Avowly

Make a deal with a stranger as safe as one with a friend.

Billions of dollars of second-hand goods change hands between strangers every year, still mostly on cash, screenshots and hope. Avowly gives that moment the one thing it's missing: proof before payment.

Why now

The trust gap is widening.

Marketplaces grew to billions of users without a safe way to pay at a meetup. Scammers adapted faster than the tools: fake listings, swapped devices, locked phones, “empty box” claims.

At the same time, AI can finally read the physical world from a phone camera, and shopping agents are starting to buy on our behalf. Both need the same thing: a payment that moves only when the real item does.

What we believe

Proof over promises

Money moves when the item proves itself, not when someone taps "received".

The AI reads. Rules decide.

Models are great readers and poor judges of money. Every payment decision is plain, published, tested code.

Privacy by default

Other people's details are blurred before anything is saved. Photos are private unless they're safe to show.

Honest about limits

We say what Avowly can't check yet, and low-confidence reads ask for another photo instead of guessing.

Where Avowly goes next

One engine for every handoff between strangers.

  1. 01

    Shipped deals

    Extend the handoff check to parcels: the buyer scans on delivery, with PayPal tracking attached to the capture.

  2. 02

    Partner payouts

    PayPal platform features for instant seller disbursement and fees, without Avowly ever holding funds.

  3. 03

    Deeper device checks

    Carrier blacklist and IMEI database lookups alongside the on-screen lock check.

  4. 04

    Rental businesses

    Camera, tool and bike rental shops running every deposit through Avowly, with damage priced up front.

  5. 05

    The Avowly badge

    A verified-listing badge sellers can embed on any marketplace, so protection travels with the item.

  6. 06

    Agent-native commerce

    Shopping agents that find verified items and hand people a PayPal approval, never the other way round.

Built for the PayPal AI Hackathon.

Avowly is built by Uzoechi Raphael on PayPal's developer platform: holds, captures, payouts, webhooks and disputes, with AI that reads the physical world and plain rules that decide every payment.

It's open source. Read how it works, browse the code, or try a deal.