How it works

The full lifecycle of a marketplace project — from supplier quote to merchant approval, including the escrow window.

Every project on the Raveno marketplace passes through a defined sequence of states. Funds are held in Stripe's platform balance throughout the escrow window — never on Raveno's books, never in a Raveno-operated wallet.

Stripe holds funds. Raveno instructs release.

The lifecycle

1. Quote (`quoted`)

A supplier sends a quote inside the existing chat thread with the merchant. The quote is a structured message that includes:

Amount and currency.
A scope description — what the supplier will deliver.
An Accept & Pay button (visible to the merchant) and a Decline button.

The supplier may withdraw the quote at any time before the merchant accepts.

2. Accept & pay (`pending_funding` → `funded`)

When the merchant clicks Accept & Pay:

Stripe charges the merchant's default Payment Method on file for the quoted amount.
The project moves to pending_funding while Stripe processes the charge.
For SCA-required cards (e.g. some EU/UK cards), the merchant completes the bank's authentication flow.
On Stripe's payment_intent.succeeded webhook, the project advances to funded.

Funds settle in Raveno's Stripe platform balance — Stripe's books, Raveno's account. They are not moved to the supplier yet.

3. Deliver (`delivered`)

The supplier delivers the work in the chat thread. Delivery may include:

A note describing what's delivered.
Optional file attachments (uploaded to secure object storage; signed download URLs with bounded expiry).

When the supplier marks delivery, the auto-release timer starts.

4. Auto-release window

After delivery, the merchant has a fixed window to either:

Approve the work (immediate release), or
Open a dispute (admin review).

During public beta: the auto-release window is 48 hours. We have compressed it from the original 14-day spec to give the first creator cohort a tighter feedback loop. At general availability the window will increase to 14 days, and this page will be updated when the change ships.

If neither approve nor dispute happens, the auto-release timer fires and the funds are released automatically.

5. Release (`released`)

On approval or auto-release:

Raveno creates a Stripe Transfer from the platform balance to the supplier's connected Stripe account.
The platform fee (5%) is retained by Raveno; the rest goes to the supplier.
The supplier sees the Transfer in their Stripe Express dashboard.
Stripe's payout schedule then applies from the connected account to the supplier's bank.

released is a terminal state.

6. Dispute (`dispute_pending`)

If the merchant believes the work doesn't substantially match the agreed scope, they may open a dispute from the chat thread before the auto-release timer fires. On dispute:

The auto-release timer pauses.
Both parties are notified.
Raveno admin reviews the in-thread audit trail.
Decision target: within 5 business days.

The decision is one of:

Release in full to supplier (released).
Refund in full to merchant (refunded).
Negotiated outcome, where both parties agree to a partial-rework or modified scope.

7. Cancel (`cancelled`)

Before the supplier marks delivery, the merchant may cancel:

The PaymentIntent is refunded in full to the merchant's card.
The supplier is notified.
The project moves to cancelled (terminal).

No platform fee on cancelled projects.

State diagram

quoted ──/accept──► pending_funding ──webhook PI.succeeded──► funded
   │                                                              │
   │ /decline                                                     │ /cancel
   │ /withdraw                                                    │   └─► cancelled (refund)
   ▼                                                              │
declined / withdrawn                                              │ /deliver
                                                                  ▼
                                                              delivered
                                                                  │
                            ┌─────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────┐
                            │                                     │             │
                       /approve                          +auto-release      /dispute
                            │                                     │             │
                            └────────────────┬────────────────────┘             ▼
                                             │                            dispute_pending
                                             ▼                                  │
                                         released                       (admin resolves)
                                                                                │
                                                            ┌───────────────────┴──────────────────┐
                                                            ▼                                      ▼
                                                        released                              refunded

What's preserved as evidence

Every state transition is recorded with timestamps. The chat thread — quote text, messages, file attachments, delivery, approval — is the contractual audit trail. Raveno keeps:

Every message with timestamp and author.
Every file attachment with content hash, MIME type, and size.
Every state-change event with the system actor (webhook, cron, or human).
Every Stripe event referenced to the project.

The chat thread, taken together, is the source of truth for what was agreed and what was delivered.

Currencies and FX

Quotes are made in the merchant's default currency (AUD by default for Australian merchants). When the supplier's Stripe Connect account is in a different currency, Stripe handles the FX on the Transfer leg, applying their published rate at transfer time.