What it takes to sell on the market

The bond

Before a vendor can list, a bond is posted. It is not a fee, it is a stake that sits against the account and is returned when the vendor closes out clean. The size is set by the market and is sized to the kind of order the vendor intends to take, so a vendor selling low ticket goods posts less than one selling high ticket ones.

The bond is the mechanism that makes a bad seller expensive. A vendor who ships nothing and disappears has to leave the bond behind, and the market recovers it from the account. That is the whole argument for a bond over a reputation score, which a new vendor with no history cannot have yet.

The requirements that are not optional

• A PGP key, imported into the account. The market uses it to encrypt messages to the vendor, and it is the vendor’s proof of identity to the market.
• Two factor authentication on the account, the same check a buyer sets up, and the same reason.
• Listings that name the item accurately. A listing that describes the item as one grade and ships another is a misrepresentation, and the rules treat it as a removal, not a warning.
• Orders kept on the platform. A vendor who moves a deal to a private channel loses the escrow, which is the point of the platform in the first place.

What gets a vendor removed

The removals that happen most are the boring ones. A vendor who does not answer a dispute in time, a vendor who ships a banned item, and a vendor who keeps a balance and stops showing up. The banned item list is short and specific, and it is the one worth reading before you list, because the penalty for a banned item is the account, not the order.

The honest framing is that the requirements are a filter, not a guarantee. A vendor who meets every one of them can still be slow, and a vendor who misses one can still be the best seller in the category. The requirements keep the floor high. Judging the vendor above the floor is the feedback and the shipping time on the listing, and that part is still on you.