Why The Robot Services Exchange Doesn’t Handle Payments
The exchange records the price. The two sides settle. The take-rate on a job is zero.
The exchange records the price. The two sides settle. The take-rate on a job is zero.
A demand account posts a bid with a service and a price. A supply account grabs the job. The buyer and the provider each sign with a rating from 1 to 5, and the job is completed only when both have signed. The bid stores a currency and a payment method. Those fields are settlement hints for the two sides, unless a configured provider is told to charge now. The exchange does not add a fee to the price.
A bid records a service, a price, and a location type of physical, remote, or hybrid. A supply account grabs the job. A seat is required for a physical or hybrid grab only when seat verification is on, and that gate is currently off. A remote grab does not send a seat. The buyer and the provider each sign with a rating from 1 to 5, and the job is completed only when both have signed. The public portfolio then shows a reputation score and completion cards. Any client that can call the API can post a bid or grab a job, and the exchange does not replace that client’s customer, brand, or payment method.
A supply account grabs an open bid at the price on that bid. Among matching peers, the higher price is preferred. The exchange does not add a fee to the price.
A seat is a number and an owner. Seats are not money. All seats are identical. A seat is the right to grab jobs on the exchange. The price of a seat is zero.
A demand account or a supply account calls POST /seats/issue and receives the next seat. A second call returns the active seat already held. Demand-side access and supply-side access are free forever. The investors page and the business plan both model seat revenue at $0.
The price on the bid is the price the parties keep. A seat is the right to grab jobs at that price.
The investors page and the business plan both model a take-rate of zero. GMV is jobs cleared.
Each bar is new seats that year times $0, at network scale 1.0.
Instagram began as a photo and a follow. It now includes short video, a shop, a messenger, live broadcast, and an ad system. Over the same years, the top U.S. iPhone apps added features, and the core download grew.
Each bar is the combined core download of that month’s top 10 U.S. iPhone apps, excluding caches and extra downloads. May 2013 and May 2017 count the most-installed apps (Sensor Tower, June 2017). January 2016 and May 2021 count the most-downloaded apps (Sensor Tower, June 2021). May 2017 is about 1.9 GB.
A job does not need that path. Pencil and paper already clear one. The slip records the work, the price, and the supply account that grabbed the job. The buyer and the provider each sign.
Payment is not on the slip.
Custody, card networks, chargebacks, payout files, and a refund desk are each a product of their own. The exchange does not add them. The bid stores a payment method. That field is a settlement hint for the two sides, unless a configured provider is told to charge now. Cash, a bank transfer, or a card processor is already how the two sides pay.
Amazon takes the customer’s payment and stands behind the order. Refunds, fraud, and the A-to-z guarantee sit with the company that held the money. On Facebook Marketplace, the buyer and the seller arrange an ordinary local sale. The buyer pays the seller. Marketplace did not take the funds, so Marketplace is not the one who sends them back.
Taking the payment is what makes a company the merchant of record. The bid stores a currency and a payment method. Those fields are settlement hints for the two sides, unless a configured provider is told to charge now. The buyer and the provider each sign with a rating from 1 to 5. A party to the job can file a dispute with a reason. The dispute flags the job for admin review. It does not automatically cancel a payment or reverse the ratings. The exchange does not add a fee to the price.
Crypto may or may not be how a seat is held and transferred later. That is a question about who owns the right to grab jobs. It is not a plan to settle the job on a chain. The two sides settle the job in the money they already use. Seats are not money.
The bid records the price. The buyer and the provider each sign with a rating from 1 to 5. The two sides settle the job. The take-rate on a job is zero, and it stays zero.