How Escrow Works

Meeting a stranger from the internet? Your money doesn't take the risk. Every purchase on Clutter Sale is held, never charged up front, and it moves only once the handover is confirmed: at a meetup by both of you, at a porch by the photo the seller takes and your word that you have it.

1. 1

   You Reserve with a Hold, Not a Charge

   Enter your card and we place a temporary hold for the item price. No money leaves your account, and the item is reserved just for you.

2. 2

   You Settle on a Time

   Who offers the times depends on how the seller hands the item over. For a porch pickup you choose the day; for a meetup the seller offers days and you pick one. It happens inside Clutter Sale either way, so there is a record of what was agreed.

3. 3

   The Handover Is Proved, Not Assumed

   At a meetup you and the seller each confirm at the spot, and the payment only goes through once you both have. For a porch pickup the seller photographs the item where they left it (that photo is what gives you the address), and you confirm when you have collected it.

4. 4

   The Seller Gets Paid

   Funds are released to the seller, and any cause they support, only after that double confirmation.

• No Pickup, No Charge

  If the meetup never happens, the hold simply expires and your card is never charged.

• Item Not as Described?

  Open a dispute before confirming. The payment stays frozen while our team reviews it, and nobody can move the money on their own.