Refunds Before Delivery: How Buyer Protection Works on Skins.Deals
What happens between paying and receiving your item, and how you get your money back if something goes wrong along the way.
The steps after you pay
- 1You place the order and pay
- 2We buy the item from a seller who meets our reliability bar
- 3The seller sends a Steam trade offer to the trade URL on your account
- 4You accept the offer in Steam
- 5The item lands in your inventory and the order completes
For most Dota 2 items this takes a few minutes. Step four depends on you, so the order stays open until you accept.
You can ask for a refund before delivery
Until the item reaches your inventory, you can request a refund. Contact support with your order number, and the Refund Policy page sets out the details.
Once you accept the trade and the item arrives, it belongs to you, and the refund window for that item closes.
What can go wrong
- ▸The trade URL on your account is wrong or out of date, so the offer cannot reach you
- ▸A seller is slow or offline, so the offer takes longer than their usual time
- ▸You miss the offer and it expires before you accept it
How to avoid each one
Check your trade URL before you buy. Your order page shows which Steam account the item is going to, with a link to change it.
Keep Steam notifications on, and check your trade offers after you place an order.
If an offer expires or never arrives, contact support with your order number, and we will arrange a new offer or refund you.
After the item arrives
Steam places a 7-day trade hold on the item. You can equip it straight away, but you cannot trade or sell it for a week. Valve applies that rule on every trading site, and it does not affect your refund rights before delivery.
Recent Articles
Related Articles
Market Manipulation: How to Protect Yourself
Learn to identify and avoid common market manipulation tactics in Dota 2 trading.
The Complete Guide to Dota 2 Skin Authentication and Avoiding Scams in 2026
Everything you need to know about verifying item authenticity and protecting yourself from the latest scam tactics targeting Dota 2 traders.
Why Dota 2 Items Arrive in Minutes and CS2 Skins Take a Week
Both games follow the same Steam rules, yet the wait differs by days. The age of the seller's inventory explains the gap.