Topic: Feature Suggestion: Escrow

I've been involved with almost 15 or so trades here now and 2 of them have had some sort of serious issue. Even though Deckbox has been great for me I realize that a single instance where I send out cards but a partner doesn't reciprocate could wipe out most of the value I've received from this site. Now that we have Paypal integration, however, it's possible that an escrow system could be developed to help protect traders. Just make it so that we can give some amount of money to the site to be held in escrow until we choose to withdraw it, and then trades can be backed by this money is the parties choose to do so.

Maybe this is too complicated (maybe Paypal isn't good for an escrow platform since scammers can just chargeback their escrow commitments, and it might expose Deckbox to liabilities if the procedures underlying escrow penalties are seen as faulty), but I think trust it crucial to this site's functionality and anything that can be done to promote it would be a good idea. One bad experience can drive people away, but mitigating these losses could be valuable.

Last edited by 9700377 (2014-05-29 20:52:28)

Re: Feature Suggestion: Escrow

Yep, we've thought of similar sistems, and I'm pretty sure escrow would solve a lot of trust issues. The problem is that escrow systems are complicated, from a legal / regulation standpoint, and carry a lot of added risk.

Paypal and other payment providers all have special rules when it comes to escrow, and we do not yet have the resources to properly investigate this. (if something goes wrong and paypal blocks our escrow account with 50.000$ of other people's money, that is not a situation I wish to be in without the confidence that I can solve it smoothly smile).

So we're not ruling it out, but it's not on our radar right now.

Last edited by sebi (2014-05-30 08:12:23)