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Marketplace Operators

Unicrow can be integrated to a marketplace or to any platform that facilitates trades between its users using our open-source TypeScript SDK (see guide for developers) or a Wordpress plugin (to be released soon) for marketplaces running on Woocommerce and optionally Dokan.

If you're new to web3, we recommend starting with a few basic web3 concepts

Marketplace operators need to set up a couple of things:

  • address to receive marketplace commissions
  • arbitration service
  • optionally, a service to to claim balances from escrows on behalf of the sellers

Receiving commissions​

Marketplaces receive their fee to marketplace address defined in the buyer's deposit transaction. The wallet associated with the marketplace address doesn't need to perform any particular action during the whole escrow lifecycle, it receives the fee automatically when the escrow is released or claimed.

Therefore, the address can be a cold wallet, a hardware wallet, or even a fiat off-ramp, e.g. an exchange, as long as it remains constant and is able to receive the selected token on Arbitrum One. See a guide for sellers for how to receive payments to your own or a hosted wallet, the same steps apply.

The address can be provided to WooCommerce payment settings in case of the Wordpress plugin or to the SDK's pay() functions.

Arbitration​

Arbitrators can resolve disputes, i.e. decide whether the payment should be returned to the buyer, released to the seller, or split between them. The arbitrator is identified by an address defined in the initial transaction (when the buyer paid into the escrow). The address can be provided to WooCommerce payment settings in case of the Wordpress plugin or to the SDK's pay() functions.

To perform its function, the arbitrator must connect the wallet to a dedicated app. Marketplaces can create such an app themselves or redirect their arbitrators to Unicrow web3 app's arbitration page. The arbitrator's wallet must be funded with a small amount (< $1 worth) of ETH on Arbitrum One to execute the arbitration function.

Below a screenshot of an arbitrator refunding a payment to the buyer