Merchant of record

Being the merchant of record means the customer is buying from you, not from the platform. You own the relationship, the payout, and the responsibilities that come with a sale: issuing refunds, responding to chargebacks, and accounting for tax on the transaction.

This is the opposite of a marketplace model, where the platform is the merchant of record, collects the money, owns the customer data, and pays you out later minus a commission. Which model you are in determines who the customer thinks they bought from and who carries the obligations.

On Zillo you are the merchant of record. Money flows from the customer through Stripe directly into your own bank account; Zillo never holds your funds. Zillo is software that facilitates the sale and collects a 3% fee — it does not stand between you and your customer or your money.

The practical upshot is control: your business name on the customer's statement, your customer list to export and market to, and your call on refunds. The trade-off is responsibility — the refund and dispute handling sit with you, which is why Zillo automates as much of it as possible.