A single-seller checkout stretched to fit
Multiple sellers added on top of a storefront never designed for it, with payouts tracked by hand and disputes resolved case by case.
MARKETPLACES · DUBAI
Many sellers, one checkout, nothing reconciled by hand
A normal store has one seller and one bank account at the end of checkout. A marketplace has many sellers behind one checkout, so a single payment has to split correctly, hold in escrow until a condition is met, and survive a dispute without anyone getting paid twice or not at all.
This is where escrow, split payments and payouts are built into the platform from the start, not stretched on top of a checkout designed for one seller.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
What's included in every marketplace build
Three components underneath every marketplace, regardless of what is being traded.
- Escrow — Payment held until an agreed condition is met, protecting both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction.
- Split payments and payouts — Each party's share calculated and tracked against the specific transaction it came from, not reconciled afterward by hand.
- Dispute handling — A defined path for resolving a disagreement between buyer and seller inside the platform, not outside it in email threads.
THE RANGE OF PRACTICE
What bolted-on looks like, and what built-in looks like
Described by behaviour, not by a score.
Split payments, manual escrow
Money splits correctly at checkout, but holding funds until a condition is met and resolving disputes still happens outside the system.
Escrow, split payments and payouts native to the platform
Every transaction tracked from payment to payout, with disputes handled inside the same system rather than by spreadsheet.
WHAT IT COSTS
What a marketplace in this category costs
A range, not a fixed price, because the number of sides and dispute complexity move the number.
Third-party payment services are billed at cost. We do not mark up other people's software.
Priced per project
Depending on number of sides and payment complexity.
Get a quote1–2 months to MVP
3 months to a genuine commercial test.
You own it
Code, server and data, from handover.
Trust Load, a US logistics marketplace we co-founded, runs on the same escrow and settlement model described above, currently in closed operational testing with limited participants.
STRAIGHT ANSWERS
Questions about this category
The ones that come up before we get to the specifics of your marketplace.
A normal store has one seller and one bank account at the end of checkout. A marketplace has many sellers behind one checkout, so a single payment has to split correctly between them, hold in escrow until a condition is met, and survive a dispute without anyone getting paid twice or not at all.
Holding a payment in a neutral place until an agreed condition is met, delivery confirmed, a service completed, rather than releasing it to the seller the moment a buyer pays. It protects both sides: the buyer is not paying into a void, and the seller is not delivering on a promise.
Each seller's share of a payment is calculated and paid out on its own schedule, tracked against that specific transaction rather than reconciled by hand afterward. That tracking is what usually breaks first when a marketplace is built on top of a single-seller checkout instead of being designed for many sellers from the start.
Priced per project, depending on the number of sides, payment complexity and dispute handling required. An MVP typically takes one to two months, with three months to a genuine commercial test. Third-party payment services are billed at cost, never marked up.
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Marketplaces sit alongside SaaS platforms and property systems as the three larger platform categories we build, each with its own data model and its own way of breaking.