1. Overview
Donut Market is a P2P marketplace with guarantor-mediated escrow. Refund eligibility is tied to the state of the deal: while the item has not yet been delivered in-game, $ can be returned; once a deal hits COMPLETED, it is final.
COMPLETED. The same applies to commission deals: after the buyer accepts the finished work, no refund is possible.2. When you CAN get your money back
The following scenarios are eligible for a full refund of escrowed $:
- Buyer cancels before payment: a deal in
AWAITING_SELLER_CONFIRMATIONorAWAITING_PAYMENTcan be cancelled — no $ has moved yet. - Seller declines: the seller does not confirm availability (standard) or rejects the brief (commission) — any $ already escrowed are fully returned.
- Payment deadline expired: if the buyer never pays, the deal auto-cancels; no $ leaves escrow.
- Seller fails to deliver / submit the work: in
PAYMENT_RECEIVEDorIN_PROGRESSthe seller goes silent or fails to deliver within a reasonable time. The buyer opens a dispute; if resolved in their favor — full $ refund. - Wrong delivery: seller delivers the wrong item, wrong amount, or the work clearly doesn't match the brief — the dispute may be resolved partially or fully in the buyer's favor.
- Verified platform error: a confirmed bug in the guarantor/escrow logic that caused incorrect movement of $ — full refund.
3. When you CANNOT get your money back
The following situations do not qualify for refunds:
- Deal is completed: buyer already confirmed receipt or accepted the work; $ have been released to the seller. No refunds — the item (and the $) are with their respective recipients.
- Change of mind: deciding you no longer want the item after a successful trade.
- Price changed: the market value of coins or items shifted after the deal.
- Wrong nickname: $ paid to the guarantor from a different in-game account, or items delivered to a wrong nickname that the buyer themselves provided.
- In-game loss after delivery: lot lost to PvP, base raid, theft, or character death — this happened after
COMPLETED. - DonutSMP ban / wipe: not a Service-side issue.
- Unresponsive party: failure to respond in chat within reasonable time and the dispute is decided against you.
- Accepted defective work and walked away: once the buyer clicks "Accept work" and the deal moves to
COMPLETED, follow-up complaints are not entertained. Always inspect a commission build in-game (teleport, look inside) before accepting.
4. How refunds are paid out
Refunds happen inside DonutSMP via the escrow guarantor: the guarantor transfers the held $ back to the same in-game nickname that originally paid. The Platform does not perform any external transfers (card, bank, crypto) — there are no fiat or crypto operations on the Service side.
If a refund is stuck due to a technical issue with the guarantor or DonutSMP itself, contact support — we will manually restore the payout.
5. How to request a refund
- Open a dispute on the deal page (the "Open dispute" button is visible to the side currently waiting on the counterparty).
- Describe the issue: what was promised, what was delivered (or not), with chat references and timestamps.
- Attach evidence: imgbb screenshots, video, in-game proof (a couple of links minimum).
- Wait for the administrator — review takes up to 7 days.
- If approved, the guarantor performs the refund (full or partial) directly to your in-game nickname.
6. Extra invoices in commission deals
In commission deals the seller can issue an extra invoice for revisions (only from the REVISION_REQUESTED state). The buyer may accept or reject:
- If rejected — the deal returns to
REVISION_REQUESTED; the seller finishes within the original price or submits as-is. - If accepted and paid — the extra payment goes into escrow. The same refund rules apply: refundable through dispute up to
COMPLETED, not afterwards.
7. Fraud warning
If you have a legitimate concern, use the in-platform dispute mechanism. Off-platform complaints (DMs to admins, Discord pings) are reviewed only after an official dispute has been opened on the deal itself.
8. Contact
If the dispute mechanism does not cover your case (e.g. an escrow-guarantor failure outside an active deal state), contact support via the Service or the official Discord channel listed in your profile. We respond within 48 hours.