Swap Protection Policy

Referenced in Terms of Service §9.3. Describes what FitSwap does — and does not — guarantee once a swap is accepted.

10.1 What This Policy Covers

Once both parties accept a swap, FitSwap applies a set of deadlines and a review process intended to catch the two most common ways a barter breaks down: one side never following through, and an item arriving significantly different from how it was listed. This policy applies to swaps completed by shipping and to swaps completed by in-person meetup alike, subject to the meetup-specific limits in §10.6.

10.2 Shipping Timeline & Deadlines

For swaps fulfilled by shipping, three windows apply in sequence:

Commit window — 2 days. Once shipping is chosen as the fulfillment method, each side has 2 days to purchase a shipping label. Neither package has moved yet at this stage, so a missed commit deadline cancels the swap at no cost to anyone.
Transit backstop — 5 days. Once both sides have purchased a label, each has up to 5 days for their package to actually be scanned by a carrier.
Transit reactive window — 2 days. As soon as the first package gets an actual carrier pickup scan, the other side's deadline tightens to 2 days from that moment (rather than staying at the full backstop) — the sooner a shipment problem is caught, the more likely a carrier can still redirect or intercept the package that did ship.

A purchased label with no carrier scan does not count as "shipped" — see §10.3.

10.3 What Counts as "Shipped"

FitSwap treats a package as genuinely shipped only once a carrier has scanned it for pickup or later transit — not merely once a label has been purchased. A label alone hasn't left anyone's hands and can be cancelled or ignored at no cost, so it isn't treated the same as a package that's actually moving through a carrier's network.

10.4 Missed Deadlines & Fault

If a shipping deadline passes without both sides genuinely shipping, the swap is automatically cancelled and fault is assigned based on how far each side actually got:

If one side got a genuine carrier scan and the other didn't, the side that didn't ship is at fault. Because the shipped package can't simply be recalled, that item is marked lostin its owner's closet rather than relisted, and the sender is asked to contact support so a carrier redirect can be attempted.
If neither side shipped, but one side never purchased a label at all while the other did, the side that never committed is at fault.
If both sides progressed equally — including both doing nothing — the swap is cancelled as a mutual stall and neither account is singled out.

An account found at fault receives a strike under the Trust & Safety escalation ladder. Items that were never shipped are simply returned to AVAILABLE status in their owner's closet — nothing further happens to them.

10.5 The Protection Window

Once both sides confirm they've received their item — whether by delivery confirmation after shipping, or by confirming an in-person meetup — a 3-day protection window opens. A swap becomes final and auto-completes at the end of this window unless a dispute has been filed. Outside this window, swaps are final.

10.6 Filing a Dispute

You can file a dispute once you've confirmed receipt of your own item and before the protection window closes. A dispute pauses the swap from auto-completing while an admin reviews it. When filing, describe the issue and attach evidence (photos are strongly recommended) — reports without supporting evidence are harder to substantiate and more likely to be resolved as no action taken.

Once reviewed, a dispute is resolved one of five ways:

Reversed — the swap is unwound; each side is expected to return what they received.
Item return required — similar to reversed, with a specific return step tracked before either item re-enters circulation.
Ruled for the reporter — the swap stands and completes normally, but the other party receives a strike for the substantiated violation.
Ruled for the other party — the swap stands and completes normally; the report wasn't substantiated.
No action — the swap stands; there wasn't enough to substantiate the report.

When a swap is unwound, an item that must be returned is held out of circulation until an admin confirms the physical item has actually come back to its original owner — it is not automatically relisted before that.

10.7 No Cash Refunds — and When Commission Is Refunded

FitSwap is a no-cash barter platform — swaps are unwound by returning items, not by issuing a monetary refund of an item's value. Whether the shipping commission itself (see the Fees & Commission Disclosure) is refunded depends on how the dispute is resolved, not on who was found at fault:

If a dispute resolves as Reversed or Item Return Required— the swap itself is unwound — each side's shipping commission is refunded in full. A swap that didn't ultimately stand isn't one FitSwap charges a commission on.
If a dispute resolves as Ruled for the Reporter, Ruled for the Other Party, or No Action — the swap stands and completes — no commission is refunded to either side. This is true even under Ruled for the Reporter: the strike issued there is a conduct consequence for the violation, not a reversal of the transaction, since the swap itself is treated as validly completed.

A refund owed under this section is issued through Stripe back to the original payment method within 5 business days of the dispute being resolved.

If a payment method can no longer accept a refund (e.g., a closed or expired card), the dispute is still resolved as described above — that determination doesn't wait on the refund itself. You'll be notified directly and asked to contact support so the refund can be completed another way.

10.8 What This Policy Does Not Cover

Minor, disclosed condition issues on used clothing (normal wear consistent with the listing)
A change of mind after you've already confirmed receipt
Risks of meeting in person — see the in-person meetup disclaimer in the Terms of Service
A carrier losing or damaging a package after it was scanned as delivered