Seller Handling Time and Dispatch Policy
Last updated: 3 October 2026
This policy sets how quickly sellers on Escrofy must dispatch orders, what happens when they do not, and what a buyer can do about it. It forms part of the Terms of Service.
1. Purpose
Escrofy requires sellers to prepare and dispatch orders within clearly defined handling periods, so that orders are fulfilled predictably, buyers are protected and the marketplace can be trusted.
2. Standard handling time
A ready-to-ship product has a handling time of 24 hours, counted from the moment the buyer's payment is confirmed. A seller may set it to at most 36 hours on the listing. A ready-to-ship listing cannot state more; a product that needs longer is listed as made to order (section 3).
3. Made-to-order and customised products
A product that is made, assembled or customised after it is ordered may state a production lead time of 1 to 14 days. The seller declares the lead time on the listing before the product can be bought, and the buyer sees it on the product page and at checkout, before paying. Once the order is paid, its handling time is fixed: changing the listing later does not change an order already placed.
4. Bulk orders
A seller may set up to four quantity tiers on a listing, for example "from 10 units: 3 days", each of at most 14 days. An order's handling time is that of the highest tier its quantity reaches, worked out at checkout and shown before payment. An order never gets more time only because it is large: only the tiers the seller set, and the buyer saw, apply.
5. Ship-by date and enforcement
When the payment is confirmed, the order gets a ship-by date: the payment time plus the handling time. Buyer and seller both see it on the order.
- Escrofy reminds the seller before the ship-by date.
- If the date passes without dispatch, the order is marked overdue, both sides are told, and the missed date is recorded against the seller.
- From then on the buyer may cancel the order at once, and the payment is refunded together with the platform fee.
- If the order is still not dispatched 7 days after its ship-by date, Escrofy cancels it and refunds the buyer, platform fee included.
Depending on how serious and how frequent they are, missed ship-by dates may lead Escrofy to restrict the orders a seller can take or to suspend the seller's account.
6. Extensions
A seller cannot move an order's ship-by date on their own. Before the date passes, the seller may ask the buyer for a later date, at most 7 days later and once per order, and must say why. The date moves only if the buyer accepts. If the buyer declines, the buyer may cancel the order at once and the payment is refunded together with the platform fee. A request the buyer has not answered by the current ship-by date lapses, and that date stands.
7. Seller accountability
Sellers are responsible for keeping the stock, production estimates and handling times on their listings accurate. Repeatedly missing declared handling times may lead Escrofy to restrict a seller's ability to accept orders or to offer longer handling times.
8. Dispatch confirmation
An order counts as dispatched only when the seller marks it as shipped and gives the dispatch details:
- the carrier and its tracking number; or
- for the seller's own delivery or a rider, the courier's name and phone number.
The buyer sees these details on the order. Preparing, packing or marking an order as ready for shipment is not dispatch.
9. Cancelling before dispatch
- Within one hour of paying, a buyer may cancel without asking the seller. The payment is refunded less the platform fee.
- After the first hour, and until the order is dispatched, a buyer may ask the seller to cancel. If the seller agrees, the order is cancelled and the payment refunded less the platform fee. If the seller declines, the order stands and must still be dispatched by its ship-by date.
- When the seller is at fault, because the ship-by date has passed or the buyer declined the seller's request for more time, the buyer may cancel at once and the payment is refunded together with the platform fee.
- After dispatch, an order can no longer be cancelled. A buyer with a problem reports it from the order within the inspection window, as the Terms of Service describe.