Escrow is the safest form of payment and collection of money for some of the most important and known marketplaces in the world today. Moreover, a large part of their success is based on the fact that they make escrow available to their users. Without that method, they might never have been able to get people to trust them and their business would not have taken off.
Below we will review the five most important Marketplaces that use escrow and what exact functionality they provide. Still, remember that there are many more applications for escrow.
If you have in mind to start your own Marketplace or give a boost to the one you already created, we advise you to contact Marketpay. We make it easy for your platform to collect and pay with the escrow system.
Blablacar
A few days ago we explained how escrow makes Blablacar safe and why the carpool app wouldn’t work without that method of payment. It consists of the fact that the payment is not made directly to the driver, but remains in deposit until the destination is reached. When the passengers confirm that everything has gone well, the salesman is paid.
This avoids drivers not showing up and leaving their passengers stranded, as well as eliminating the need to carry cash.
Airbnb
Continuing with the Marketplaces on the collaborative economy, we find the reference platform for vacation rentals, with a presence in 192 countries. When a guest pays for a booking, the money is kept in an Airbnb account. If everything goes well, the host is paid 24 hours after the guest’s arrival. If the guest arrives at a place and does not meet the agreed-upon time, he can cancel the payment without any problem.
eBay
One of the payment methods you can choose from on the world’s most popular auction site is escrow. Specifically, with escrow.com. In this comparison about escrow API, we have already seen that for Marketplace it is the most expensive option, while Marketpay is the cheapest and most complete.
This ensures that the seller will not receive the money until the buyer receives the product, thus avoiding scams as common as disappearing without sending anything once it has been collected.
Alibaba
Although it is usually related to Chinese businesses, which are in the majority, any company can sell there, so we consider it a marketplace. Among the modes of payment and collection, you can choose the escrow. As in eBay, this guarantees that the product will reach the buyer, even if it is sent from the other side of the world. If not, the money is safe and can be recovered.
Freelancer
Freelancer brings together people who need a service and professionals who offer to perform it. The operation by escrow is similar to the previous cases. The client leaves the payment in the deposit (which is notified to the professional) and when the work is delivered, the user who hired the work releases the payment.
On the one hand, it ensures that the client will receive the work correctly and on time while, on the other hand, the professional will be paid without delays or the need to go after the other party to get paid.
