Safe trading between strangers: How Marktplaats protects buyers with OPP Escrow and buyer protection

Marktplaats is the largest classifieds marketplace in the Netherlands, and OPP is the payment service provider behind its buyer protection. When a buyer pays through Marktplaats, OPP holds the money in escrow until the item has arrived as agreed, and only then pays the seller.

Most of what is sold on Marktplaats goes from one private individual to another, and buyer and seller often never meet. That creates a problem as old as trade itself: if the buyer pays first, they risk receiving nothing; if the seller ships first, they risk not being paid. Escrow solves it by putting a neutral, licensed party in the middle.

The partnership: escrow on the largest marketplace in the Netherlands

OPP and Marktplaats have worked together on safe payments between private buyers and sellers since 2017. That year they launched Gelijk Oversteken, one of the first escrow services for consumers in the Netherlands: the buyer paid, OPP held the money, and the seller was paid once the package had been delivered. In 2022, Gelijk Oversteken made way for broader buyer protection, Kopersbescherming, which OPP developed with Marktplaats and runs. Today, Marktplaats describes buyer protection as a service offered and carried out by OPP.

The challenge: protection that only covered packages that never arrived

Gelijk Oversteken protected buyers against one risk: a package that was never delivered. OPP held the money until the buyer confirmed receipt, or released it automatically after seven days, and checked the track-and-trace code when a buyer reported that nothing had arrived.

What it did not cover were the other things that go wrong in second-hand trade: an item that arrives damaged, or a box that does not contain what was agreed. A box full of newspapers could trigger a fraud investigation, but it was not covered by the protection itself, so some buyers felt unprotected. Fake websites imitating Gelijk Oversteken added to the problem. Marktplaats and OPP concluded that buyers needed broader protection.

Our solution: buyer protection built on OPP Escrow

In April 2022, Marktplaats stopped Gelijk Oversteken and, less than two weeks later, introduced its successor: Kopersbescherming (buyer protection), developed with OPP. The escrow principle stayed the same. The buyer pays through OPP, OPP holds the money on an intermediate account, and the seller is paid once the buyer has received the item as agreed.

What changed is what is covered. Buyer protection now also applies when a package arrives damaged, is empty or incomplete, contains a different product or turns out to be counterfeit. Buyers report a problem within 48 hours of receiving the item, or within 14 days of paying if nothing arrived, and OPP investigates the case through its dispute handling.

Buyer protection applies by default when the buyer chooses shipping through Marktplaats, with carriers such as PostNL, DHL and Brenger. The buyer pays a small fee and the seller pays nothing. During the switch from Gelijk Oversteken to buyer protection, buyers and sellers could keep paying each other with a regular Marktplaats payment request, only without the protection.

The impact: safer second-hand trade for Marktplaats buyers and sellers

For Marktplaats buyers, paying a stranger for a second-hand item no longer means taking a leap of faith. If a package never arrives, arrives damaged or is not what was agreed, the money is still with OPP, and the buyer can get it back. For sellers, the protection costs nothing and gives buyers a reason to pay online with confidence.

For Marktplaats, one of its core services is offered and carried out by an independent, licensed payment provider. OPP holds the buyers’ money on an intermediate account and investigates when something goes wrong, so buyer and seller can find a fair solution.

What this means for you: why C2C marketplaces need escrow

If you run a marketplace where private individuals trade with each other, the trust gap Marktplaats closed is the one your users feel on every deal. Escrow closes it: the money sits with a neutral, licensed party until both sides have done their part. And as Marktplaats found, protection works best when it covers more than non-delivery, because damaged, wrong and counterfeit items are part of the same problem.

Want to see how OPP Escrow could work for your marketplace? Get in touch to learn more.