TBBN orchestrates the trade. You keep every dollar.
TBBN is the API infrastructure layer underneath your checkout — not a replacement for it. Here is exactly what happens, end to end, for a single trade between two sellers on two different platforms.
A seller lists an item on your platform
They opt into trade. You send the category, brand, condition, original price, and — optionally — their "wants" (what they'd accept in trade). TBBN never sets or discounts the price; you supply it.
TBBN scores and surfaces compatible trades
The Trade Compatibility Score weighs wants match (35%), category (20%), brand (15%), condition (10%), value closeness (10%), geography (5%), and seller reputation (5%) — a real matching engine, not a search index.
Sellers negotiate an offer
Either side can offer one item or several. The trade value is Original Price + Requested Amount − Willing To Pay, and the side worth less pays the difference. Before either side accepts, both see the same quote: what each pays, at which store, including each store’s commission.
TBBN reserves items and hands off to checkout
Once accepted, TBBN locks both sides’ items and the quote. Each trader checks out with the store of the item they receive — paying the difference if their side is worth less, plus that store’s commission where its seller isn’t due enough to cover it. Both can do it immediately and in any order; nobody waits on the other.
You collect payment, tax, and commission — same as any sale
You set your commission once, in trade setup. TBBN sends your checkout the listed price, both sides’ trade values, the difference and your commission, so it charges the trader receiving your item exactly what the quote showed, plus tax as it would for a normal sale. You are the merchant of record, and every trade is in your trade records for your accountant.
You fulfill as soon as your checkout is paid
TBBN fires a webhook the moment your checkout completes — you ship to the trader who paid, without waiting on the other store. Shipping, tracking, returns, and customer service stay entirely with you.
What a trade means for your books — the numbers TBBN sends, a worked example, your trade records and what to ask your accountant: Tax and accounting for merchants.
A common misconception
Neither seller waits for the other — not for payment, not for fulfillment.
As soon as a trade is accepted and items are reserved, both traders can check out immediately, in either order. The moment a checkout completes, that store ships what was paid for — it is never gated on the other trader's payment.