Escrow
Holding a payment after the sale and releasing it to the maker once the buyer has had time to check.
Funds are held for fourteen days and released automatically unless a dispute is opened, in which case the hold extends while it is resolved.
The window is fourteen days rather than longer for a concrete reason: the payment rails cap how long funds can be held, so protection beyond that point is funded from our own reserve rather than from the maker's money.
It moves the risk of a bad purchase off the buyer without leaving makers unpaid for months.
Confusing escrow with a guarantee. Escrow is a hold on one payment; the guarantee is a separate promise backed by a fund.
Related terms
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