How escrow finalization actually works

Every order on the market moves through the same three states: pending, in escrow, and finalized. The one that causes the most confusion is the middle one, so this note walks through it the way the admins describe it internally.

The moment your payment hits the required number of confirmations, the XMR leaves your wallet and lands in the escrow account tied to that specific order. It is not sitting with the vendor. It is not in the market's general pool. It is held against a single order, and only that order can release it.

The timer

Once the vendor ships, a countdown starts. On most orders that window is between seven and fourteen days, and the exact number depends on the vendor's track record. Newer vendors get the longer side. A vendor with thousands of clean sales gets the shorter side, because the market has already seen that they tend to ship what they say they ship.

When the timer expires, the order finalizes on its own. The vendor gets paid, the feedback you left sticks, and the thread closes. You do not have to do anything, and that is the point. Most people who read the forums think they have to click a button to "confirm receipt." You do not. Silence is a valid action.

Finalize early, and who is allowed to use it

Some vendors can release their own escrow before the timer runs out. That is the finalize-early privilege, and it is not given to everyone. The market restricts it to vendors with a long, clean history, roughly three hundred sales or more and a rating that has not dropped in a while. The idea is that a vendor who has been around that long and has not been disputed much is probably worth letting out early.

If you are buying from a vendor who does not have that privilege, the timer is the timer. There is no shortcut and no way to nudge it. That is a feature, not a bug. It stops a vendor from releasing escrow the second the tracking page shows "delivered," which is not the same thing as "you opened it and it is what you ordered."

When it does not suit you

The one situation where escrow feels slow is a cheap, low-stakes order. If you are buying something for a few dollars, waiting nine days for the money to formally clear is a bit of a chore. Some people just let it ride and never think about it again. Others open a dispute they probably did not need to open, which is worse, because a dispute costs the vendor time and can sour a relationship you might want later.