Buyer Protection

Your money does not go to the seller when you buy. SPKRS holds it until the item reaches you and you have had time to check it. If it arrives damaged, arrives not as described, or never arrives at all, you report it and we refund you every penny you paid.

How long you have to check it

The inspection window starts when the item is delivered and scales with what you paid, because the more an item is worth the longer it reasonably takes to test properly.

• Under $2,5003 days
• $2,500 to $25,0007 days
• Over $25,00010 days

On a local collection the clock runs from you confirming you have the item, not from any carrier event. Report an issue inside your window and the funds stay frozen while it is reviewed. Let the window pass with no report and the funds release to the seller.

What happens when you report a problem

1. 1
   Report it from the orderOpen the order and report the issue — damaged, not as described, or never arrived. Do it inside your inspection window, before the funds release. Photographs of the item and the packaging decide most cases, so send them with the report.
2. 2
   The money stops movingReporting an issue freezes the escrowed funds immediately. Nothing is released to the seller while a report is open, including if your inspection window would otherwise have run out in the meantime.
3. 3
   Keep the box and everything in itDo not throw away the carton, the foam, or any packing material until the case is closed. A carrier will not pay a damage claim on a parcel whose packaging cannot be inspected, and that claim is often what decides how much of the loss the seller recovers.
4. 4
   The seller has to answerThey get 5 business days. Ignore it and you are refunded in full without anything further from you. Answer it, and SPKRS reads both accounts — including the packing photographs the Packaging Standard requires them to take — and decides within 10 business days.
5. 5
   If we decide for you, you are refunded in fullThe item price and the SPKRS service fee — the entire amount charged to your card. Not a credit, not a partial. It goes back to the card you paid with. You were never charged for shipping, so there is nothing there to refund.

The deadlines

Who carries the loss

Not you. That is the whole of what this page promises, and the rest of this section is about what happens behind it, which you are entitled to know but are not a party to.

SPKRS does not insure shipments. On an item posted as a parcel, the seller is responsible for it until it arrives safely, and they recover what they can from the carrier — which depends on how it was packed, and which is why the Packaging Standard is a requirement and not advice. Whatever the carrier does not pay, the seller carries. Neither the timing nor the outcome of that claim affects your refund.

Items SPKRS does not ship

Some items are too heavy or too large for any parcel carrier — over 150 lb, or over 108 inches on the longest side. Those move by local collection, or by a freight carrier the buyer and seller arrange between themselves. SPKRS is not the carrier, does not book the freight, does not insure the movement, and is not a party to the carriage contract.

Your escrow protection is the same. The money is still held, you still have the same inspection window, you still report from the order, and you are still refunded in full if we decide for you. What differs is behind the scenes: there is no SPKRS-purchased label and therefore no carrier claim SPKRS can make, so a seller shipping by freight carries substantially more of the risk. If you want to avoid transit risk on a large item entirely, collect it in person.

Above $50,000

No transit cover exists above $50,000 — not from SPKRS and not from any carrier at any price. An item above that ships perfectly well as a parcel; it is simply uninsurable, and you are asked to acknowledge that before you can buy. Your escrow protection is unchanged. What you are acknowledging is that a loss in transit cannot be recovered from anyone, which is a real risk to the seller and a reason many high-value items sell for collection instead.

What this does not cover

• Buyer's remorse. Not liking it, or finding it cheaper elsewhere, is not a reported issue.
• Damage or faults disclosed in the listing. Hi-fi is sold used; read the condition notes and the flaws.
• Anything reported after your inspection window has closed and the funds have released.
• Deals arranged off SPKRS. If money did not go through SPKRS, there is no escrow to refund from.

Chargebacks

Report the issue here first. A chargeback goes to your card issuer under the card network's rules, takes considerably longer than 10 business days, and the outcome is theirs rather than ours. Reporting on SPKRS is faster and the refund is the full amount you paid.

This page describes the buyer's remedy. The seller's obligations behind it are in the Seller Agreement and the Packaging Standard, and the dispute rules are in section 8 of the Terms. Where any of them appears to disagree with this page about a buyer's remedy, this page is the one we will honour.