How the marketplace works
How the marketplace works
There are three ways in. List if you already know what you offer, post a request if there is something you need done, and use the sale market to buy and sell goods.
| Route | Who starts it | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Listing | The person who can do the work | Work where scope and price can be fixed in advance |
| Request | The person who needs it done | Anything still loosely defined, where you want to talk first |
| Sale market | The seller | Goods, where the price may be negotiated |
You can start any of these before completing identity verification. It is needed at the point where you withdraw what you have earned, so getting it done early avoids being held up (Identity verification).
How payment moves
In all three cases, we hold the payment first. It does not pass directly to the other side.
It works this way so that the provider does not have to worry about being paid, and the client does not have to worry about delivery. For the detail, see Escrow and how a job progresses.
Before you start
- 01Choose a handleIt appears in the URL of your public page. Changing it later moves your old URLs.
- 02Fill in your profileAn empty profile gets almost no response, whether you list or request.
- 03Create a listing, or post a requestEither on its own is fine. You can also do both.
When the fee is taken
The fee is deducted at the point the payment is released to the provider. Creating a listing or posting a request costs nothing. If a job does not go ahead, the payment held in escrow returns to the client.
About languages
Listings and requests can be shown in the reader's language. In the URL, content_lang sets the language of the content and lang sets the interface text. A listing written in Japanese can appear in English to an English-speaking visitor, with no need to rewrite the original.
Selling on external marketplaces
If you sell goods as a business, a merchant account lets you list on eBay, Etsy and Yahoo! Shopping as well. One product record is published to each marketplace, and orders from all of them are dispatched from the same screen as orders placed here.
A merchant account is required. See Listing on external marketplaces.
What to read next
- To sell a skill → Listing a skill
- To commission someone → Posting a request and receiving offers
- To buy or sell goods → Using the sale market
- To reach external marketplaces → Sales channel integration
Did this page help?
Your answer tells us which pages need rewriting.
- Whether this concerns a listing, a request or a sale
- The listing name or the request title
Never include your password, verification codes or card PIN. How tickets work