What LinkBourse charges
Buyers pay a 5% service fee at checkout. Sellers pay 15% on business the marketplace brought them and 5% on business they brought themselves; advertising placements are 10% and 5%. There is no listing fee, no subscription and no withdrawal charge. Commission is taken from what escrow actually releases, so a campaign that delivers two thirds of what was contracted is charged on two thirds.
| Who | Marketplace-sourced | You brought the client |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer | 5% | 5% |
| Seller — services | 15% | 5% |
| Seller — ad placements | 10% | 5% |
Worked examples
Computed by the same function that runs at checkout, not typed into this page.
Small service order
- Listed price
- $150
- Buyer pays
- $157.50
- Seller fee (15%)
- −$22.50
- Seller receives
- $127.50
Typical retainer
- Listed price
- $2,500
- Buyer pays
- $2,625
- Seller fee (15%)
- −$375
- Seller receives
- $2,125
Newsletter placement
- Listed price
- $800
- Buyer pays
- $840
- Seller fee (10%)
- −$80
- Seller receives
- $720
Client you brought yourself
- Listed price
- $2,500
- Buyer pays
- $2,625
- Seller fee (5%)
- −$125
- Seller receives
- $2,375
What the fee buys
- Escrow, so neither side extends credit to a stranger, and a release rule that is arithmetic rather than argument.
- Independent measurement — impressions and clicks counted by LinkBourse, not reported by the party being paid.
- An append-only order log that a dispute is decided on, and a refund that happens without anyone opening a ticket when a campaign runs short.
Questions
What does the buyer pay?
A 5% service fee on top of the listed price, shown before checkout, never added afterwards. The price on a listing is what the seller receives it against; the fee is the line under it.
Why do sellers pay less on clients they bring themselves?
Because the marketplace did not source that deal. A seller who sends a client to LinkBourse pays 5% instead of 15% — they are buying escrow, contracts and measurement, not lead generation, and charging them for lead generation would just push the deal off-platform.
Are ad placements charged the same as services?
No. A publisher selling inventory pays 10%, and 5% when they brought the advertiser. Placement margins are thinner than service margins, and a fee that ignores that would only be paid by publishers with no alternative.
What happens to the fee if a campaign under-delivers?
Commission is charged on what is released, not on what was escrowed. A campaign that delivers 60% releases 60%, and the seller fee is scaled to the same 60%. The platform does not take a full fee on a partial delivery.
Are there listing fees, subscriptions or withdrawal charges?
No listing fee, no subscription, no charge to publish a service or a placement. Payouts move at cost; LinkBourse does not mark up the payment processor.
When is the money actually charged?
At funding. The full amount leaves the buyer and sits in escrow before work starts, and the split between seller, platform and any refund is settled when the order releases.
Related: how escrow works · what things cost on the market