What happens to OfferUp balance when the owner dies
OfferUp Inc. has a formal process for transferring balance after an account holder dies
OfferUp Support
OfferUp Support (no dedicated estate team published)
OfferUp does not publish a timeline for deceased-seller or estate requests; these are handled individually through OfferUp Support (chat or contact form, with a typical response within about 24 hours). For ordinary shipped sales, buyer funds are held by Stripe and released to the seller after the buyer's inspection window (about 3 days after delivery), then transferred to the seller's debit card or bank deposit account, which OfferUp states completes within about 5 business days. OfferUp has not documented how it processes a pending-payout claim from an estate, so expect the timeline to depend on the support team's review.
OfferUp does not publish a dedicated deceased-seller or estate-succession process, and its Terms of Service list transferring your account to another user as a prohibited use, with no death or succession clause; OfferUp may also terminate account access at its discretion. There is no documented beneficiary designation and no self-service account transfer (only self-service deactivation or permanent deletion, which is not an estate path). The practical estate asset is any pending seller payout — money collected from buyers for completed shipped sales that has not yet been released or transferred to the seller's deposit account. For shipped items, buyer funds are held by Stripe and released to the seller after the buyer's inspection window, then transferred to the seller's debit card or bank account, so a recently completed sale may still be in transit when the seller dies. Because OfferUp publishes no estate procedure, the estate would seek to recover any such pending balance by contacting OfferUp support with proof of death and proof of authority to act for the estate, and OfferUp reviews these situations individually rather than through a documented process — hence case-by-case: the pending payout is a debt that may be claimable, but the timeline, required documents, and outcome are not publicly documented. Funds that already transferred to the seller's debit card or bank account are recovered from that receiving account, not from OfferUp.
How to request a transfer
Here is the process for transferring OfferUp balance after the account holder dies:
- •A certified copy of the death certificate
- •Documentation showing you are authorized to act for the estate (for example, Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration)
- •The email address or phone number on the OfferUp account
- •Government-issued photo identification for the person making the request
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Documentation showing you are authorized to act for the estate (for example, Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration)
- The email address or phone number on the OfferUp account
- Government-issued photo identification for the person making the request
Timeline
OfferUp does not publish a timeline for deceased-seller or estate requests; these are handled individually through OfferUp Support (chat or contact form, with a typical response within about 24 hours). For ordinary shipped sales, buyer funds are held by Stripe and released to the seller after the buyer's inspection window (about 3 days after delivery), then transferred to the seller's debit card or bank deposit account, which OfferUp states completes within about 5 business days. OfferUp has not documented how it processes a pending-payout claim from an estate, so expect the timeline to depend on the support team's review.
Frequently asked questions
OfferUp does not publish a deceased-seller or estate-succession process, and its Terms of Service list transferring your account to another user as a prohibited use, so the account is non-transferable. The main estate asset is any pending seller payout — money collected from buyers for completed shipped sales that has not yet been transferred to the seller's deposit account. The estate would contact OfferUp Support with proof of death and proof of authority to act for the estate, and OfferUp reviews the situation on a case-by-case basis.
A pending payout is money OfferUp (through Stripe) is holding or transferring for completed shipped sales, so it is a debt the estate may seek to recover. OfferUp does not document a specific procedure for this, so the estate must contact OfferUp Support, provide proof of death and proof of authority over the estate, and follow OfferUp's case-by-case review. Funds that already transferred to the seller's debit card or bank account are no longer at OfferUp and are recovered from that receiving account.
No. OfferUp's Terms of Service list transferring your account to another user as a prohibited use, and there is no documented beneficiary designation or self-service transfer. The account offers only self-service deactivation (which preserves data) or permanent deletion (which removes sales history, messages, and payment methods). Continuing to operate the account is not a documented option, so contact OfferUp Support before relying on it.
OfferUp does not publish a required-document list for deceased-seller requests. Estate claims of this kind typically require a certified death certificate, documentation showing authority to act for the estate (such as Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration), the email address or phone number on the account, and photo identification for the requester. Because there is no published procedure, confirm the exact documents directly with OfferUp Support.
Funds that were already paid out are no longer held by OfferUp or Stripe — they went to the deposit account on file, which is either a debit card or a bank account the seller added to the profile (collected and verified by Stripe). The estate should identify that deposit account to locate paid-out funds, and contact OfferUp only about any pending payout still being held or transferred for completed shipped sales.
Generally no. Local-pickup sales are paid in person between buyer and seller, and OfferUp is not a party to those transactions, so there is no payout for OfferUp to hold or release. The pending-payout question applies to nationwide-shipping sales, where the buyer's funds are collected and held by Stripe and released to the seller after the buyer's inspection window before transferring to the deposit account.
The recipient can use transferred balance under the program's normal terms. Keeping the deceased account holder's account number and contact details on file simplifies this process for the executor or surviving family.
Sources
Data sourced from OfferUp Inc. primary sources (5 pages reviewed). How we research.
OfferUp Support
OfferUp Support (no dedicated estate team published)
OfferUp does not publish a timeline for deceased-seller or estate requests; these are handled individually through OfferUp Support (chat or contact form, with a typical response within about 24 hours). For ordinary shipped sales, buyer funds are held by Stripe and released to the seller after the buyer's inspection window (about 3 days after delivery), then transferred to the seller's debit card or bank deposit account, which OfferUp states completes within about 5 business days. OfferUp has not documented how it processes a pending-payout claim from an estate, so expect the timeline to depend on the support team's review.
