Escrow is a trust problem, not a payments problem
A marketplace becomes useful when it makes comparison clearer and commitment safer for both sides.
The quote was the beginning of the trust problem.
When every supplier describes a service differently, comparison starts with translation. When a date is held in a message and a deposit is attached to a promise, the risk continues after the decision.
The platform needed to make the shape of the commitment visible.
Structure creates room for confidence.
Comparable requests, clear proposal states and a booking record reduce the amount of trust that has to be improvised. Milestones make the relationship legible without pretending that every event can be reduced to a transaction.
The point is not to remove the human relationship. It is to give both sides a shared reference when the conversation gets complicated.
The lesson was to build trust into the workflow.
Trust is stronger when the system supports it before something goes wrong. Good marketplace design makes the fair path easier to follow for clients and providers alike.