Draft — pending legal review. This describes how Sidequest works today and may change before launch.
Fees & Refund Policy
Version 2026-10-01 · last updated October 1, 2026
Fees
- Quests. The poster pays the quest pay plus a service fee of 8% of the pay + $0.30, plus card processing (2.9% + $0.30). Helpers always receive the full quest pay.
- Items. The buyer pays the price plus card processing. Sellers always receive the full price.
- Rush. Optional. 3% of the quest total or item price, minimum $1.00, plus card processing. Rushed listings appear higher in the feed (at most one in every 4 results).
- ID verification. Optional. $2.99, which covers up to 3 tries at Stripe’s ID check and adds an ID-verified badge to your profile. It isn’t refunded once a check has been submitted, whatever the result; if we can’t start your first check, you’re refunded automatically. You never need it to use Sidequest: finishing payout setup (free) also lets you post larger quests.
- The exact total is always shown before you pay.
When money is released
- Quests: after the helper marks the job complete, the poster has 72 hours to confirm or report a problem, then it pays out automatically.
- Items: after the seller marks the item delivered, the buyer has 48 hours to confirm or report a problem, then it pays out automatically.
- If a seller never marks an item delivered within 72 hours, the buyer is refunded automatically.
Refunds
The general rule: whoever caused a failure pays the fees; if nobody is at fault, everything is refunded.
| What happened | Payer gets back | No-show recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Poster cancels a quest before choosing a helper | Quest pay (fees kept) | — |
| Poster cancels after choosing a helper | Quest pay (fees kept) | Counts as a poster cancellation |
| Quest expires without being filled | Unfilled quest pay (fees kept) | — |
| Helper doesn’t show up | Poster chooses: find someone else (nothing refunded, spot reopens) or a full refund of that spot including fees | Helper |
| Helper withdraws after being chosen | Nothing yet — the spot reopens for someone else; unfilled pay is refunded if it never fills | — |
| Seller doesn’t show up / never delivers | Full price including fees | Seller |
| Buyer doesn’t show up | Price (fees kept); the item is relisted | Buyer |
| Both agree to cancel | Everything, including fees | — |
| Buyer refuses the item at the meetup | Price (fees kept) | — |
| Problem reported after the job/handoff | Decided by a moderator: full, partial or none | — |
No-shows and cancelling by agreement
- If the other person doesn’t show up, report it in the app. They have 24 hours to contest; if they don’t, the report is applied as above. A contested report goes to a moderator.
- Either side can ask to cancel by agreement. If the other person accepts within 48 hours, everything is refunded and nobody is penalized.
- 3 no-shows within 90 days sends your account to a moderator for review.
Chargebacks
If you dispute a Sidequest charge with your bank, the payout may be reversed and XP earned from it removed. Please report problems in the app first — it’s faster.