Verification and trust
Half of what a participant weighs up is the prize itself. The other half: is this organizer real, and will they actually pay? The platform has already answered the second one for you: the prize is locked before the contest starts and goes to the winner either way. Verification and open ratings answer the first one, which is who exactly is behind the contest.
Verification levels
There are three types of verified account:
- BLOGGER: individual creators with a public track record. Good for personal brand contests.
- STORE: e-commerce businesses running promotions.
- COMPANY: registered companies running marketing or hiring campaigns.
Verified accounts pass a document check (ID or incorporation papers). The badge then shows on the profile and on every contest that account runs, so a participant can see who they are dealing with straight from the feed. The commission rate is set by the payment method, not by the badge: rates here.
A contest without a badge is just as honest: its prize is locked on the platform too, and the payout reaches the winner. The badge answers a different question, which is who wrote the task and what their track record looks like.
Dual ratings
Every DareBay account carries two ratings:
- Organizer rating is built from the contests you have run. Did you pay the prizes on time? Was the winner picked fairly? How many disputes?
- Participant rating is built from the contests you have entered. Is your work original? Do you follow the rules? Do you pile on other participants or organizers?
Both ratings are visible on your profile. They cannot be bought, and they are not erased by creating a new account: an account with no history looks suspicious all by itself.
What a low rating means in practice
- Low organizer rating → participants skip your contests, and the feed shows them less often.
- Low participant rating → your submissions go through manual moderation before they appear in the public feed.
- Very low → account limits or a ban.
How to earn trust fast
If you are just starting out:
- Organizers: run one small contest you are certain you can close cleanly. A carefully run $50 contest is worth more than a $5,000 one that fell apart.
- Participants: enter contests in the niche you actually work in. Your first 2-3 submissions, even the ones that do not win, establish a pattern of genuine authorship.
Verification can be done at any point, and you do not need it to start.
→ Back to the quick start, or see how winners are chosen.