4 ms·
Ask HN: Do I need a license to be an escrow?
Hi, I'm working on a C2C web application, and I want to implement an escrow system where user A pays me for an item, user B ships the item to user A, and when everything is received I release the payment to user B.
I want to launch this in the US only (as a Dutch company). The only thing I'm afraid of: do I need any licenses? Will 'they' see me as a bank? How does all this work (especially in the US since there are so many different states with different laws)? Is it hard (especially for a Dutch company)? What can/will happen if you do this without the proper licenses?
Edit: I'm just talking about low-priced objects. The value of the items sold is between $10 and $100.
- davismwfl 13y agoSeems like a question for a US based attorney. Is the escrow management your product or just something you need to offer? It seems to me if it is just something you need to manage, then use a service like Balanced Payments. If it is your business, then seek out some legal advice to make sure you protect yourself.
- Avalaxy 13y agoEscrow'ing is not my business, it's just a measure I'd like to take to protect consumers against other (fraudulent) consumers. It's how AliExpress does it (and maybe ebay too, but I don't really know ebay): you buy an item off the website, pay AliExpress, and when you received the item you can flag it as received. After that, AliExpress pays the money to the merchant that shipped you the item.
- davismwfl 13y agoYou may really want to check out someone like balanced payments. I know there are others out there as well, but they have this type of service, and you can control when funds are released etc. I personally just happen to like Balanced more than most, so I have a bias. But no matter what you do, I personally wouldn't go about writing this type of system as the requirements for security, certifications etc can just consume all your time. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
- Avalaxy 13y agoThanks for the suggestion! Cancelling the project because of some legal obstacles isn't really an option, I put quite a bit of work into this already before I came up with the idea of implementing it as an escrow. I think I'm just going to launch this and see how it goes, making sure everything is compliant with all the rules can be done as soon as I start making money (unfortunately I don't have any money to pay for attorneys and stuff right now, so I have to give it a shot). Btw, balanced looks pretty nice :)
- Avalaxy 13y agoToo bad, Balanced only works with US companies. Bummer.
- davismwfl 13y agoSorry, I should've thought about that, did you try reaching out to them? Just to see if there are any options or things they can suggest? I am trying to think of any other systems like that which exist already. Maybe someone else has some ideas of systems that work where you are. If you do have to go about making something, you might want to checkout the payment API's, like Balanced, Stripe etc to see the type of things they handle. Might help things go a little faster. Good luck.
- Avalaxy 13y agoThanks! I checked with Balanced to see if I can sign up as a European company, but they didn't offer any ways to do that. I'll just keep looking for alternatives.