Buy Process

The buying process of Particl Marketplace gives you more privacy, security, and censorship resistance than any other online marketplace. It is also entirely free to use except for the tiny sub-cent transaction fees usually associated with cryptocurrency transactions. The price to pay for these previously impossible benefits is that you are required to do things a bit differently than what you are used to.

Rest assured, it’s not complicated at all. Just follow this quick user guide, and you’ll be up to speed in no time!

Request Order

Hint

Wallet Unlocking

To be able to progress through the purchasing process, your Particl Desktop client needs to be unlocked. Failure to do so means that you won’t be able to complete the required steps to submit and complete your order. Make sure the padlock icon at the top-right corner of the status bar is unlocked.

To purchase an item on Particl Marketplace, you must first submit an order request to the seller. Keep in mind that, after you do this, you still need to complete one additional step before your order is properly confirmed, so keep reading this user guide until the end!

Add an item to your cart

  1. Open Market -> BROWSE to find the item you want to purchase and click on it to expand its details.

  2. Click on the Shipping & Escrow tab within the listing’s details to ensure the item is shipping in your country and that you have enough PART Anon balance funds. You will find the number of PART required for the order within the Total needed for order column.

  3. Click on Add to cart.

Submit order request to the seller

  1. Open Market -> CART to review the content of your cart and enter your shipping information.

  2. Click the Review & Submit this Order button to review your order’s details and click the Confirm Order & Submit to send the bid to the seller.

  3. Your order request has been submitted to the seller, who still has to confirm your order.

Hint

Save your shipping information into a user profile. That way, you do not need to rewrite it with every order. To do so, check the Save shipping profile box before moving to the next step and give the profile a name.

Make Security Deposit

Once the seller has confirmed your order, its status will change from REQUESTING to ACCEPTED; it’s time to make your security deposit into the two-party escrow smart-contract. The security deposit of any order is always equal to the value of what’s being purchased, including shipping costs.

  1. Await the notification that the seller has accepted your order.

  2. Open Market -> PURCHASES -> Orders and look for any order marked as ACCEPTED.

  3. Click on the order’s tile to expand its details, and click on the Request Escrow.

  4. You can provide an email address or a phone number to help the seller. This step is optional.

  5. Confirm your security deposit by clicking on the Confirm & Fund.

Hint

In the Filter section, you can check Orders requiring attention to only see orders that require your attention or filter them by status.

See also

Have a look at Two-party Escrow Explained to know all about it!

Order Status Verification

After locking your security deposit into the two-party escrow contract, all you need to do is wait to receive your item. At any point in time, you can verify the status of your order.

Once the seller marks your order as shipped, he may send you a tracking number.

  1. Open Market -> PURCHASES -> Orders and find the order you want to monitor. Additional information, like a tracking number or notes, can be seen by clicking on the order’s tile, which gives you access to more details.

Receive Security Deposit Back

After receiving your order, it’s crucial to finalize the transaction on Particl Marketplace. That’s how you get back your security deposit, without any fee, and release the payment to the seller.

  1. Wait for your package to arrive.

  2. Open Market -> PURCHASES -> Orders.

  3. Click on the order’s tile to expand its details, and click on the Mark as delivered button to complete the transaction and receive your security deposit back instantly.

Attention

It is crucial to return to Particl Desktop once you receive your order and mark it as complete. Without it, you won’t recover your security deposit.

Hint

In the Filter by status section, you can check SHIPPING to only see orders that have been shipped by sellers but haven’t arrived your way yet.

Customer’s Frequently Asked Questions

How do I open the marketplace in order to see listings?

  1. Be sure to have the latest version of Particl Desktop installed. The Quickstart guide may help you greatly.

  2. After the initial startup, have some patience to let the blockchain sync in the background. On a fibre connection this takes up to 15 minutes. The following startups will sync-up way faster.

  3. Click on MARKET -> BROWSE and wait until numbers start to count up beside the REFRESH button. As soon as the first numbers appear click on REFRESH. Listings appear.

Be sure you don’t see any warnings in the top right „status“ bar. If you still don’t see any listings feel free to reach out on the community support channels. Get Support

What does each order status mean?

  • ORDER REQUEST: You have requested an order on an item and are now waiting for the vendor to accept it.

  • ACCEPTED: The vendor has accepted your order and is now waiting for you to send the payment and your security deposit in escrow.

  • ESCROW: You have locked your funds in escrow and are now waiting for the vendor to lock their security deposit as well.

  • PACKAGING: The vendor is now packaging your order and getting it ready to ship.

  • SHIPPING: The vendor has shipped your item and is now waiting for you to receive and confirm the delivery.

  • COMPLETE: You have received your order and have confirmed the order as “complete”. There are no more required actions in this transaction, and you’ve received your security deposit back.

Why isn’t the seller updating my order after I placed a bid?

If your Particl Desktop is protected by a password (encrypted), you need to unlock it with your password to receive order updates. If you keep your client locked, you won’t receive the notifications and won’t be able to progress to the next step.

If your order is still not updated after unlocking your client, that’s because the seller hasn’t done it yet. Wait for the vendor to update the order, or try leaving them a message in the Comments and Reviews section of the listing page!

Why does the marketplace require me to pay twice the value of the item I want to buy?

That’s because you need to fund the escrow contract with a security deposit equal to the total value of your order. This deposit will be refunded to you at no fee at all once the transaction is fully completed.

For example, if you’re buying an item worth $100 (including shipping), then you’ll be required to deposit a total of $200 into the escrow smart-contract. Half of this deposit is for the payment of the item to the seller ($100), and the other half is your security deposit ($100) which you’ll get back, with no fee, after the transaction is completed.

To learn more about Particl’s Two-Party Escrow system, head over to the Two-Party Escrow System Explained in-depth guide.

Can anyone else other than the seller see my shipping address?

No. Only the seller can access your shipping details. Neither Particl nor anyone else can collect your personal information. Particl is entirely decentralized, secure, and private by design.

How can I directly contact a seller?

You can leave a comment in a listing’s Comments and Reviews section. This will notify the seller that they’ve received a message, and they’ll be able to answer you. Keep in mind that the Comments and Reviews section is public, meaning all messages you and the seller leaves there are publicly visible.

Alternatively, sellers may sometimes leave their contact information such as an email address or instant messaging application username in their listing descriptions. Look in there and see if you can find something.

A more complete and private messaging/inbox system is being developed and will be added later during the Beta phase of development. To know what next features are planned for the Particl Marketplace, refer to Particl’s development roadmap.

How can I ask for a refund or return through the marketplace?

Due to the current stage of development of the Particl Marketplace (Beta), this feature is currently not supported. If you want to ask a seller for a refund or return, please try to reach out to them by their provided contact information or through the Comments and Reviews section of the listing you have an issue with.

Direct messaging and a resolution center are planned features for later on during Beta. To know what next features are planned for the Particl Marketplace, refer to Particl’s development roadmap.

Where can I find the tracking number of one of my orders?

When a seller leaves you a tracking number, you can check it out right from your Particl Desktop client. To do so, head over to the Orders page of the SELL section, find the order that you want to find the tracking number of, and click on it to expand its details.

A seller may not always leave a tracking number, but when they do, that’s where you’ll find it!

How can I cancel an order?

It’s only possible to cancel an order if the seller hasn’t yet accepted it. Otherwise, you can try reaching out to the seller by their provided contact information or through the Comments and Reviews section of the listing.