Europe's specialist marketplace for collectible model aircraft
Model Plane Zone

Returns and refunds information

Returns and refunds at Model Plane Zone (MPZ)

Last updated: 9 October 2026

This page forms part of our Terms and Conditions. It explains what you can do if something is wrong with an order, if you want to return an item, and how refunds work.

Your rights depend on who you bought from. Every listing and store shows one of two labels, based on what the seller has told us:

  • Private seller: a private person selling their own items.
  • Business seller: someone selling as a business.

The short version

  • We hold your payment until your item has been delivered. This gives you time to check it.
  • If something is wrong, use Raise an issue in your order before the payment is released to the seller. Usually that is 48 hours after delivery, so check your parcel quickly.
  • Raising an issue freezes the payment. You and the seller have 3 days to agree a solution. If you cannot agree, we review the issue and decide within 7 days what happens with the payment.
  • Refunds go back to your original payment method through Stripe.
  • Business sellers also give you 14 days to change your mind, and the legal guarantee. Private sellers do not have to.
  • If the seller has not sent your order within 5 business days, you may cancel it and get everything back.

How we hold your payment

When you pay, the money goes to MPZ's Stripe account. We release it to the seller:

  • with an MPZ shipping label: 48 hours after tracking shows the parcel was delivered to your address, or 48 hours after you collected it from the pickup point;
  • with the seller's own postage: 16 days after the seller marked the order as sent; or
  • straight away, if you press Confirm receipt in your order.

Only confirm receipt once you have checked the item.

Holding the money is not insurance and not a promise of a refund in every case. But while we hold it, the seller cannot be paid until the issue is settled.

If the seller does not send your order

The seller must send your order within 5 business days, with tracking. If it has not been sent by then, you may cancel the order from your order page and get back everything you paid, including shipping and the service fee. You do not have to cancel: if you agree a later date with the seller, the order simply continues.

If your parcel has not arrived

If tracking shows no delivery 14 days after the seller sent your order, you or the seller can raise an issue: "did not arrive". The payment stays frozen while it is looked into.

  • With an MPZ shipping label, we investigate with the carrier through Sendcloud.
  • With the seller's own postage, the seller takes it up with their carrier. Some carriers only deal with the receiver; if so, please help by giving the carrier the statement it asks for.

If the parcel is confirmed lost, or the investigation does not find it, you get back everything you paid. If a carrier pays compensation to either of you, take it into account when you agree a solution, and we will when we decide.

If you chose a pickup point and do not collect the parcel, the carrier sends it back to the seller. Once it is on its way back, we refund the price of the items. The shipping and the service fee are not refunded, because the parcel was delivered to the point you chose.

Raising an issue

When. The Raise an issue button is in your order from the moment the seller sends it until the payment is released to the seller. If you bought from a business seller, it stays available for 14 days after delivery, so you can use your right of withdrawal.

Reasons. Did not arrive, damaged in transit, not as described, wrong item, or changed my mind. Add a short description and the photos the form asks for: the outer box, the inside, the item and the label. For "did not arrive" or "delivered but not received" we also ask you to sign a short statement, because carriers need it. Keep the item, the box and the packaging until we tell you the issue is closed.

Changed my mind. From a business seller this is your legal right (see below). From a private seller it is a request, and the seller may say no.

What can be agreed or decided.

  • a return of the item, then a refund;
  • a refund without returning the item (for example when sending it back would cost more than it is worth);
  • a partial refund, if you want to keep the item, up to the price of the items; or
  • no refund, if the item was as described, in which case the payment goes to the seller.

The first 3 days. The seller can offer a solution or decline, and you can talk it through in Messages. You can accept the seller's offer, or press "All sorted, pay the seller" if the problem is solved.

If you cannot agree. If you and the seller have not agreed within 3 days after you raised the issue, it comes to us automatically. We look at the listing, the photos, your messages, the tracking and anything else you or the seller send us, and we may ask either of you for more. Within 7 days we decide what happens with the payment we hold, and we tell you both the decision and the reasons. If the seller did not respond, we decide on the information we have. Our decision settles what MPZ does with the payment. It does not take away your legal rights or the seller's, and either of you can still go to court.

Returning an item. Send it back with tracking and press I've sent the return. We refund you when the seller confirms it arrived. If tracking shows the return was delivered and the seller has not confirmed or reported a problem within 3 days, we refund you automatically. If the seller reports that the wrong item or a damaged item came back, we decide.

Return postage. You and the seller agree who pays it; if you cannot agree, we decide between you. MPZ never pays return postage. For business sellers the law decides: the seller pays if the item was faulty or not as described, and you pay on a change of mind only if the store said so before you bought.

