Graft is a place where people who need work done meet people who can do it, and where the money is kept safe until the job is finished. That sentence is easy to say. This article walks through what it looks like in practice, in order, from both sides: the client who needs something done, and the worker who does it.
The short version. A client posts a task for free. Workers send offers or ask questions. The client picks someone, pays into escrow, the work gets done, the client confirms it, and the worker is paid the full agreed price. Both sides then leave a review. Each step below has a clock or a rule, so nobody is left waiting forever.
Step 1: The client posts a task
Posting is free. You describe what needs doing, where it is, roughly what you can spend, and whether the work happens in person or online. A good task has a clear title, a few photos and an honest budget. Photos are the single best thing you can add, because they let a worker price the job properly instead of guessing.
Your task stays open for 30 days. If nobody has been hired by then it closes and you are told, and you can repost it in a tap.
Step 2: The worker finds it and sends an offer or a question
Workers browse tasks near them and in their trade. When one fits, they have two choices.
- Send an offer. A price and a message saying why they are the right person. To send an offer, a worker needs to have submitted their ID and added a mobile money payout method such as EcoCash, so they can be paid when the job is done.
- Ask a question. If something is unclear, a worker can ask before offering. Questions are free and need no payout method.
Workers do not have to be verified before they can offer, but verified workers are hired more often, and the badge is visible to every client. How verification works is explained in our guide on getting verified.
Step 3: Talk, compare and negotiate
Offers and questions land in the client's messages, in a conversation with the person who sent them. You can see each worker's rating, their reviews, their verified badge and their confirmed qualifications, and you can chat, send photos and documents and share your location so they can find the site. Every message shows a tick: sent, delivered or read.
If the price is not quite right, the client can counter an offer with a different price, and the worker can accept it or talk it through. Agreements are made on Graft, so what was promised is on record. Phone numbers and contact details are blocked in messages, because moving off Graft removes the protection that both sides are relying on.
Step 4: The client hires, and pays
To accept an offer, a client needs to be ID verified. This is one of the ways Graft makes sure both sides are real people.
When you accept, you go straight to the Pay screen. It shows three lines: the agreed price, Graft's 8% service fee, and the total. The fee is charged to the client on top of the price. If you agreed $100, you pay $108, and the worker receives the full $100. Nothing is taken out of their side.
You have 24 hours to pay. If the payment is not completed in that time the hire is cancelled and the task is reopened so other workers can offer. This protects the worker from waiting on someone who has gone quiet.
The money goes into escrow. It is not with the worker, and it is not with the client. Neither can touch it until the job is done. USD payments go through Payonify over EcoCash, and ZWG payments go through Pesepay, which also takes cards and InnBucks. You never pick a gateway by name. Our other article, How your money moves through Graft, explains the money in full.
For in-person work, some clients prefer to pay the worker in cash on the day. That is allowed where the job is in person or both sides agree to it, and the service fee is still paid digitally so the job stays protected by Graft.
Step 5: The work
Once the money is in escrow, the worker can begin. They tap I have started the work, and the client sees the job move along a five step line: Hired, Paid, Started, Done, Paid out. You always know where a job is without having to ask.
Step 6: The client confirms it is done
How a job is closed depends on where it happened.
- In person. The client is given a six character completion code, which they share with the worker once they are happy. The worker enters or scans it to mark the job done. The code is the proof that the client was there and agreed.
- Online. The worker marks the job done, and the client reviews the work and confirms it.
If the client does not respond, the clock takes over. Once the worker has marked the job done, the client has 72 hours to confirm or to raise a problem. If they do neither, the payment is released to the worker automatically, unless there is an open dispute. This is so nobody can keep work they have received without paying for it.
Step 7: If something goes wrong
If the work is not what was agreed, the client raises a dispute. That freezes the money on the spot, and it stays frozen while the case is open, including through the 72 hour clock. The evidence is put in front of our team: the photos, the documents and the messages on Graft. A member of our team reads all of it and decides. The money then moves to match the decision, whether that is a release to the worker, a refund to the client, or a split.
This is the one part of Graft that is always done by a person, because who was right in a disagreement is a judgment, not a rule.
Step 8: The worker is paid
When the job is confirmed, or released by the clock, or settled by a dispute, the worker's payment lands in their Graft wallet. From there they cash out to EcoCash. The transfer is confirmed by the payment company, so it shows as sending until the network confirms it arrived. That is usually minutes, and up to a business day when the network is slow.
Step 9: Reviews, both ways
After a job, each side can review the other. A client rates the worker's work, which builds the worker's rating on their profile. A worker can also rate the client. The two are kept apart and never blended, so a worker's rating is only ever made up of what clients thought of their work.
Reviews are what let the next client choose with confidence, and they are the reason honest workers rise over time. Ask for one, and leave one.
What Graft does for you along the way
- Keeps the money safe in escrow until the work is done.
- Checks IDs and qualifications, with a real person making each decision.
- Blocks contact details in messages so agreements stay protected.
- Keeps the clocks: 30 days for a task, 24 hours to pay, 72 hours to confirm.
- Decides disputes fairly, on the evidence.
The journey at a glance
- Client posts a task, free.
- Workers send offers or ask questions.
- They talk, share photos and agree a price.
- Client accepts and pays within 24 hours. The money goes into escrow.
- Worker does the work.
- Client confirms it, with a code in person or a tap online, or 72 hours pass.
- Worker is paid in full and cashes out to EcoCash.
- Both leave a review.
Where to begin
If you need something done, post a task and you will start getting offers. If you want to earn, create your worker profile, verify your ID and add your qualifications, then start sending offers. Either way it takes a few minutes, and it costs nothing until a job is actually agreed and paid for.
