The seller chooses, for each listing, how its sales settle. With escrow, the buyer pays Carbon Trader®, which holds the money and the units and pays the seller once both are in. With a direct sale, the buyer pays the seller and the seller transfers the units, without Carbon Trader holding either. Every listing says which it is before you buy. How escrow works has the full picture.
How a buyer pays for an escrow purchase
- Your identity is confirmed before you buy, once. When you buy, a settlement opens under Settlements.
- Choose Email me an invoice. The invoice is for the price of the units. You do not pay the escrow fee; the seller does.
- The invoice carries a short payment reference, such as
CT-1A2B3C4D, which fits a bank transfer reference field. - Pay the exact amount shown, by bank transfer, quoting the reference, by the pay-by date shown on the settlement. The amount and the reference are also on the row, where you can ask for the invoice to be sent again.
- When the payment is confirmed, the trade moves on by itself.
An escrow purchase must be paid within 7 days of buying. We send one reminder 2 days before the deadline. If the money has not arrived by then, the purchase is cancelled, the invoice is voided and the units go back on sale. Money that arrives after a purchase has been cancelled is refunded.
Payment is by bank transfer. There is no card payment and no card surcharge.
Funding a wanted request
A wanted request is paid for up front: you ask for the invoice on Buy requests and pay the offer into escrow by bank transfer. The request goes live to sellers once the money has arrived. You pay only the offer; a seller who fills it pays the escrow fee from their proceeds. If the request closes without a seller taking it, the money is refunded.
Paying in a direct sale
You pay the seller directly, using the details we send you both when you buy. We ask you to pay within 7 days. Pay only into an account the seller has confirmed to you. The seller transfers the units to your Register account and marks the sale complete; either of you can cancel the sale under Settlements before then, and the units go back on sale. Carbon Trader does not hold the money or the units, does not check the payment or the transfer, and gives no protection to either side in a direct sale.
How a seller is paid
Escrow. Once the buyer's money is in escrow you are told to transfer the units. Units in a Carbon Trader wallet move automatically. When the units have arrived, the sale price less the escrow fee of $159.00 plus GST ($182.85 including GST) is paid to the bank account under Account details. The listing fee is invoiced separately and is not deducted from the sale.
Your identity is confirmed before the payout, if it has not been already. A lot can sell and be paid for first; the money stays in escrow until that step is done.
Direct. The buyer pays you directly. Transfer the units only once the payment has reached your account, then mark the sale complete under Settlements.
Fees
- A listing costs $29.00 including GST, paid by the seller.
- Escrow is optional and chosen by the seller. Each completed sale through escrow costs the seller $159.00 plus GST ($182.85 including GST), deducted from the sale proceeds. Each sale from a listing that sells in parts carries the fee. No fee is charged if the sale does not complete.
- A sale worth less than the escrow fee cannot go through escrow.
- A direct sale has no escrow fee.
- Listings created before 28 October 2026 settle through escrow with no escrow fee.
- The buyer pays only the price of the units. There is no success fee and no buyer fee.
- Extending a listing, or relisting the same units, is free until they sell. A new listing is a new $29.
- Posting a wanted request is free.
- Registry, bank, foreign exchange, government, legal and tax charges from third parties are passed through at cost unless a fee item says otherwise.
The current schedule and an estimator are on the fees page. The listing fee is shown including GST; other fees are shown excluding GST. There is a line-by-line list in the fee schedule appendix.
GST: the $29.00 listing fee includes GST. Other Carbon Trader platform fees, including the escrow fee, attract 15% GST on top. NZU transfers themselves are zero-rated for GST under sections 11A(1)(s)-(w) of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 (Inland Revenue interpretation statement IS 25/13), so no GST is charged on the trade amount.
Paying the listing fee
The listing fee is invoiced when your listing goes live. For a lot sold from a Carbon Trader wallet that is when it is published. For a lot held in your own ETS account it is when proof of your units is confirmed and the listing publishes.
An invoice for $29.00 is emailed to you, payable by bank transfer using the short reference on the invoice. Your listing does not wait on payment. A listing that never goes live is never invoiced.
Settlement stages
| Stage | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Waiting for NZD | The buyer's payment into escrow is due, by the pay-by date shown. |
| Waiting for NZU | The money is in escrow and the seller's units are due. |
| Ready for release | Money and units are both confirmed. |
| Completed | Units delivered, seller paid, statements issued. |
| Failed or cancelled | The settlement did not complete, for example because an escrow purchase was not paid in time. Money already paid into escrow is returned to the buyer. |
A settlement can also be held while a party's identity is being confirmed, or where Carbon Trader has a question about a trade. The row says what it is waiting for.
A direct sale shows under Settlements with the other party's details. It stays open until the seller marks it complete or either party cancels it. If it is still open after a week, we remind you both to finish it; it is never cancelled automatically.
Services charged by invoice
Surrender delivery support, for wallet units delivered to your Register account towards a surrender, is invoiced separately when the desk approves the delivery. Any other service is quoted before any work starts: we confirm the fee and scope, an invoice is sent, and the work proceeds once it is paid.
Estimating fees
Use the estimator on the fees page. An estimate is indicative; the invoice or settlement statement for a trade is the final figure.
If a payment has not updated a trade
Do not pay twice. Contact us with the payment reference, the amount and the time you paid.
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