How money moves
Money moves in USDC, through two contracts on Arc: the auction, which holds deposits, and the escrow, which holds the campaign.
The bid deposit
Every bid locks a deposit in the auction contract: 10% of the bid, and never less than 10 USDC. If you are outbid, your deposit becomes a credit you can withdraw at any time. The deposit of the winning bid counts towards the campaign.
The owner decides
When bidding ends, the owner has seven days to approve or decline the top bid. No reason is needed. If the owner does neither, the auction expires and the bidder can withdraw the deposit. The owner is reminded two days before the deadline.
The winner pays
Once the owner approves, the winning brand has 48 hours to pay the rest: the bid less the deposit already held. Paying creates the campaign in the escrow and funds it in the same transaction. If the brand does not pay in time, the deposit goes to the owner and the campaign does not start.
The escrow
From here the money sits in the escrow contract. It does not reach the owner and it is not held by peelbid. It leaves the contract only in the ways the contract allows: an instalment released to the owner, an amount returned to the brand, or an arbiter’s decision on a disputed instalment.
The schedule
A campaign is paid in instalments. The first belongs to the placement itself: the owner has 14 days from funding to put the artwork on and send the first proof. Each later instalment falls due a set number of days after that first proof. The share and the day of every instalment are written into the campaign in the contract, and the campaign page reads them from the chain, so both sides see the same schedule. For a one-month run there are two instalments: 40% against the first proof, and 60% thirty days after it.
| Step | Time allowed | If it is missed |
|---|---|---|
| Owner decides on the top bid | 7 days after bidding ends | The auction expires; the bidder withdraws the deposit |
| Brand pays the rest | 48 hours after approval | The deposit goes to the owner |
| First proof (placement) | 14 days after funding | The brand can take the whole amount back |
| Each later proof | 14 days from its due day | The brand can take that instalment back |
| Brand disputes a proof | 7 days after the proof | The instalment can be released |
The proof
For each instalment the owner takes a photo of the placement with a fresh code written beside it, and its hash is written on-chain from the owner’s own wallet. How that works is on Proofs and disputes.
The dispute window
Each proof opens a seven-day window for the brand. While it is open, the brand can dispute that instalment with a written reason, which freezes that instalment only. If the brand does nothing, the instalment pays. That is deliberate: an escrow that needs a yes to release gives one side a silent veto over the other’s finished work.
Release
Once a proof is in and its window has closed, the payment is due, and anyone can trigger it: the owner, the brand, peelbid, or a stranger. Nobody approves it. A keeper run by peelbid does it every hour, so nobody has to remember to.
The platform fee is taken at release, from the owner’s share only. Nothing is taken from an amount returned to a brand. See Fees.
If peelbid disappeared
The figures are on the chain, not in our database: the amount in escrow, each instalment, each proof hash and each release. A payment that is due can still be triggered by anyone, straight from a block explorer, without this site.
- Find the escrow on the smart contract directory.
- Open it on the explorer, where its source is verified.
- Call the release for the campaign and the instalment that is due.