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Handling Manual Releases as a Seller

In the normal flow, payments verify automatically and you never interact with buyers. Occasionally a buyer contacts you because verification failed — usually because they sent the wrong amount, the wrong currency, or couldn't complete the verification step. Manual release is your escape hatch: you check the payment yourself and release the escrowed funds directly.

Release bypasses verification

A manual release skips the protocol's payment verification entirely and is irreversible. Only release when you have confirmed the payment landed in your own payment account. A screenshot from the buyer is a claim, not proof.

Verify before you release​

  1. Check your payment platform. Log in and find the incoming payment. Confirm the amount, currency, sender, and timestamp. Refresh the transaction list if needed.
  2. Cross-reference the order. In Earn, open the deposit and find the order in question. The locked amount, currency, and buyer address must line up with the payment you received.
  3. Stop if anything is off. Timing should match — the payment should postdate the order. Treat buyer-provided details and screenshots only as context, never as proof.

If the payment never arrived, do not release. If it arrived short or in the wrong currency, refund the payment you actually received and ask the buyer to start a new order instead of releasing the locked funds.

Release the funds​

  1. Open the deposit in Earn and locate the order (match the amount and buyer address).
  2. Click Release.
  3. Review the warning on the confirmation screen, then submit and sign the transaction.
  4. Once confirmed on Base, let the buyer know and share the transaction hash. The funds arrive in their wallet within seconds.

Red flags​

  • The claimed payment doesn't appear in your account, or the amount doesn't match the locked funds.
  • The buyer pushes urgency or refuses reasonable verification questions.
  • Multiple people claim the same payment.
  • The payment predates the order, or came from an unrelated account.

When in doubt, don't release — ask in the Peer Telegram and the team can help investigate.