The Federal Trade Commission is sending 6,205 payments totaling more than $100,000 to people who bought from the sneaker and apparel marketplace GOAT and were hurt by its shipping and refund practices. Most will arrive as paper checks. Some will come through PayPal.
The clock is short. The FTC says a check should be cashed within 90 days, and a PayPal payment should be accepted within 30 days. The agency announced the payments on October 6.
Who is getting a payment
According to the FTC’s GOAT refunds page, the payments go to people who paid GOAT for expedited shipping between 2020 and 2024 and who did not get a refund from the company. No claim form is mentioned for this round, and the FTC says it is paying customers who have not yet received a payment.
The agency did not publish an average, but the figures it did publish put the typical payment at roughly $16. That is a rough estimate, because the FTC describes the total only as more than $100,000.
Anyone who bought from GOAT in that period and never saw a shipping refund should watch the mailbox and the email linked to a PayPal account. The refund administrator is JND Legal Administration, which can be reached at 1-888-970-2410, according to the FTC’s October 6 announcement.
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Why the FTC went after GOAT
The payments trace back to a December 2024 case. The FTC alleged that GOAT shipped some orders later than promised, including 37% of “Instant” orders, and shipped more than 16% of “Next Day” orders on the second day or later, even though buyers paid $14.50 to $25 for the upgrade, according to the agency’s 2024 announcement.
The complaint also said the company failed to offer buyers a chance to accept a delay or cancel for a prompt refund, as the FTC’s Mail, Internet or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule requires. GOAT’s buyer protection policy allegedly promised full refunds, yet the company often rejected requests or gave only partial refunds or store credit.
Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said forcing consumers to jump through hoops or keep complaining to get a promised refund was the problem. The order required GOAT to pay $2,013,527 in refunds. The case itself is filed in the Central District of California as FTC v. 1661, Inc., doing business as GOAT.
How much has been returned so far
This is the second round of money. The FTC says that in 2025 GOAT directly refunded more than $736,000 to affected customers as part of its settlement with the agency. The new payments of more than $100,000 go to customers the FTC says have not yet received a payment.
Together, those two rounds are well below the order of more than $2 million. The FTC’s announcement does not explain the gap between the order and the amounts distributed, so the figures are best read as separate payments rather than a running total.
Checks, PayPal and spotting a refund scam
Refund payments attract imitators. The FTC’s refund FAQ says people should never pay money or give sensitive financial information to get a refund payment from the FTC, and that anyone claiming to be from the FTC and asking for money is running a scam.
The FAQ also advises against clicking links in emails that seem to come from the FTC or PayPal. It recommends typing ftc.gov/refunds or PayPal.com into the browser instead. A legitimate payment can be checked by confirming the case is listed at ftc.gov/refunds and calling the number printed on the check or email.
The FAQ also explains who actually sends the money. The FTC pays by check, prepaid debit card, PayPal or Zelle, often through private contractors, and JND Legal Administration is one of five it works with. A PayPal refund email should come from an address ending in .gov, which is one more way to tell a real notice from a fake.
The FTC says it generally does not issue tax forms for refund payments. If a 1099 arrives with a check, the payment should be reported as income, and a tax advisor can answer questions about it.
What happens if the check is lost or expires
The FAQ says that if the fund still has money, the FTC may be able to reissue an expired check, and that people should call the number on the claim form, check or email. Reissues are generally processed once a month after the initial distribution.
That monthly rhythm matters for anyone who is travelling, in the hospital or otherwise away from the mail for several weeks. A 90-day window that starts on the date printed on the check can close before the envelope is opened.
Anyone who thinks a payment is missing should call JND Legal Administration at 1-888-970-2410 rather than a number found in an email or text message. The refund page for the case is the place to confirm that the number is real.
Is a GOAT check sitting in the mailbox, or on its way?
A check that is not cashed inside 90 days stops being simple. The date printed on it, a move or a stack of unopened mail can turn a roughly $16 payment into a reissue request.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System explains how to get an expired or uncashed settlement check reissued, and it holds a claim log and payment tracker for keeping dates in one place. It also lists the official places where settlement money sits, so a lost check can be traced to the right office.
Get the guide to reissuing an uncashed settlement check, with a payment tracker →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
