Buyer protection · free, on every order
How escrow works
You are about to send money to someone you have never met. This page is the honest answer to the only question that matters — what stops them from taking it and disappearing.
Your money stops in the middle. The seller does not receive it — they receive proof that it exists.
A seller on Mason Lab cannot be paid by you. They can only be paid by your confirmation.
Follow the money
Where your payment actually goes
- 01You pay
- 02Escrow holds
- 03Seller delivers
- 04You confirm, seller gets paid
No confirmation? Auto-release after the countdown. Problem? Open a dispute — funds stay locked.
You pay — into escrow, not to the seller
The order total leaves your Mason Lab balance the moment you buy. It does not go to the seller’s wallet. It goes into an escrow position held by the platform on a double-entry ledger, where the seller cannot reach it.
The money is held — by us, for you
The seller sees one thing: an order that is funded. That is the whole point — they know the money is real, you know they cannot touch it. Neither side can move it while it sits here, and the platform cannot spend it either.
money still heldThe seller delivers
Stocked keys and accounts are handed over the second you pay. Manual delivery happens in the order chat, and the platform gives the seller 48 hours — miss that and the order cancels itself and the money comes back.
money still heldYou check it
Redeem the key. Log into the account. Open the file. This is the step escrow exists for, and it is the one nobody should rush you through — the money is still held while you look.
money still heldYou confirm — and only then the seller is paid
Your confirmation is what releases escrow. Something wrong instead? Open a dispute and the money stays frozen. Say nothing at all and it auto-releases after 72 hours — you get a warning 24 hours before that happens.
Three separate clocks
How long you have, exactly
These are three different timers, not three names for the same one. They do not start each other and they do not expire together.
72hours
Auto-release
If you never say anything after delivery, escrow releases to the seller. You are warned 24 hours before it happens. It exists so a buyer who walks away cannot freeze a seller’s money forever.
7days
Dispute window
Counted from delivery, and deliberately longer than the auto-release. A dispute opened after the money already moved is satisfied out of the seller’s held balance — so a late complaint is still a real complaint.
14days
Warranty
A key that dies inside this window is the seller’s problem to replace, not yours to eat. It is covered by the same held balance the release went into.
A fourth deadline belongs to the seller, not to you: hand-delivered orders must be handed over within 48 hours, or the order cancels itself and your money returns on its own.
When it goes wrong
Opening a dispute
- You open it. One button on the order, before you confirm — or any time inside the 7-day window.
- Escrow freezes. Nothing releases while a case is open. The auto-release timer stops with it.
- Both sides file evidence. Screenshots, the order chat, the delivered item. The other side has 72 hours to respond.
- An arbiter decides. If you two do not settle it yourselves, a senior arbiter rules on the evidence — and the ruling is final on the ledger.
Three possible endings
Refund
The full amount goes back to your Mason Lab balance. The seller is charged no commission.
Release
The evidence favours the seller and escrow releases to them, exactly as a confirmation would.
Split
Part back to you, part to the seller — for the cases that genuinely sit in the middle.
A refund returns the money to your Mason Lab balance, where it is ready to spend on the next order.
Read this part too
What escrow does not do
It does not exist off the platform
Escrow protects orders placed on Mason Lab. Pay a seller directly — crypto to a wallet, a transfer, a gift card — and there is no escrow, no dispute and no refund, whatever was promised in the chat. If someone asks you to take the deal outside, that is the moment to stop and report them.
It is not a review of the product
Escrow guarantees the process, not that an item suits you. Read the listing, check the store’s record, ask before you buy. What escrow promises is that you get what was described — or your money back.
It is not a bank chargeback
Outcomes are decided here, on the evidence both sides file, and written to the ledger. That is faster than a chargeback and it works for payment methods that have no chargeback at all — which is most of crypto.
Straight answers
Questions buyers actually ask
What stops the seller from taking my money and disappearing?
The seller never receives your money at the point of sale. When you pay, the amount moves out of your Mason Lab balance into an escrow position held by the platform on a double-entry ledger. The seller sees a funded order and nothing more. The money leaves escrow only when you confirm delivery, when the 72-hour auto-release expires without a dispute, or when a dispute is decided.
What if the key or the account does not work?
Check it the moment it arrives — that is the step escrow exists for. If it is dead, open a dispute before you confirm and the money freezes where it is. Even after release the seller owes you a working replacement for 14 days, and the dispute window stays open for 7 days from delivery.
What if the seller never delivers at all?
Stocked goods are handed over the moment you pay. For manual delivery the platform gives the seller 48 hours; if nothing is handed over inside that window the order cancels and the money returns to your Mason Lab balance without you having to argue for it.
Can Mason Lab simply keep my money?
Escrow is a position on a double-entry ledger, not a pot someone can draw on. Every movement is a balanced pair of entries carrying an idempotency key, and an order can leave escrow exactly once — back to you as a refund, or on to the seller as a release. There is no third destination, and a second exit cannot be written at all.
How long do I have to complain?
7 days from delivery, which is deliberately longer than the 72-hour auto-release. A dispute opened after the money has already released is paid out of the seller’s held balance, so the window means what it says even when the release happened first.
What happens when a dispute is opened?
Escrow freezes immediately and nothing releases while the case is open. Both sides file evidence and the other side has 72 hours to respond. If you do not settle it between you, a senior arbiter decides between three outcomes — refund, release, or a split — and the outcome is written to the ledger.
What does escrow cost me as a buyer?
Nothing. Buyer protection is not an add-on and there is no box to tick — it is how every order on Mason Lab works. The platform’s commission of 10% (minimum $0.05) is charged to the seller out of the released amount.
Does escrow still protect me if we agree the deal in a chat?
No. Escrow only exists for orders placed on Mason Lab. Paying a seller directly puts you outside every protection on this page — no held funds, no dispute, no refund. Keeping the order and the payment on the platform is the entire protection.
Now you know where the money sits.
Every order on Mason Lab works this way — there is no unprotected checkout to pick by mistake.