Escrow, payment & 24-hour policy

Last updated: Aligned with the current non-custodial escrow version on the Polygon network.

This page explains in plain language how your order funds are held, when they are released, what the 24-hour rule is, and what extra protections apply on sensitive or high-value orders. Visual guides: buyer guide and seller claim settlement.

Important note: The exact numbers for each order (amount, fees, deadlines) are what you see at checkout and confirm with your wallet. If any general explanation here differs from that order, the terms of that order control.

0. What is escrow? (in plain language)

Escrow is like a neutral “safe” on the blockchain: funds move from the buyer’s wallet into this safe, and until the pre-set conditions are met, they neither reach the seller nor can anyone send them to an arbitrary address.

1. shopceeper does not hold your wallet keys and does not keep funds in its own bank account or wallet.
2. After payment, funds move according to the contract’s fixed rules; the platform cannot later change the amount or destination “at will.”
3. Escrow does not guarantee the seller will ship or that quality will be perfect; it guarantees that until conditions are met, funds only move along allowed paths.
4. Arbitrators and support also cannot take funds for themselves; they can only apply a dispute outcome within the defined rules.
5. Fee-rate changes or new rules only affect later orders; the current order runs under the terms locked at payment time.

1. Network, tokens, and what you need

• Payment happens only on the Polygon network.
• The payment token is whatever that order shows (usually USDT, USDC, or CC on Polygon).
• You need a small amount of POL for network fees (gas); this is separate from the item price.
• Direct payment from a centralized exchange to a “dedicated order address” is not supported in this model; you must pay from your own Web3 wallet (such as MetaMask or WalletConnect).

2. From cart to confirming order terms

1. At checkout, the system calculates and shows you the final amounts: total order amount, approximate seller share, platform fee, and any referrer share or discount if applicable.
2. The seller must already have registered their settlement wallet; otherwise a payable order is not created.
3. You review that order’s terms and confirm with your wallet. That confirmation locks the amount, fees, deadlines, and addresses for that order.
4. Simple, mandatory accounting: the total order amount always equals “seller share + referrer share (if any) + platform fee.” The platform fee is a percentage of the total, set on that order in advance (for example, 3% means 3 units of fee on every 100 units).
5. Until payment is completed, the order is only “awaiting payment” and funds have not moved yet.

3. How does payment work?

1. First you allow the contract to pull up to your payable amount from your wallet (this approval is usually a separate wallet step).
2. Then you finalize payment; the contract takes exactly that amount — no less and no more.
3. If a platform subsidy or discount applies to you, the treasury covers that part; on cancel, that subsidy returns to the treasury.
4. After successful payment, the order enters a “cancellable” state and you usually have about 24 hours to cancel (see the exact deadline on that order’s page).

If a helper service for submitting transactions is enabled, it only executes the transaction you yourself signed; it cannot change the amount or destination.

4. Deadline timeline (what follows what)

Each order defines several deadlines in sequence. The usual order is:

The overall order lifetime also has a cap and cannot exceed the policy limit. Always check the exact numbers on that order’s page.

5. Three settlement security levels (order mode)

Every order has one of three levels. The level is chosen on the product/order and locked at payment. On day one, usually only the Standard level is active; Sensitive and High-value appear in Checkout when they are turned on.

Exact price or category thresholds are set by policy and product settings and are shown on that order.

5.1 Standard level — full flow

For the buyer: Funds stay in escrow until valid shipment and your confirmation (or auto-release). If the seller does not record shipment by the ship deadline, a non-shipment refund is available and most of the money returns.
For the seller: After the cancel window ends, the buyer can no longer cancel unilaterally; after shipment and confirm/auto-release, the seller share becomes claimable.

1. Paid → you can cancel until the deadline ends.
2. Cancel deadline ends → the order locks and the seller must ship.
3. The seller records shipment before the ship deadline.
4. Release by your confirmation, or after auto-release time (if conditions are met).
5. If locked, not shipped, and the deadline passes → non-shipment refund.
6. Quality disputes at Standard level go through support and returns; if both parties agree, they can do a mutual settlement (not free admin discretion over any amount).

