How Holdy works in 90 seconds
Holdy is a buyer protection platform. When you pay for a deal, your money doesn’t go straight to the seller — it’s held securely until delivery is confirmed. If something goes wrong, you can dispute it and we’ll review.
The three-party model
Every deal involves three parties: you as buyer or seller, the other party, and Holdy as the neutral intermediary. Payments themselves are handled by Stripe (a regulated payment provider) — Holdy never touches your money directly.
Lifecycle of a deal
- Pending — the seller created a deal; waiting for the buyer to pay
- Paid — funds are held securely, chat is now open, seller starts delivering
- Delivered — seller submitted delivery; buyer has 7 days to confirm or dispute
- Completed — buyer confirmed; payout released to seller
Alternative endings: refunded (mutual agreement or won dispute), or cancelled (never paid).
Creating your account
Sign up with your email on app.getholdy.com. You’ll need to verify your email address via a confirmation link.
If you’re going to sell
You’ll also need to connect a Stripe account so we can pay out to you. This step requires:
- A valid bank account in your name (EU, UK, US, and most major countries are supported)
- Identity verification — passport, ID, or driver’s license uploaded to Stripe
- For business accounts: KvK / Companies House / equivalent registration
Stripe handles KYC verification globally. This usually takes 2–5 minutes. You can’t create sellable deals until this is done.
If you’re buying
You don’t need Stripe — just an email. Click a payment link sent to you by a seller, create a Holdy account during checkout, and pay with your preferred method.
Creating your first deal
After connecting Stripe, go to Transactions → New deal. The modal walks you through three steps.
Step 1 — What you’re selling
Pick a category (freelance, gaming, electronics, etc.), give the deal a clear title, and set the price. Currency is EUR, GBP, or USD. Minimum €30, maximum €5,000.
Step 2 — Deliverables
This is the most important step. List exactly what you’ll deliver. Each deliverable is a line item. Examples:
- “Final logo in SVG, PNG, and PDF formats”
- “Source files delivered via Google Drive”
- “3 revision rounds included”
If a buyer ever disputes, Holdy judges the outcome against exactly this list. Ambiguous deliverables = ambiguous outcomes. Be specific.
Also set a delivery deadline (3, 7, 14, or 30 days). If you miss it without submitting delivery, the buyer can open a dispute.
Step 3 — Share the link
Holdy generates a unique payment link. Send it to your buyer however you want (WhatsApp, email, DM). When they click it, they create their own Holdy account and pay securely via Stripe Checkout.
Trust levels explained
Every Holdy user has a trust badge visible on their profile and in deal chats. Trust levels are calculated automatically from your history:
- New — no completed deals yet
- ID Verified — KYC done via Stripe
- Verified — 3+ completed deals + ID verified
- Trusted — 10+ completed deals with 4.0+ avg rating
- Top Rated — 20+ deals, 4.5+ avg rating, <5% dispute rate
Higher trust levels signal reliability to counterparties and often lead to more deals. Mutual refunds don’t count against your trust score — only formal disputes resolved against you do.
Ready to try Holdy?
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