Held
The order is placed and funded. The amount has left the buyer's spendable balance and cannot be withdrawn by either side.
Escrow protection
How escrow protects both sides of a trade
Almost every scam in Old School RuneScape trading happens at the same moment: somebody has to go first. Escrow removes that moment by holding the money in the middle until the delivery is confirmed.
The problem
Somebody always has to send first
Without a middle party, one side is exposed on every trade — and that exposure is what gets exploited.
In a direct player-to-player deal, the buyer either pays before the gold arrives or the seller delivers before the money does. Whoever moves first is trusting a stranger, and the usual protections do not apply: a chargeback punishes an honest seller just as easily as a dishonest one, and a screenshot of a payment proves nothing.
Escrow changes the shape of the deal. Neither side sends to the other. The buyer sends to a hold, the seller delivers knowing the hold exists, and the hold only opens in one direction — when the buyer confirms what they received.
The mechanics
An escrow hold has three states
Every order on the marketplace is in exactly one of them at any moment, and both sides can see which.
Released
The buyer confirmed delivery. The amount moves to the seller's balance, less the 5% platform commission — or in full, on the seller's first three sales.
Disputed
The buyer raised a problem before confirming. The hold stays frozen and the order is flagged for review rather than paying out.
When it goes wrong
Raising a dispute
The dispute button exists to stop the money. Use it before you confirm, not after.
What a dispute does
Opening a dispute from the order page moves the order into a disputed state and flags it for review. The money stays in escrow while the problem is sorted out — and since nothing is ever released on a timer, it stays there until the dispute is resolved.
When to raise one
- The delivery never arrived, or arrived only partly.
- What arrived does not match the listing description.
- The seller has stopped replying in the order chat.
- A service was abandoned part-way through.
What to do first
Message the seller in the order chat before disputing. Most problems are a timing mix-up rather than bad faith, and a written exchange in the order thread is also the best evidence if it does turn into a dispute.
Confirming is final
Confirming delivery releases the payout immediately and closes the order. There is no undo, and no dispute after the fact. If you are unsure, ask in the chat first — an unconfirmed order costs you nothing to leave open a little longer.
Never take a trade outside the order
If a seller asks you to pay by direct transfer, gift card or crypto instead of the marketplace, stop. Money sent outside Escrowden has no escrow hold behind it and nothing can be done about it. Keep every payment and every message on the order.
Being straight with you
What escrow does not cover
Escrow is protection for the payment. It is not insurance on your game account, and it is important you know the difference.
Action by Jagex
Real-world trading breaches Jagex’s terms of service. Accounts involved can be banned, and gold can be removed. That is a risk you carry, and no escrow can reverse it.
Account recovery after a sale
A bought account can be recovered later by a previous owner who still holds the registration email. Escrow covers the handover, not what happens months afterwards. The accounts checklist exists to reduce that risk.
Every order, escrow-protected
There is no premium tier and no opt-in. Escrow applies to every order on Escrowden by default.