Transaction fees are the intermediary lifeblood in current marketplaces. However, they would not exist if the buyer and seller met independently. For example, if you happen to sit next to someone on a plane who rents a vacation house where you want to go, there is no need for Airbnb (i.e., an intermediary). Origin’s decentralized marketplace is designed to eliminate transaction fees by allowing individuals to directly transact with each other just as if they independently met on the street.

Transaction fees are highly variable depending on the marketplace (e.g., Amazon vs. Airbnb). There may be fees for a good or service simply to be hosted (e.g., $39.99/month), flat fees per every purchase (e.g., $3), a percentage-based fee based on the cost of each purchase (e.g., 15%), or a combination of any of these resulting in a myriad of transaction fee structures between different marketplaces. It is not easy to compare one marketplace to another without also knowing the specifics of the item being sold and its predicted sales volume. Regardless, it is possible that sellers may have to operate at a deficit for some time simply to be in a certain marketplace. This in and of itself is too big a barrier to entry for many new businesses.

To a degree, these transaction fees can be justified for the infrastructure (e.g., website hosting, accepting payments, visibility) the marketplace offers a seller. Further, these existing platforms do need significant capital to operate and expand particularly into international markets. However, as the marketplace grows beyond a critical mass, the intermediaries see exponential profit gains while the actual market users (which were essential for growth) reap none of those financial benefits.

Contrast this to Origin’s model in which Origin receives no direct financial benefit for each transaction. We should mention that 0% doesn’t really mean 0% but as close to 0% as a secure payment system can be. There are costs such as the technology needed to participate like the necessary hardware and for internet service. Transactions on the platform also have a cost (i.e., “gas”); this is the fee miners receive for the necessary data computations for a transaction to be committed to the blockchain. This gas fee fluctuates based on supply and demand of miners versus transactions, but it is not Origin who benefits. It is as close to 0% as can be securely done.

Origin is as close to 0% as possible because that is what is best for the customer while many companies try to get as close to 99% as they can get away with to please their investors. We think that is fundamentally flawed.

0% sounds good right? Let’s make that even better!

Origin’s vision is a “better-than-free” platform for users particularly the early adopters. Early adopters will receive payment in Origin (i.e., tokens) on purchases with the aim to incentivize their continued use of the marketplace. They can trade out those tokens for fiat currency or they can keep them and perhaps see the token’s value increase. Uber’s first investor generated a ~10000x return but the first driver just was paid once. Let’s flip that model.

Origin wins by having a strong and thriving decentralized marketplace of quality goods and services; the community wins by having a low barrier to entry for doing business as well as being rewarded for helping the sharing economy grow.

Learn more about Origin: