Cooling Period for First Time Creators

by 0x336685bb3a96e13b77e909d7c52e8afcff1e859e (michitodd)

SUMMARY This is a proposal to set up an intermediate waiting period "cooling period" for new wearable collections to allow returns or refunds if there’s any unexpected issues.

ABSTRACT Currently there has been frustration from customers purchasing from creators that shortly after have their wearable disabled due to IP infringement or not owning the rights to a design they submitted. As the space is still new knowledge around Creative Commons or design ownership is still quite fresh and so to protect the buyer from being at a loss, there can be a waiting time for new collections so if any issue arises there can be a refund request within the initial 14 day publishing period if a wearable is disabled or updated. Anyone holding this wearable can "burn" it to get a full refund from the held funds regardless of secondary sale or initial sale. Also implementing a "burn" feature wont devalue the product. This cannot protect users from secondary sale on external platforms.

This wont solve larger issues but start a community dialog and also create a foundation for future framework to protect buyer confidence.

MOTIVATION After multiple events of users buying from the marketplace and then no longer being able to use that wearable or the new wearable is updated to be completely different from the original purchase some buyers are now nervous or frustrated when supporting new collections. The safest shopping method at the moment is to buy from creators you know but with some extra security for the customer this can be a good buffer to ensure they have a bit of time to request a refund if things get disabled or changed.

IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAYS

• Guidelines updated to reflect the change
• Information added to the terms of publishing to avoid confusion
• Announced in the discord, town hall and possibly socials
• Smart contract for sellers to be updated to have a payment delay for new collections
• A count-down added into the UI so users can see how many days they have left before their cooling period is complete

CONCLUSION

This delay on creators will cure reluctance to buy from new creators in the space and also create a safety net for buyers. It will hopefully avoid future use of dao funds for refund requests if IP infringement disables numerous collections and also curve the creators looking to publish with ill intent. On a positive note I hope this will also encourage users that publish only to then leave to stay longer in the platform as they wait for their funds (resulting in a single first payment) and extend their Decentraland experience!

Some key feedback I've received but can't really solve is around how will users know when an item has been disabled or updated. I think this needs to be a larger discussion and seperate governance around updating/disabling and the UI design for wearables.

• Cooling Down period 14 Days
• Cooling Down Period 30 Days
• Instant Payment with No Cooldown
• Invalid question/options

Vote on this proposal on the Decentraland DAO