Platform fee
ReefDock's standard platform fee is 6.77% of the sale price, deducted from the seller payout. Buyers always see the listing price plus shipping at checkout, with no hidden markup.
Listings are free to create and maintain. There are no posting fees, renewal fees, or subscription tiers.
| Status | Platform fee | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| Prelaunch | 0% (waived) | All sellers, during the prelaunch window |
| Founding seller | 2% (lifetime) | Sellers who publish their first listing during the launch window |
| Standard | 6.77% | Sellers who first list after the launch window closes |
Stripe processing fees
Buyer payments are processed through Stripe Connect. Standard Stripe processing fees apply per transaction (currently 2.9% + 30¢ for US card payments). These are deducted from the seller payout alongside the platform fee.
ReefDock never holds buyer funds directly. Payments flow buyer → Stripe → seller, with the platform fee taken at the Stripe layer.
Worked example: a $200 sale
Here's what the fee math looks like at the standard 6.77% rate. Shipping is charged separately to the buyer and passed through to the carrier label, so it isn't included in this breakdown.
| Sale price | $200.00 |
| ReefDock platform fee (6.77%) | −$13.54 |
| Estimated Stripe processing fee (2.9% + 30¢) | −$6.10 |
| Estimated seller payout | $180.36 |
Estimate only — actual Stripe fees vary by card type, country, and dispute activity. Shipping cost, sales tax, refunds, and any adjustments are applied separately. Founding sellers replace the 6.77% fee with their locked 2% lifetime rate.
Payout hold tiers
Once a buyer confirms arrival, the order enters a hold window before the seller payout is released. The window depends on the seller's trust tier:
| Tier | Hold window | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| New seller | 5 days | First successful sales on ReefDock |
| Established | 3 days | History of completed sales with consistent positive arrival outcomes |
| Top-tier | 0 days (immediate) | Long sales history, near-zero dispute rate, ReefTrak verification active |
Tier thresholds are calibrated based on transaction history and may be tuned over time. Tiers exist to protect buyers on new accounts without punishing trusted sellers.
Why holds exist at all
The hold window is the buyer's recourse if a shipment has problems that surface after initial arrival photos — slow-onset DOA on coral, mis-sexed inverts, equipment that fails on first use. The window is short on purpose: long enough to cover the most common late-discovery issues, short enough that sellers aren't financing the platform.
Related
- How ReefDock works — the full buyer + seller flow.
- Sell on ReefDock — start a seller account.
- Marketplace rules — listing standards and dispute handling.