The world is becoming increasingly digital, so it's no wonder that the number of online purchases continues to rise. The Corona pandemic has even intensified this effect. But some people are reluctant to buy directly from stores for fear they will be ripped off. They prefer to go to big platforms like Amazon, Ebay and Co and may even pay more there than on the retailers' websites. However, this fear is completely unfounded. Provided that the stores offer payment options with PayPal, Klarna and Amazon Pay, for example, purchases are also secured there. As well as the major platforms, the payment providers also offer buyer protection that secures the purchase. We have listed the three largest buyer protection providers here:

Ebay Buyer protection
Amazon Buyer protection (A to Z Guarantee)
PayPal Buyer protection

All buyer protection offers promise to help if the goods do not arrive or are significantly different from the order and take care of refunding the money. For some providers, the services are linked to a few conditions. We have compared these in the following table:

Image shows secured purchase through buyer protection

	Amazon Buyer protection (A to Z Guarantee)	Ebay Buyer protection	PayPal Buyer protection
Conditions	Applies only to items, sold and shipped by third-party sellers No more than 90 days have passed since last ship date Applies only via desktop view on Amazon	Applies to payments made with PayPal, credit card, direct debit, Klarna Sofortüberweisung, Google Pay, Apple Pay and for payment transactions via Ebay Applies to all items with Ebay guarantee Ebay Buyer Protection must be applied for within 30 days after problem report	Payment must have been made via PayPal Problem report must be made within 180 days There are no complaints about the PayPal account.

However, buyer protection does not apply to every merchandise. Each provider has defined its exceptions. These can be found on the respective platforms and at PayPal.

What other buyer protection providers are there?

In addition, seals of approval such as Trusted Shops also offer buyer protection. This even includes the following circumstances with Trusted Shops:

Insolvency of the store after order and there comes neither goods nor refund
Non-receipt of the ordered service
Invalid voucher
Digital content is not sent or is invalid
Package canceled by the organizer that has not been refunded
Invalid insurance
Failure to perform services under contracts

For purchases with a purchase value of less than 100.00 €, the buyer protection at Trusted Shops is free of charge and is generally activated directly with the purchase. For all purchases above this, an annual fee of 9.90€ applies, which protects purchases with a purchase value of up to 20,000€ each.

The seals of approval can be found on reputable websites and thus represent a double buyer protection for customers. In order to obtain a seal, the stores are subjected to exact tests and also regularly controlled. Only if all conditions are met, they receive the "stamp of approval". This means that you can store safely on these pages.

What do I need to know about buyer protection?

If you are not satisfied with an order, the first thing you do is contact the seller. If you get stuck, you can apply for buyer protection. As described, there are various ways to protect every purchase, regardless of whether you are on a platform such as Ebay and Amazon or on the merchant's own website. It is important to note that you can only use one buyer protection per transaction. The providers agree among themselves to avoid double payments. Who tries it nevertheless, could receive difficulties with the respective offerers. Thus, it is advisable to consider beforehand which provider to turn on. You could also take this into account already during the purchase, for example, by choosing the payment provider. Through the buyer protection offers, you can definitely shop online with a safe feeling.

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