Returns from a private seller

EU consumer rights do not apply to a sale between private people. There is no 14-day right to change your mind, and a private seller may decline a change-of-mind return.

A private seller must still describe the item honestly and send what was agreed. If the item is clearly not as described, is the wrong item, or did not arrive, raise an issue. Under Dutch law you keep your general rights as a buyer against the seller, even after the issue process has ended.

Returns from a business seller

When you buy from a business seller, EU and Dutch consumer law applies, and the business seller is responsible for it. A business seller may offer you more than the law requires, but never less.

Your right to change your mind (right of withdrawal).

  • You can cancel within 14 days after the day you, or someone you named, received the item. If items from one order arrive separately, the 14 days start when the last one arrives.
  • You do not have to give a reason.
  • Tell the seller within those 14 days with Raise an issue, a message to the seller, an email to support@modelplanezone.nl, or the model withdrawal form at the end of this page. Any clear statement is enough.
  • Send the item back within 14 days after you told the seller.
  • You get back the price of the items and the delivery cost you paid within 14 days after you told the seller. The refund can wait until the item is back or you show you sent it.
  • Handle the item only as you would in a shop. If you use it more than needed to check it, the seller may deduct the loss of value.
  • Some items are excluded by law, for example items made to your personal order.

Return postage on a change of mind. You pay to send the item back only if the store said so before you bought. Every business store shows its answer on its listings and at checkout.

The legal guarantee. The item must match its description and be what you could reasonably expect, given its age and price, for as long as you could reasonably expect (at least 2 years for new items). If it is faulty or not as described, the seller must repair or replace it free of charge, or, if that is not possible or not done in time, give you a price reduction or a full refund. The seller pays any return costs in that case. Tell the seller as soon as you find the problem; within two months is always in time.

If the payment has already been released, we can still review the issue. Where the seller owes you a refund, we recover it from the seller and pass it to you. The legal duty to refund stays with the seller.

Lost or damaged in the post

The seller carries the risk until the item is delivered to you. If the parcel arrives damaged, raise an issue before the payment is released and add the photos the form asks for. Where MPZ bought the shipping label, we handle the claim with the carrier; you do not have to.

Refunds: how much and how long

How. Refunds go back to your original payment method through Stripe. A buyer and seller may agree a different refund method only if both freely agree. It must not be used to avoid MPZ's fees or rules, and it does not reduce a refund a consumer is owed by law.

How much.

  • Order cancelled before it was sent, or never delivered: everything you paid, including shipping and the service fee.
  • Item not as described, wrong item, or damaged (returned, or refunded without return): the price of the items and the shipping you paid, and the service fee.
  • Withdrawal from a business seller: the price of the items and the shipping you paid, and the service fee.
  • Change-of-mind return agreed by a private seller: the price of the items only.
  • Partial refund: the amount agreed or decided, up to the price of the items.
  • Parcel not collected from a pickup point: the price of the items only.

The EUR 1.49 service fee is charged once per checkout. If your checkout included several sellers, it is refunded only when nothing in that checkout was delivered or everything in it was refunded for one of the reasons above.

How long. We start the refund as soon as it is agreed, decided or due. It usually appears on your account within 5 to 10 working days, depending on your bank or card provider. Business sellers must refund within 14 days after a valid withdrawal notice.

Chargebacks

You can always ask your bank or card provider to reverse a payment (a chargeback). If you do, we freeze any payment not yet released to the seller and may ask you and the seller for evidence. The bank decides the outcome, not MPZ. Using Raise an issue first is almost always quicker.

What MPZ does and does not do

MPZ is not the seller of the items listed on the site. We hold the payment, give you the Raise an issue tool, review the issue if you and the seller cannot agree, and send refunds through Stripe. We do not check items before they are sold. A refund comes from the payment we hold or from the seller, not from our own money.

As far as the law allows, we are not responsible for the item itself, for whether the seller sends it, or for the outcome of a chargeback. This does not limit our liability for our own intent or deliberate recklessness. Section 21 of our Terms and Conditions sets out our liability.

Contact

If you cannot find the Raise an issue button or need help, email support@modelplanezone.nl with your order number. Contacting us does not change who your contract is with.

Changes to this page

We may update this page. The version that applies to your order is the one published when you placed it. The date at the top shows the latest version.

Model withdrawal form

Only use this form if you bought from a business seller and want to cancel the purchase. Copy it into a message to the seller or an email to us; we pass it on.

To: the seller's name as shown on their store, through Model Plane Zone, support@modelplanezone.nl

  • I hereby give notice that I withdraw from my contract of sale of the following goods:
  • Order number:
  • Ordered on:
  • Received on:
  • Name:
  • Address:
  • Signature (only if you send this form on paper):
  • Date: