marketplace payment agreement

Operator: SKILLS AND BIDS, INC.
Registered address: 2401 NW 19 Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311, USA
Legal contact: legal@skillsandbids.com
Effective date: October 18, 2026
Last updated: October 18, 2026

This Marketplace Agreement (“Marketplace Agreement”) governs transactions formed through the Skills & Bids marketplace between clients and freelancers/service providers.

It supplements the Skills & Bids Terms of Service and applies whenever a user posts, proposes, invites, accepts, hires, contracts, books, records billable time, approves work, pays, receives payment, requests a refund, disputes a transaction, or otherwise uses a transactional marketplace feature.

1. Relationship to other agreements

This Marketplace Agreement should be read together with:

• the Terms of Service;
• the Client Agreement;
• the Freelancer Agreement;
• the Refund Policy;
• the Cancellation Policy;
• the Community Standards;
• the Privacy Policy; and
• the accepted contract, booking, order, proposal, milestone, custom quote, timesheet, or other transaction-specific terms.

For transaction-specific commercial details such as scope, price, rate, schedule, milestone, approved add-on, service location, or cancellation terms, the accepted transaction record controls.

The Client Agreement governs client-specific responsibilities. The Freelancer Agreement governs freelancer-specific responsibilities. The Terms of Service govern general Platform use.

Nothing in this hierarchy overrides a right or obligation that applicable law does not permit the parties to waive.

2. The underlying contract is between client and freelancer

Unless Skills & Bids expressly identifies itself as the provider of a separate service, the contract for freelance work or a booked service is between the client and the freelancer.

Skills & Bids provides technology and marketplace infrastructure that may help users:

• discover each other;
• communicate;
• create and accept commercial terms;
• schedule services;
• record work;
• submit and approve deliverables or time;
• process payments;
• maintain transaction records;
• manage cancellations, refunds, disputes, reviews, and support; and
• administer marketplace safety and compliance.

Skills & Bids is not the employer, employee, staffing agency, agent, partner, joint venturer, or general contractor of users merely because they transact through the Platform.

3. User authority

A user entering a transaction represents that:

• they have legal capacity to enter the transaction;
• the information they provide is materially accurate;
• they have authority to act for any company or organization they purport to represent;
• the requested or offered work is lawful; and
• they will comply with licensing, tax, safety, employment, consumer, and professional obligations applicable to their role.

A user may not bind another person or organization without authority.

4. Transaction formation

A job post, service listing, proposal, invitation, booking request, or quote request is not necessarily a binding contract by itself.

A binding marketplace engagement is formed when the Platform indicates that the relevant offer, proposal, booking, quote, milestone, or contract has been accepted in the applicable flow.

The transaction record may include:

• identity of the parties;
• engagement type;
• scope;
• fixed price or hourly rate;
• currency;
• milestone amounts;
• service price and duration;
• approved add-ons;
• location or remote/on-site method;
• schedule;
• minimum notice;
• revision terms;
• cancellation terms;
• fee rules;
• payment state;
• and other agreed commercial terms.

Users should review transaction terms before accepting.

5. Changes to scope or commercial terms

A material change to an accepted transaction should be recorded through a supported Platform feature where reasonably available.

A client may not assume that additional work is included merely because it is related to the original project.

A freelancer may not impose an undisclosed mandatory amount after acceptance merely because additional work would be convenient or expected.

Where scope, price, schedule, location, milestone, add-on, or another material term changes, the parties should agree to the change before the affected work is performed.

6. Transaction snapshots and future policy changes

Skills & Bids may snapshot financial and commercial terms when a transaction is created, accepted, authorized, or otherwise reaches the relevant state.

A snapshot may include:

• price or hourly rate;
• currency;
• platform fee or commission rule;
• external-cost rule;
• cancellation policy;
• add-ons;
• taxes where applicable;
• milestone amount;
• service duration;
• and other transaction-specific financial terms.

Later changes to a freelancer’s listing, an admin fee configuration, a subscription plan, or a general marketplace setting do not automatically rewrite an already accepted transaction.

Future transactions may use new terms after those terms become effective.

7. Fees and displayed amounts

Users must pay the amounts they approve or otherwise validly owe under the accepted transaction.

Skills & Bids may charge or facilitate:

• client payments to freelancers;
• subscription fees;
• marketplace or platform fees;
• payment-processing-related costs;
• payout-related costs;
• foreign-exchange amounts;
• taxes;
• cancellation amounts;
• refunds and reversals; and
• other disclosed charges.

Applicable amounts should be disclosed by the relevant pricing or transaction flow.

Marketplace commission or other platform pricing may change prospectively. A future pricing change does not retroactively alter a transaction whose fee rule was already accepted and snapshotted.

8. Payment-provider authorization

Skills & Bids may use third-party payment providers, including Stripe and Stripe Connect, to process marketplace payments and payouts.

By confirming a transaction requiring payment, a client authorizes Skills & Bids and the applicable payment provider to:

• create or use payment-provider customer records;
• store or reuse a permitted payment method through the provider;
• authorize or charge the approved amount;
• perform authentication required by the issuer or law;
• capture an authorized amount when the transaction reaches the applicable capture state;
• issue refunds or partial refunds;
• process permitted adjustments, reversals, and recoveries; and
• exchange transaction and compliance information reasonably necessary to process the payment.

A freelancer authorizes use of the connected-account and payout information needed to receive marketplace earnings and to process lawful reversals or recoveries.

9. No escrow representation

Unless Skills & Bids launches a separately regulated escrow product and expressly identifies it as such, marketplace payment states are not representations that Skills & Bids operates legal escrow.

Terms such as:

• authorized;
• funded;
• pending;
• held;
• protected;
• captured;
• available;
• transferable; or
• payable

describe Platform or payment-processing states only.

Payment availability can be affected by provider settlement, card-network rules, risk review, disputes, refunds, reserves, legal requirements, or technical recovery.

10. Fixed-price and milestone transactions

For fixed-price work:

• the accepted contract defines the scope and price;
• milestones may define separately reviewable or payable portions;
• freelancers must deliver work materially consistent with the agreed scope;
• clients must review submitted work in good faith;
• change requests outside the agreed scope may require new terms;
• approval or another contract-defined release event may make the applicable amount payable; and
• cancellation does not erase amounts already properly earned.

Where the Platform displays a review, approval, auto-action, or dispute deadline, users must act within that displayed period.

An internal delay before transfer or payout does not create a separate user right unless the Platform expressly presents that right as part of the transaction.

11. Hourly transactions

For hourly work:

• the accepted hourly rate applies to authorized time;
• freelancers must record time accurately;
• manual time, where allowed, remains subject to the same honesty requirements;
• clients must review submitted time in good faith;
• overtime or limit exceptions require approval where the contract requires it;
• submitted billing periods may be approved, disputed, adjusted, or otherwise processed through the applicable workflow; and
• ending the contract does not erase legitimate time already worked.

A user may not fabricate, inflate, duplicate, backdate, or knowingly approve false time.

Outstanding billing periods may continue through their review, payment, refund, dispute, and financial-reconciliation lifecycle after future work has ended.

12. Service bookings

A service booking may be remote, on-site, or otherwise delivered according to the accepted listing and booking terms.

A booking may include:

• fixed service price;
• duration;
• service address or service area;
• appointment time;
• delivery method;
• minimum notice;
• requirements;
• add-ons;
• travel or other approved amounts;
• revision or completion terms; and
• cancellation policy.

The freelancer must keep listing information materially accurate and must not accept a booking they know they cannot lawfully or reasonably perform.

The client must provide accurate booking information and reasonable access, cooperation, and a safe lawful environment for on-site work.

Cancellation and refund consequences are governed by the Cancellation Policy, Refund Policy, and the terms snapshotted for the booking.

13. Payment authorization and capture for service bookings

A service-booking payment may be authorized before it is captured.

Depending on the booking state:

• the authorization may be released if the booking is declined or cancelled;
• an agreed cancellation amount may be captured where permitted by the booking terms;
• the service amount may remain authorized while work is in progress; and
• capture may occur after the transaction reaches the applicable completion/approval state.

Payment authorization can expire or require renewed authentication. A booking cannot be treated as finally paid solely because a prior authorization existed.

14. Completion, approval, and payment release

The Platform may require a client confirmation, milestone approval, timesheet approval, booking completion approval, auto-action after a displayed deadline, or another transaction event before an earning becomes payable.

Users must not:

• withhold approval solely to obtain free extra work;
• submit false completion evidence;
• approve work they know is fraudulent in order to manipulate payment;
• collude to create sham transactions; or
• manipulate a payment state to evade marketplace controls.

A payment or earning can remain subject to legitimate refund, reversal, chargeback, recovery, or legal requirements after approval.

15. Freelancer earnings, transfers, and payouts

An amount displayed as a freelancer earning may pass through different states before reaching a freelancer’s external bank account.

Skills & Bids may distinguish:

• pending earning;
• available earning;
• transfer pending;
• transferred amount;
• payout pending;
• paid amount;
• reversed amount;
• reserved amount; and
• negative or recoverable balance.

Transfer and payout timing can be affected by:

• payment settlement;
• protection or review states;
• weekends and bank holidays;
• payment-provider timing;
• connected-account verification;
• sanctions or compliance checks;
• refunds;
• disputes and chargebacks;
• reserves;
• negative balances; and
• technical or financial reconciliation.

Skills & Bids does not guarantee a bank-posting date controlled by a third party.

16. Cancellations

Cancellation rights and financial consequences depend on transaction type.

The Skills & Bids Cancellation Policy is incorporated into this Marketplace Agreement.

For service bookings, the booking-specific cancellation terms accepted and snapshotted for that transaction govern where applicable.

For fixed-price and hourly engagements, cancellation generally ends future work but does not erase amounts already validly earned.

17. Refunds and partial refunds

The Skills & Bids Refund Policy is incorporated into this Marketplace Agreement.

A marketplace remedy may include:

• authorization release;
• full refund;
• partial refund;
• no refund;
• cancellation amount;
• partial payment;
• payment release;
• correction of a duplicate or erroneous charge; or
• another supported adjustment.

No user is entitled to duplicate recovery for the same amount.

18. Disputes

When users disagree about:

• scope;
• delivery;
• quality relative to agreed requirements;
• time;
• cancellation;
• no-show;
• completion;
• payment;
• refund;
• safety;
• fraud; or
• another transaction issue,

they should use the supported Platform dispute process when available.

Users must provide truthful evidence and cooperate reasonably.

Skills & Bids may review transaction records and relevant evidence and may apply a Platform remedy under the applicable rules.

Skills & Bids facilitating or deciding a Platform remedy does not make Skills & Bids the provider of the underlying freelance service.

19. Payment-provider disputes and chargebacks

A card, bank, wallet, or payment-provider dispute is not the same as a Skills & Bids marketplace dispute.

Where a chargeback or payment reversal occurs, Skills & Bids may:

• preserve and submit relevant transaction evidence;
• pause or delay associated transfers or payouts;
• reverse an unpaid transfer;
• recover transferred amounts where permitted;
• create or maintain a negative balance;
• offset a recoverable amount against future earnings;
• request repayment;
• adjust internal financial records;
• establish a reasonable reserve where supported by risk; and
• restrict abusive accounts.

A chargeback outcome does not necessarily decide every contractual issue between client and freelancer.

A user must not seek or retain both a full Skills & Bids refund and a duplicate full chargeback recovery for the same payment.

20. Corrections and financial reconciliation

Marketplace financial processing crosses multiple systems, including Skills & Bids records and third-party payment-provider records.

If an event is duplicated, delayed, processed out of order, succeeds externally but fails locally, or otherwise creates inconsistent financial state, Skills & Bids may reconcile the transaction and correct records to reflect the supported underlying payment facts.

Permitted corrections may include:

• posting a missing ledger event;
• correcting a duplicate local entry;
• linking a provider transaction to the correct marketplace transaction;
• retrying a safe idempotent operation;
• reversing an erroneous transfer;
• issuing a refund;
• recovering an overpayment; or
• placing a case into manual financial review.

A correction must not intentionally create a second payment obligation for the same valid charge.

21. Taxes

Clients and freelancers are responsible for determining their tax, invoicing, withholding, business-registration, and reporting obligations unless applicable law specifically assigns an obligation to Skills & Bids or a payment provider.

Skills & Bids may collect, withhold, report, or remit amounts where legally required.

Users must provide accurate tax information when requested.

22. Independent-contractor and worker classification

Calling a user a “freelancer” describes the marketplace role and does not conclusively determine legal worker classification.

The client and freelancer are responsible for assessing whether their actual relationship creates:

• employment;
• worker status;
• agency;
• tax withholding;
• benefits;
• workers’ compensation;
• workplace safety;
• licensing;
• immigration; or
• other legal obligations.

If applicable law requires a different engagement structure, the parties must comply with that law.

Skills & Bids does not act as employer of record merely by providing marketplace or payment technology.

23. Professional licenses and regulated services

Freelancers must hold every license, permit, certification, registration, insurance policy, or authorization legally required for the services they perform.

Clients remain responsible for deciding whether a provider is suitable for the engagement.

A verification badge or Platform check does not guarantee:

• current legal authority to practice;
• competence;
• insurance coverage;
• character; or
• future performance.

A freelancer whose required credential expires, is suspended, or does not cover the work must not continue representing that they are authorized to perform it.

24. On-site services and safety

For on-site transactions:

• clients must provide a reasonably safe and lawful place for performance;
• freelancers must follow lawful site and professional safety requirements;
• precise address information must be used only as necessary for the transaction;
• users must not misuse private location information;
• either party may stop work where there is an immediate serious safety risk; and
• users should report serious threats, fraud, harassment, or safety incidents through the available channels.

Skills & Bids does not guarantee the safety of in-person interactions and is not an emergency service.

25. Intellectual property

Unless the accepted contract states otherwise, the intellectual-property rules in the Client Agreement and Freelancer Agreement apply.

As a default:

• client-specific final deliverables transfer only after full payment for the applicable deliverable;
• freelancer background materials remain freelancer-owned;
• the client receives the agreed license necessary to use embedded background materials in a paid final deliverable; and
• third-party/open-source materials remain governed by their own licenses.

Cancellation, refund, or nonpayment may affect whether rights transfer.

26. Confidentiality

Clients and freelancers must protect non-public information that a reasonable person would understand to be confidential.

Confidential information may be used only as reasonably necessary for the engagement unless the owner authorizes another use or law requires disclosure.

Users must not use a marketplace transaction as a pretext to collect, publish, sell, or misuse another user’s confidential or private information.

27. Reviews and transaction integrity

Reviews must reflect genuine marketplace experiences and comply with the Community Standards.

Users may not:

• buy or sell reviews;
• review themselves through another account;
• threaten a false or retaliatory review;
• use reviews to extort payment, free work, or a refund unrelated to a legitimate dispute; or
• create sham transactions to manipulate ratings, search, earnings, or marketplace metrics.

28. Off-Platform conduct connected to a transaction

Skills & Bids does not control every interaction that occurs outside the Platform.

However, conduct outside the Platform may still violate this Marketplace Agreement when it materially relates to a Skills & Bids transaction, including:

• fraud;
• harassment;
• threats;
• theft;
• misuse of private addresses or identity information;
• payment evasion through deception;
• fake evidence;
• unlawful discrimination;
• review manipulation; or
• attempts to defeat a valid refund, dispute, or financial-recovery obligation.

This section does not create an undisclosed conversion fee, commission, or penalty for communications outside the Platform.

29. Evidence and marketplace records

Skills & Bids may maintain records reasonably necessary for:

• contract formation;
• payment processing;
• refunds;
• disputes;
• chargebacks;
• fraud prevention;
• reconciliation;
• support;
• audit;
• regulatory compliance;
• legal holds; and
• enforcement.

Users should use Platform workflows for material transaction actions where available because unsupported private arrangements may be harder to verify or financially reconcile.

Retention and privacy practices are described in the Privacy Policy.

30. Account restrictions and existing obligations

Skills & Bids may restrict transactional features for fraud, payment risk, sanctions, legal requirements, serious safety issues, repeated abuse, or material violations of the applicable agreements.

Restriction or termination does not erase:

• valid payment obligations;
• refunds or recoveries;
• open disputes;
• tax obligations;
• confidentiality;
• intellectual-property consequences;
• chargeback responsibilities; or
• recordkeeping requirements that survive.

31. No guarantee of marketplace outcome

Skills & Bids does not guarantee:

• that a client will receive proposals;
• that a freelancer will be hired;
• that a service will be suitable;
• that a user will earn a minimum amount;
• that a payment provider will support every country, currency, bank, or payout method;
• that a review, rating, match score, verification, or featured placement predicts future performance; or
• that every disagreement can be resolved through a Platform remedy.

Users remain responsible for their commercial decisions.

32. Changes to this Agreement

Skills & Bids may update this Marketplace Agreement prospectively.

Material changes may require notice or renewed acceptance where required by law or Platform governance.

A later general agreement version does not normally rewrite transaction-specific commercial terms already accepted and snapshotted for an existing transaction, except where required by law or expressly agreed by the parties.

33. Governing law and legal disputes

The governing-law and venue provisions in the Terms of Service apply to disputes between a user and Skills & Bids.

The client and freelancer remain responsible for any separate governing-law terms they validly agree for their underlying contract, subject to applicable law.

Nothing in this Marketplace Agreement prevents a party from exercising a non-waivable right before a regulator, card issuer, court, or other legally authorized body.

34. Contact

Marketplace support: support@skillsandbids.com
Payment support: payments@skillsandbids.com
Legal notices: legal@skillsandbids.com