How Does Escrow Work?
Buyers don’t want to pay for a product that’s broken or never arrives. Sellers don’t want to send a product to someone without a surefire way to get paid. Escrow solves both problems.
With every sale on OmniBazaar, the payment is locked in a secure system called a Smart Contract. While locked in, the money is untouchable by the buyer, the seller, the company, and anyone else who’d be interested in it. The only way to unlock it? The buyer and the seller both agree to!
When the buyer has seen the item and found it’s what they ordered, they can mark the escrow as all good on their end. The seller, likewise, can mark it good once their needs and conditions are met. Once both have given an all clear, the payment is automatically released to the seller. Win-win!
If both don’t wish to move forward, cancelling the transaction is easy.
What if they don’t agree? If either doesn’t like the deal, they can file a dispute. Third parties called Arbiters will investigate and decide who was right in the dispute and if the Smart Contract should release payment to the seller or return it to the buyer. Arbiters are unbiased in their work since they’re paid the same amount whether siding with the buyer or seller, and they’re anonymous the whole time so there’s no way to bribe or influence them. In other words: the arbiters can be trusted.
As an extra precaution: three different arbiters are summoned for each dispute at random draw, with no way to coordinate or communicate with each other or to pick which disputes they’re assigned. Basically: you’ll have a trio jury of your peers helping settle disputes with as many guardrails in place to keep them honest.
How Do You Become and Arbiter?
The process is simple: check that you meet requirements, apply, and then see if you’re accepted. If you are, then you’ll begin receiving requests soon.
As an arbiter, your task is simple: see which of the two parties was right in their dispute, and levy judgement. If you’re an honorable person who likes judging people, this is the gig for you!
Beyond that: sit back, relax, and get paid to judge people’s purchases.
How Are Arbiters Paid?
If brought in, arbiters are paid after the dispute is handled (whether for or against the seller). Generally, agents are paid a percentage of the sale price, paid by whoever filed the dispute It’s a way to guarantee neither party is favored or has the system biased towards them, and also to guarantee the arbiter is paid for their work regardless.
How Much Money Can An Arbiter Make?
That’s up to you. By being active in the ecosystem, and maintaining a positive reputation, you’ll gradually accrue more and more cases.