Cancelling and refunds
Last updated: 23 October 2026
What you can do depends on how far the order has got. Before a seller starts work, cancelling is simple. After they start, you are protected by a deadline rather than by negotiation.
Before work starts
As a buyer you can cancel an order that is still waiting to be accepted, or has been accepted but not started. If you had already paid, you are refunded in full.
If a delivery is late
Once the agreed delivery window has passed by more than 24 hours, you can cancel on your own and be refunded in full. The seller does not need to agree, because lateness is arithmetic rather than opinion.
If you asked for a revision, the deadline is recalculated from the date you asked, not from the original order — the seller gets a fair window for the extra work.
If the work is not what was agreed
When a delivery arrives but does not match what was agreed, you can request a revision if the package includes one, or open a dispute. Sawa then reads the order and the messages and decides: the buyer is refunded, the seller is paid, or the amount is split.
This is the reason to keep everything on Sawa. A dispute is decided on the record of the order, and anything agreed off-platform is not part of that record.
What a cancellation costs a seller
Only cancellations that are the seller's own fault count against their level. A buyer cancelling before work starts, or an unpaid order expiring, does not.