5.2 Sensitive level — evidence and arbitration

1. Before release is allowed, at least one piece of evidence must be recorded (a digital fingerprint of the evidence file; for integrity, not by itself absolute “truth”).
2. Auto-release only happens when both the release time and (if any) the verification deadline have passed and evidence is recorded. You can confirm earlier after evidence is recorded.
3. Buyer or seller can open a formal dispute by the set deadline; opening a dispute pauses release.
4. The order’s pre-assigned arbitrator decides how the buyer’s paid funds are split between buyer refund and seller share. Any dispute bond goes only to buyer or seller, not to the arbitrator.
5. If the first arbitrator does not act by the deadline and a substitute is defined, the substitute may decide.
6. If both arbitrators are late, an emergency buyer refund path (minus the cancel fee) activates so the order does not stay locked forever.

5.3 High-value level — bond and appeal

1. All Sensitive-level rules are mandatory.
2. A substitute arbitrator and an appeal panel are required and must be different people/roles.
3. Opening a dispute usually requires a bond (common example: about 0.5% of the total order amount). The bond is held separately from the principal.
4. After the arbitrator’s decision, an appeal window opens; the losing side can request an appeal. The panel makes the final decision; if the panel stays silent until the deadline, the initial decision becomes final.
5. If nobody appeals and the window ends, the result is executed and credits become claimable.

6. Cancel / refund processing fee (0.5%)

• Common default: 0.5% of the amount related to the refund — this number is locked per order (the contract cap is usually at most 10%).
• Buyer cancel or non-shipment: the fee is calculated on the total order amount; you receive what you paid minus this fee; the remainder (and any subsidy) goes to the treasury.
• Mutual settlement or arbitration with default growth-reward mode: the fee is usually deducted from the buyer’s refund share.

7. Simple numeric examples

Example A — Standard level, 100-unit item

• Assume: total 100, no subsidy, platform fee 3% → fee 3, seller share 97, cancel fee 0.5%.
• Cancel within 24 hours: cancel fee 0.50 → about 99.50 to the buyer; 0.50 to the treasury.
• Ship + confirm: seller receives 97; treasury 3 (minus any referrer share).
• Non-shipment: similar to cancel, about 99.50 to the buyer.
• Buyer security: until confirm or auto-release, funds are not with the seller.
  Seller security: after lock, unilateral cancel is not possible.

Example B — Standard level, 1,000 units

• Total 1,000, fee 3% → fee 30, seller share 970.
• Cancel: fee 5 → refund 995.
• 50/50 agreement on the buyer’s paid amount: 500 to buyer (minus about 2.5 fee from the refund share = about 497.5 net) and 500 to seller; treasury about 2.5.

Example C — Sensitive level, 5,000 units

• Evidence must be recorded before release (for example serial, package photo, file fingerprint).
• If a dispute opens and the arbitrator awards 50/50: about 2,500 to each side; about 0.5% is deducted from the buyer’s refund share (buyer net roughly about 2,487.5).
• If the arbitrator awards fully to the seller and growth reward is preserved, the result is like a normal full release.
• Buyer security: without evidence and without confirm/verification completion, early release does not happen; you can open a dispute.
  Seller security: after evidence and confirm (or windows ending with no dispute), claim is definitive; the arbitrator does not take funds for themselves.

Example D — High-value level, 25,000 units

• Sample bond 0.5% → about 125 units when opening a dispute (separate from 25,000).
• Principal stays in escrow; the bond is held separately and at the end goes only to buyer or seller.
• The arbitrator decides; the loser can appeal. If both arbitrators are late, the emergency refund path (minus cancel fee) activates.
• Buyer security: high value with evidence + arbitration + appeal + bond against frivolous disputes.
  Seller security: disputes are not free; the appeal panel is independent of the first arbitrator.

Example E — subsidy / discount

• Total amount 100, subsidy 10 → buyer pays 90.
• Cancel: cancel fee on 100 = 0.5 → buyer refund 89.5; treasury 10.5 (including subsidy).
• The buyer never receives more than they paid (subject to the fee).

8. Order statuses in plain language

9. Funds only move on these paths

1. Order payment — from buyer wallet to escrow (and, if subsidized, a treasury share).
2. Cancel — refund to buyer minus cancel fee; remainder to treasury.
3. Non-shipment refund — similar to cancel regarding fee deduction.
4. Normal release — seller share + platform fee + (if any) referrer share with growth-reward time lock.
5. Mutual settlement — only with both parties’ consent; growth reward on this path is usually voided; any bond returns to the opener.
6. Arbitration / appeal settlement — only the order’s pre-assigned arbitrator or panel; split between buyer and seller + growth-reward status + bond allocation.
7. Emergency refund for arbitrator delay — exit from deadlock in favor of buyer refund (minus fee).
8. Claim funds — anyone with credit withdraws from the contract themselves (they pay gas).

Forbidden: admin, support, backend, or arbitrator cannot send funds to their own address or move arbitrary amounts outside the rules.

10. Evidence, disputes, bond, and growth reward

• Recording evidence: buyer or seller only; at Standard level it is not used for formal on-chain disputes. Usually available after shipment within a time window, or after a dispute opens within a set window.
• Opening a formal dispute: only at Sensitive and High-value levels; from Locked or Shipped status; before the dispute deadline.
• The bond is separate from the principal and at the end goes only to buyer or seller.
• Growth reward (referrer/referral):
  • Void (default): no growth reward is paid; similar to mutual settlement.
  • Fully preserved: only when the entire buyer-paid amount goes to the seller — like a full release.
  • Adjusted: the seller-side share is split proportionally among seller, referrer, and treasury; the buyer refund share has the fee deducted.
• Growth reward is usually not withdrawable until a set time and is separate from the dispute window.

11. Release, claiming funds, and wallet responsibility

• After release or settlement, the amount is recorded as “claimable credit”; the party must claim it themselves and pays network gas.
• Credit on one order does not break credit on another order for the same wallet.
• Changing the seller settlement wallet only affects new orders.
• If a wallet key is lost or the wrong address is registered, the platform does not make manual transfers.
• Numbers in the panel are display mirrors only; the real basis for claiming is on-chain credit.

12. Do not confuse the two fee types

• Platform fee (sales commission): calculated and locked when the order amount is built. Rate details: fees page.
• 0.5% cancel fee: applies only when you have a refund or refund share; it does not replace the sales commission.
• A hard fee-rate cap blocks orders above the cap and cannot be raised in later versions.

13. Support versus formal dispute

• At Standard level, quality/return disputes follow the returns policy, and if both parties agree → mutual settlement.
• At Sensitive and High-value levels, formal dispute complements support, and funds move only by arbitrator/panel decision or mutual agreement.
• Off-channel agreements or payments are not a substitute for escrow.

14. Network gas and revoking unused signatures

• POL gas for creating an order, payment, cancel, shipment, release, dispute, and claim is paid by whoever submits the transaction.
• You can revoke unused order signatures; previous orders remain untouched.

Disclaimer and shared limitations

This section complements the other parts of this document and the terms of service.

1. Non-custodial model: shopceeper does not store or recover your wallet private keys. Payment is from your own wallet and seller receipt is via “claim from contract” — not custodial withdrawal to an arbitrary address.
2. Escrow and admin: funds only move on allowed paths; the platform does not send arbitrary amounts to arbitrary addresses.
3. Blockchain: confirmed transactions are irreversible. Token volatility, network congestion, insufficient gas, wrong addresses, phishing, and third-party contract bugs are outside the platform’s full control.
4. No advice: this page is not legal, tax, or investment advice.
5. As is: the service is provided “as is”; liability for indirect damages is limited to the maximum allowed by law.
6. Conflict: the confirmed terms of that order prevail over any general explanation on this page.
7. Seller and goods: in quality or delivery disputes, the seller is the selling party unless proven platform-infrastructure fault.
8. Advanced levels: whether Sensitive or High-value is active depends on platform and product settings; if Checkout shows Standard, Standard rules apply.