How about decentralized community blockchain marketplaces without escrow?

[Pmalek]

The marketplace operator would have to first allow the marketplace user seller privileges before they would be able to sell. There could be some rules set in place such as the user must have a certain amount of positive feedback before they would be able to sell.

But if no one is allowed to sell and can only buy in the beginning, who will be creating the sell orders? Will you have a whitelisted team of sellers that you personally select and give them selling privileges as soon as they register? Seems a bit unfair to be honest.

Both Ebay and Amazon never used an escrow service that made sellers wait to receive payment for the items they sold and shipped. Not using an escrow seemed to have worked out well for them.

Yes, but they have buyer protection. I will get my money back if you ship bogus items and provide services that don't work as advertised.

[aioc]

OP, obviously you don't understand what the role of escrow is here. Their task is more complex than you think and there is no reason to eliminate them especially to ensure the satisfaction of both parties. Some services that automate the escrow system also don't work well and many fail to resolve transaction disputes.

I guess we can agree to disagree then. Like I mentioned earlier I was an international seller on Ebay and Amazon before electronic payment systems like Paypal even existed. I remember the rules in place and how it was made to work primarily based on marketplace user rating and feedback. I think the near instant settlement of crypto is very applicable to how it was before there was a Paypal or other electronic payment systems.

Ratings and feedback can be faked and if your marketplace offers KYC for buyers I don't think it will receive acceptance from the majority of the Cryptocurrency community, so many market relies on Paypal because of Paypal's chargeback and dispute features which a seller and buyer can use if they are not satisfied with the transaction, but when it comes to Cryptocurrency, escrow is the the most popular and reliable.
It protect the buyer and sellers from bogus transaction and it protects the buyers and sellers' anonymity.

[Pmalek]

It protect the buyer and sellers from bogus transaction and it protects the buyers and sellers' anonymity.

Escrow can ensure that the deal goes down as agreed, that's true. It doesn't do much to protect ones anonymity though, and neither does crypto if we are talking about physical goods. If the buyer sells physical items that have to be shipped to the seller, you are going to have to give them your address, name, etc. Let's be honest, very few people use PO boxes, so revealing who you are and where you are from happens often.

[examplens]

Both Ebay and Amazon never used an escrow service that made sellers wait to receive payment for the items they sold and shipped. Not using an escrow seemed to have worked out well for them.

Yes, but they have buyer protection. I will get my money back if you ship bogus items and provide services that don't work as advertised.

Plus, a ban on their platforms for sellers is a bigger penalty than simply returning money through escrow.

Probably the most complicated part of the escrow is to confirm that there really was an exchange of goods. This is not a problem with transactions on a public blockchain like Bitcoin, already when the mediator has to determine whether a certain service has been performed in all the frameworks of the contract.

For a while, the platform https://zen.land/ was quite active here, I tested them and they seemed promising.

OP, @SelfCustody, is there a possibility to write all the answers in one post, and not to write a new post for each reply? It's just tiring to read, and otherwise, it's against the forum rules

[Darker45]

I'm afraid it's not really marketplace insolvency that's the problem. The problem is inconvenience to sellers. However, they cannot entirely remove it because it's the direct result of the solution to another problem. You have to take note that Bitcoin transactions are irreversible. Once the buyer sends the payment and the transaction is already confirmed, there's no way he/she can reverse it as soon as he/she got the wrong, defective, or substandard goods. This is the reason why there has to be some kind of party that ensures the safety and security of everybody.

I understand that you've been a pioneer international seller on Ebay and Amazon, and you're trying to find a solution to a problem you've been dealing with. However, much bigger than your problem when it comes to E-commerce in general is the low quality or sub-standard goods. It's a much larger problem and it's being addressed by the escrow system.

Yes the marketplace operator would help filter out bad actors from even being able to list in the first place and being an arbitrator should disputes arise.

Then you're not talking of a decentralized peer-to-peer marketplace.

And what could the arbiter do when the payment is already made? Will you implement KYC or something else to make sure sellers could be held accountable in case of disputes?