Marketplace
How marketplace payments work
DedicatedServe connects clients with qualified, independently verified process servers. This page explains the money side plainly. Online payment is not switched on yet; this is the model being prepared, not a live checkout.
Step 1
You send a request
A request is a request, not a booking. Nothing is charged and no server is assigned at this point.
Step 2
DedicatedServe prices the job
We set the price from our own published rates. Servers do not bid and you never negotiate with a server.
Step 3
You approve one all-in quote
You see a single final amount before you authorise anything. It is the whole amount, itemised, with the payment and refund terms shown alongside it.
Step 4
Dispatch sends a fixed offer to a qualified server
We set the server's compensation separately and offer the job to one verified server in that area. Your identity, contact details and service address stay masked until a server accepts.
Step 5
The server accepts or declines
A server can only accept or decline a fixed offer; there is no counteroffer. Dispatch confirms every assignment — nothing is assigned automatically.
Step 6
Payment is authorised
Payment is authorised and collected, then held in the platform's payment balance pending release. It is not held in a separate protected account on your behalf.
Step 7
You watch the work happen
Status, timeline and approximate area update as the job moves. Location verification never decides whether service was legally effective, and never creates a charge on its own.
Step 8
Completion is verified
Dispatch reviews the report and evidence before anything is released to you or to the server.
Step 9
Payout is released by a person
A server is paid only after a Dispatch completion review and an explicit owner-approved release. Automatic payout is switched off.
Tax on what we charge
Process-service work — attempts, rush and same-day scheduling, presence verification, waiting time, travel and the DedicatedServe platform fee — is treated as non-taxable service labour under our provisional California position. Separately sold physical items such as printed copies are treated as taxable and are switched off until the treatment is confirmed and a rate is configured. Parking, tolls, witness fees and court fees are passed through at documented cost and are never silently taxed.
Provisional California operating position — qualified tax adviser confirmation required.
- CDTFA Annotation 515.0030 — serving subpoenas, preparing and delivering court submittals, and service-related skip tracing are not taxed; document copying and the associated tangible copies are. (retrieved 2026-09-19)
- CDTFA Regulation 1501 — a true service enterprise is the consumer of incidental property, but regular sales of tangible personal property are taxable. (retrieved 2026-09-19)
- CDTFA service-enterprise guidance 515.0007. (retrieved 2026-09-19)
This is our operating position, not tax advice.