Marktplaats

Is Marktplaats safe?

Marktplaats is a reasonably safe place to buy and sell second-hand in the Netherlands, if you keep the deal inside its chat and send parcels with its own shipping. It is one of the few classifieds apps that makes two-step login compulsory, it holds the buyer's money on shipped items, and we found no fines or orders against it from the Dutch consumer or data protection authorities. The weak points are the familiar ones: no cover for collections or bank transfers, a steady stream of fake payment links, and an app that shares email, search and location data for advertising. We score it 53/100.

Marktplaats is the big Dutch classifieds app, with about 744,000 ratings on the Dutch App Store. It belongs to Adevinta, which also runs leboncoin in France and Kleinanzeigen in Germany. The apps share a parent and some policies, but each has its own disclosures, features and record, so we score them separately.

Kopersbescherming: what it covers

Marktplaats's buyer protection, Kopersbescherming, is run by the payment company Online Payment Platform (OPP). The seller sends a payment request in Berichten, Marktplaats's chat, you pay, and OPP holds the money. It is applied by default when the seller ships with Marktplaats shipping (DHL, PostNL, Budbee or Brenger), for a small percentage of the price. The seller has 72 hours to activate shipping or the purchase is cancelled.

Once the parcel arrives, you have 48 hours to check it and report a problem; OPP then holds the money while it investigates. If you say nothing, the seller is paid automatically after those 48 hours. A parcel that never arrives must be reported within 14 days of paying, even if tracking still shows it as on its way. Some categories, including animals and tickets, are excluded, and a payment request for a collection can be sent without protection. Cash and bank transfers have none.

Fake payment links are the main scam

Marktplaats keeps a running list of phishing examples, and the latest entries show how the trick evolves. In September 2026 fraudsters were guessing sellers' email addresses from their usernames (a seller called jandevries gets mail at a jandevries address) and sending "your ad is sold, confirm your payment" emails with a fake link. In June 2026 the same message came by SMS. The link opens a page that looks like Marktplaats or a bank and asks you to log in or approve a payment, and the money goes out of your account, sometimes to an account in a name close to yours.

Marktplaats's rules are simple and worth memorising. It never asks you by SMS to confirm a sale or payout through your bank. It never asks for your email address or phone number in the chat, and it never contacts users through Berichten. A buyer does not need your email to pay a real payment request. Its advice is to pick a username that does not match your email address and to keep your phone number private until you trust the other person.

These are the same scams that run on Kleinanzeigen and Facebook Marketplace: the platform's own payment feature turned into bait.

Account security

Marktplaats requires SMS two-step verificationTwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary for all accounts. When you log in for the first time on a new device or from a new location, you need a code sent by SMS as well as your password. SMS codes are weaker than an authenticator app, but making the check compulsory protects far more people than an optional setting most users never switch on. Google Play says data is encrypted in transit. Adevinta, the parent company, takes security reports through a HackerOne disclosure form and promises not to sue researchers who follow its rules. We found no bounty. We found no reported breach.

What the app tracks

Apple's label lists email address, user content, search history, browsing history, user and device IDs, coarse location, product interaction and advertising data as used to track you across other companies' apps and websites. Google Play's data safety section adds that name, email, user IDs, purchase history and precise and approximate location are shared with other companies for advertising.

The privacy statement, last updated on 21 July 2026, explains this. With your consent, Marktplaats shows personalised ads from other companies on and off its site, targets audiences using pseudonymised data such as email addresses, and can use your precise location for location-based ads. It also markets on behalf of other Adevinta companies. You can withdraw ad consent at any time, and deleting your account from the profile settings counts as a full erasure request. A copy of your data needs a request form and identity check.

How to use Marktplaats safely

1. Send and buy posted items only with Marktplaats shipping, so Kopersbescherming applies, and check parcels within 48 hours.
2. Ignore any email or SMS saying you have sold something; check the payment overview in the app.
3. Choose a username that does not reveal your email address or real name.
4. Never move the chat to WhatsApp or email, and never log in to your bank through a link someone sends.
5. Withdraw ad consent in the privacy settings if you do not want your data used for third-party ads.

How we scored it

The regulatory record (88) is Marktplaats's best factor: we found no fines or orders. It stays below 90 because no regulator has published a full review of the app; the consumer authority's 2020 note on coronavirus offers followed a call to all platforms. Privacy (36) is the weakest, because the store disclosures list email and location data used for ads. Security (63) is higher than most classifieds apps thanks to mandatory SMS verification. For escrow on every posted sale, compare Vinted.