What freezing a deal actually does, who is holding the money during a dispute, and what each possible outcome means for your balance.
When you open a dispute, the deal freezes — it cannot quietly complete or be released while the case is open.
It is important to be clear about what freezing does not mean, because this is where most misunderstandings start.
On an ordinary marketplace deal, money moves straight from the buyer's wallet to the seller's wallet at the moment of purchase. There is no escrow account sitting in the middle, and the platform does not hold a balance on behalf of either party.
So while a dispute is open:
If you were told, or assumed, that your payment is being held safely by Silky Road until the dispute is settled, that is not how it works. We would rather you know that now than find out at the end.
This is also the strongest argument for keeping a deal on the platform and doing your due diligence before you pay — see Using Optional Escrow for Protection if you want your payment protected until a transfer completes.
A reviewer decides the outcome, and there are four possibilities:
| Outcome | What happens to the money |
|---|---|
| In the buyer's favour | The disputed amount moves from the seller back to the buyer |
| Partial refund | The agreed share moves from the seller to the buyer; the seller keeps the rest |
| In the seller's favour | Nothing moves. The seller already holds the money — that is the outcome |
| No action | Nothing moves |
Two of the four outcomes move no money at all. People often expect that any dispute results in at least a partial refund, and that is not the case.
When money does move, it moves out of the seller's balance and back to the buyer. You will see it in your transaction history as a refund entry naming the dispute — a positive amount if it came to you, a negative one if it was recovered from you.
Once resolved, the freeze lifts and the deal is marked either cancelled or completed depending on the outcome.
A refund can only recover what the seller still has.
Because the seller was paid at the time of purchase, they may have already spent some or all of it. If that has happened, the amount that can be recovered is refunded, and the remainder is recorded as a shortfall for a person to deal with. It is not created out of nothing.
So if you are asking whether you will definitely get your money back if you win: only if the seller still has it. Anything beyond that needs to be handled manually, and you should contact support if you win a dispute and receive less than expected.
A recovery can never push the seller's balance below zero.
There is no published timeframe for resolving a dispute. Nothing resolves automatically after a set period, and nothing expires. Cases are decided by a person.
If your dispute has been open for a long time without movement, contact support.
These get confused constantly, and they have different fixes:
If you cannot spend your balance at all, that is a locked wallet rather than a dispute, and you should contact support. See Your wallet balance and transaction history.
We'll reply within a business day.