Two clocks started this week for people who bought from the online sneaker marketplace GOAT. The Federal Trade Commission says it is sending 6,205 refund payments, and checks must be cashed within 90 days while PayPal payments must be accepted within 30. The agency lists the details on its GOAT refunds page.
The shorter clock belongs to PayPal
Payments to the group total more than $100,000, the FTC said in an October 6 press release. That works out to about $16 a person. Most people will get a check in the mail, the FTC says. Others will get a PayPal payment.
The two methods run on different timetables. A check carries a cash-by period of 90 days, and the FTC says to cash it “within 90 days, as indicated on the check.” A PayPal payment must be redeemed within 30 days. A person who ignores a PayPal notice for a month may lose the money long before a mailed check would have expired.
For someone who gave GOAT an email address tied to a PayPal account they rarely open, that notice may land in a spam folder. Checking that folder, and the account itself, is the practical step the 30-day limit calls for.
A refund with a cash-by date is easy to lose track of in a pile of mail, and The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes a claim log and payment tracker for noting when a check or payment arrives and when it has to be used.
Open the payment tracker for a GOAT refund check →
Who is getting a payment
The FTC says the money goes to people who were deceived by GOAT’s shipping and refund policies and who have not yet received a payment. These are customers who paid extra for faster shipping and, the agency says, saw orders arrive late, and customers who asked for refunds and were turned down or given only partial refunds or store credit.
The FTC’s 2024 case against the company gives the background. In a December 2024 announcement, the agency alleged GOAT shipped 37 percent of “Instant” orders later than promised and more than 16 percent of “Next Day” orders after the promised time, and that it did not give buyers the chance to cancel and get a prompt refund as the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule requires. The order required GOAT to pay $2,013,527 in consumer refunds. Those are the FTC’s allegations, resolved in a settled order.
The payments now going out are a second round. GOAT paid more than $736,000 directly to customers in 2025, the FTC says, and the payments now going out are separate from that round.
No form, no fee
There is nothing to apply for in this round. The FTC is sending the payments through its refund administrator, JND Legal Administration, and describes no application or fee. The FTC also warns that “the Commission never requires people to pay money or provide account information to get a payment.” A message that asks for a processing fee, a bank login or a card number in exchange for a GOAT refund is not coming from the FTC.
A real check will come in the mail from the administrator. The FTC lists JND’s number for questions as 1-888-970-2410.
If a check or payment does not show up
Someone who bought from GOAT and was refused a refund or got a late order may wonder why no payment has come. The FTC has not said when all payments will arrive, and the 6,205 count is the group in this distribution, not everyone who ever bought from the site. A person who believes a payment is owed but has not seen one can call the administrator and ask whether a payment was issued and by which method.
A second reason a payment might go missing is an old address. Mail sent to a former home may never reach the person it was meant for. The administrator’s phone line is the place to ask about a changed address.
Cashing a GOAT check before the 90 days run out
The route that costs nothing is the FTC’s GOAT refunds page, which explains who is getting paid and how, and lists the administrator’s contact information. A person who gets a check should note the date it arrives and count 90 days forward, since the cash-by date is printed on the check itself.
Anyone who receives a PayPal notice should open it from the PayPal site or app rather than from a link in an email, and finish the redemption inside the 30 days. Banks may take several days to clear a deposited check, so depositing it well before the last day leaves room for a problem.
The FTC’s press release is the source for both deadlines: 90 days for checks and 30 days for PayPal payments, and the agency’s refund page repeats them.
To keep the check’s arrival date, the cash-by date and the PayPal deadline in one place, The Settlement & Refund Recovery System adds a claim log and payment tracker, and a guide to getting an expired or uncashed settlement check reissued.
Get the tracker and reissue guide for GOAT refund checks →
This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the Federal Trade Commission pages linked above.
