Terms of service

Holdipay is a trading name of Bidfins Limited, a company registered in the UK. In these terms, "Holdipay", "we" and "us" mean Bidfins Limited.

Holdipay lets a buyer pay for an item before meeting the seller in person or before the seller posts it, or pay for a job in stages before the work starts. The buyer's payment is held by Stripe until the buyer confirms they're happy with the item or a stage of the work, and is then paid to the seller.

Payments and payouts are processed by Stripe Payments UK Ltd and its affiliates. Stripe Payments UK Ltd is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011. Holdipay is not a bank and does not hold money in its own name. We are not a party to the sale itself: the contract for the item is between the buyer and the seller.

• You must be 18 or over and able to enter into a binding contract.
• Sellers and tradespeople can be individuals, sole traders or limited companies. If you're paid as a business, you're responsible for your own tax, and buyers have their full legal rights against you as a trader.
• Sellers must be based in one of the countries we support and have a bank account there. Buyers can pay with a card from anywhere Stripe accepts.
• Keep your email, phone and devices secure. Don't share your sign-in codes or release codes with anyone except the seller at the moment of handover.

• You pay the item price plus a buyer protection fee, shown before you pay.
• Only release the money once you have the item and are happy with it. Releasing can't be undone.
• If something's wrong, report a problem before you release the money. See buyer protection.
• You can cancel until the seller has set up their payout details. We refund the item price or job total; the buyer protection fee isn't refunded when you cancel.

• You don't need an account. You confirm your mobile number and give Stripe your payout details.
• You agree to Stripe's Connected Account Agreement, which Stripe shows during setup.
• You must describe the item honestly, and hand it over in person or post it to the address the buyer gave you.
• For posted items, you must add a live photo of your proof of postage before you confirm it's posted.
• You're paid when the buyer releases the money. For posted items, the payment is released automatically 7 days after you confirm posting, unless the buyer reports a problem before then.

• The buyer describes the job and splits the price into up to 6 stages agreed with the tradesperson, then pays for the whole job upfront.
• When a stage is finished, the tradesperson must add live photos of the work before marking it done.
• Each stage is paid when the buyer releases it. A stage marked done is released automatically 7 days later, unless the buyer reports a problem before then.
• Released stages can't be taken back through Holdipay. If there's a problem, our decision covers only what's still on hold: we may refund it to the buyer, pay it to the tradesperson, or split it. The buyer protection fee is refunded only if no stage was paid.
• Holdipay isn't a party to the contract for the work, and doesn't check the tradesperson's qualifications, insurance or the quality of their work.

If a buyer reports a problem before releasing the money, the payment stays on hold while we review the evidence from both sides. Our decision to pay the seller, refund the buyer or split the amount is final as far as Holdipay is concerned. It doesn't affect your legal rights against each other. If a buyer later disputes a released card payment with their bank, our team reviews the evidence case by case, and may ask the seller to repay money that was released because of a mistake or fraud.

You can only use Holdipay for a genuine sale of an item you're allowed to sell. Our prohibited items list sets out what isn't allowed, including anything illegal, stolen or counterfeit, and money transfers that aren't a real sale. We may refuse or refund any payment we believe breaks these terms or the law.

Buyers pay the buyer protection fee shown before they pay. It is 2% of the item price plus 30p, plus the card processing and payout costs for the payment, and it is fixed once you pay. Sellers pay nothing to receive money. See fees.

Item prices must be from £20 to £10,000, or the equivalent in the seller's currency.

The fee is refunded if the seller never claims the payment, if we refund you after reviewing a problem, or if we cancel a payment. It isn't refunded if you choose to cancel, because the card processing has already been paid for.

We're responsible for instructing Stripe to keep payments on hold and to pay them out as these terms describe. We're not responsible for the item, its condition, or what happens at a meet-up or in the post. Nothing in these terms limits any liability that can't be limited by law.

We may pause a payment, refuse a payment or stop you using Holdipay if we reasonably believe it's being used for fraud, a scam, a prohibited item or anything else that breaks these terms or the law, or if Stripe asks us to. Where we can, we'll tell you why. Money that's on hold is then refunded to the buyer or paid to the seller as these terms describe. You can close your account at any time from the app; payment records are kept as our privacy notice explains.

We work hard to keep Holdipay running, but it may sometimes be unavailable, for example during maintenance or if Stripe or another provider has a problem. A payment that's on hold stays on hold until the service is back.

If you're unhappy with Holdipay, tell us and we'll put it right where we can. Our complaints procedure explains how we handle complaints and how long it takes.

Nothing in these terms affects your legal rights as a consumer, for example your right to a service carried out with reasonable care and skill. For more about your rights, contact Citizens Advice.

We may update these terms, for example when we add features or the law changes. We'll change the date at the top of this page, and tell you by email before any change that affects you takes effect. A payment already in progress continues under the terms that applied when it was made.

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. If you live elsewhere in the UK, you can also bring proceedings in your local courts.

Email hello@holdipay.com.