or its ready text to paste into ChatGPT, asks for your dispute reason and lists the proof to gather. Or pick the reason on the chargebacks page.

The kit now has six fill-in response letters for Word or Google Docs (one per reason), evidence checklists, worked examples and a one-page Start-here guide, plus an optional ready text for ChatGPT or a similar assistant that fills the letter in for you. The Chargeback Response Kit and the free Chargeback Evidence Checklist are written around Shopify's chargeback reason names: Fraudulent, Unrecognized, Product not received, Product unacceptable, Subscription canceled, Duplicate, Credit not processed and General. The Writer's README says it also handles inquiries, Shopify Protect orders and orders that were already refunded. Its response structure carries over to other payment methods, because the questions a bank asks are similar. Where and how you submit differs, and we have not tested the skill against a PayPal Item Not Received dispute. Check the form's own limits before you paste anything in. What carries over to PayPal, Stripe and other processors: the way the response is built (what happened, evidence as numbered exhibits, the policy quoted word for word, dated contact with the customer, nothing you cannot back with a file) and the evidence ideas for each kind of claim. The fill-in letters follow Shopify's reason names, so for another processor pick the letter for the closest reason and use it to organise your facts. What does not: the reason names, the deadlines, the evidence field names and where you submit, which belong to each processor, so check them against that processor's own page above.

Before: a merchant sent delivery photos against a fraud dispute and lost.
After: a verdict (weak, fight only if cheap), what the bank actually asks, and what to gather instead.

It is also one of the six helpers in the Store Ops Pack, $29.

Send the dispute reason, the amount, the due date and the evidence you hold, with no card or customer data. We reply with what looks strong, what is missing and whether accepting may cost less. Free, no call, no sign-up. We cannot promise a day, and nobody can promise how a bank or payment provider will decide.

Kai Ventura, Pro Skill Packs

General information from the public sources above and our own checklists. It is not legal advice, and no response can promise how a bank or payment provider will decide. Pro Skill Packs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Shopify Inc., Affirm, Klarna, PayPal or Stripe. All chargeback pages.