Buyer Protection
In force for every order placed through the app
Every item on Recloset has been worn by somebody else, photographed by somebody else and described by somebody else. Buyer Protection is what makes that a reasonable thing to buy: we hold your money until the item is in your hands, and if what arrives is not what was described, the item price and this fee both come back to you.
It is a charge, and it is itemised on your checkout sheet before you pay. This page is what it buys.
The short version
- Your money is held, not forwarded. The seller is not paid at checkout. They are paid after the item reaches you and the return window closes.
- Item price and protection fee both refunded when an item is not as described, is the wrong item, arrives damaged, is missing parts, or looks counterfeit.
- You can also return for size or quality, and the item price still comes back — but the delivery you paid and the protection fee do not.
- The seller pays for the return leg on any approved return. We book the pickup from your address; you do not post anything yourself.
- Twenty-four hours from delivery to raise a return, in the app.
- A real person reviews every return, on the photographs and the description both sides submit. Approval is not automatic.
On this page
01What it covers
Buyer Protection exists for the case where the item you receive is materially not the item you bought. These five reasons are the seller’s fault, and a return approved under any of them returns the protection fee along with the item price:
| Reason | What it means |
|---|---|
| Not as described | The item differs materially from the listing’s description or photographs — a flaw that was not disclosed, a different colour, a different material. |
| Wrong item | A different item arrived from the one you ordered. |
| Damaged | The item arrived damaged, and the damage was not disclosed in the listing. |
| Missing parts | A part or accessory the listing stated or implied was not in the parcel — a belt, a dupatta, a second shoe, a detachable lining. |
| Counterfeit | The item is presented as a brand it is not. |
On any approved return — these five or the ones in the next section — we book the reverse pickup from your address and the seller bears its cost. The fee also pays for the held payment described in section 04, and for a human review of what went wrong.
02Changed your mind, or it does not fit
You can raise a return because the size does not fit as listed, because the quality is worse than you expected, or for a reason of your own. These are accepted, they are reviewed the same way, and if approved the item price still comes back to you.
What you forfeit on those returns is the delivery you paid and the Buyer Protection fee. The parcel was carried and the courier was paid to carry it; the protection did its job, which was to hold your money until you had the item in your hands. Nothing about the seller failed, so the seller does not pay for it — beyond the reverse pickup, which they still cover.
This is the part of second-hand buying no marketplace can remove, so it is worth saying plainly rather than in a clause: a garment somebody else owned has been washed, worn and stored, and the photographs are the seller’s. Read the measurements, look at the condition grade, and ask the seller before you buy — every listing has a message button, and asking costs nothing.
Not covered at all: damage caused after delivery, including by wear, washing or alteration; a return raised after the window on your order has closed; and anything arranged outside the app. If you pay a seller directly — UPI, bank transfer, cash on a doorstep — there is no order, no held payment and no protection. That is the most common way people lose money on resale in India, and it is why contact details are blocked in messages.
03What it costs
Buyer Protection is a small percentage of the item price, with a minimum and a cap, and it is shown as its own line on the checkout sheet before you pay — never folded into the price, never added after you have confirmed. Tracked delivery is quoted separately, from your pincode, on the same sheet, and the total you see is the total you are charged.
We may change the schedule. The one in force when your order was created is the one that prices it, whatever we publish afterwards.
04Where your money sits
When you pay, the seller is not paid. The money is held by us through the courier’s pickup, the transit and the delivery, and through the return window that opens when the courier records the parcel as delivered. Only when that window closes with no return raised does the sale complete and the proceeds reach the seller’s wallet.
This is the mechanism the fee pays for, and it is the difference between a marketplace and a classifieds board. Nothing about the seller — their rating, their sales, how long they have been here — is what makes the transaction safe. The held payment is.
05How to raise a return
You have 24 hours from the courier’s recorded delivery, and the return must be raised inside the app. Your order screen shows the exact deadline for that order, and that is the one that governs. An email, a message on social media or a note to the seller does not open a return and does not stop the clock.
- Open the order and tap Return item.
- Pick the reason that fits — the five in section 01, or size, quality or another reason of your own.
- Describe what is wrong, in your own words.
- Attach photographs. This is the step that decides the outcome: the review is done on evidence, and a request with clear photographs of the problem beside the listing photographs is the one that gets approved.
The request sits at approval pending while our team reviews it. Do not post the item back yourself: if we approve, we book a pickup from your address, and a parcel sent any other way is one we cannot track, cannot prove and cannot pay for. Keep the packaging and any tags until the return is settled.
06What comes back, and when
| Situation | What you get back |
|---|---|
| Cancelled before dispatch | Everything you paid — item, protection fee and delivery. No leg was consumed. |
| Return, seller at fault | Item price and the protection fee. The delivery you paid is not returned. |
| Return, size or quality | Item price. The delivery and the protection fee are retained. |
Where a coupon reduced what you were actually charged, the refund is reduced by the same amount — you are put back where you started, not ahead of it.
On an approved return the refund is released once the parcel reaches the seller, and briefly held first so either side can dispute it. It goes back to the payment method you used and typically appears in 5–7 business days, depending on your bank. If a return is rejected, we tell you why, and Need help on the order reaches a person.
07If we disagree
While a refund is scheduled and on hold, either party — you or the seller — can dispute it with a written reason. The refund pauses, both sides submit what they have, and our team decides. There is one dispute per order: the first one raised is the one that is heard.
Our decision is final as between you and the seller. It takes away no right you have to go to a consumer forum — nothing on this page or in the Terms does.
08Counterfeits
A counterfeit is the one category we treat as more than a bad transaction. A return approved as counterfeit refunds you in full, and the seller may lose the proceeds, their listings and their account, and may be reported to the authorities.
If you believe an item you have not bought is counterfeit, report the listing from the listing screen. You need not have ordered something to report it, and we would rather review ten listings that turn out to be genuine than leave one that is not.