When Puro.earth was founded in 2019, there was neither a marketplace nor standard for engineered carbon removal. This gave us a blank slate to define a value proposition that is designed to enable the growth of the nascent carbon removal market while emphasizing simplicity, cost-efficiency, and transparency.
Transparent and simple cost structure
Puro.earth has two sources of revenue:
Annual platform membership fee
The Puro.earth Service Fee
1. Annual platform membership fee
Puro.earth charges a €900 annual membership fee that includes a Puro Registry Account where account holders can manage and retire CORCs. Users also need to sign the Platform Agreement.
This fee is not necessary if the purchased CORCs are retired immediately. For example, through purchases in our online shop. However, please note that the online shop does not provide complete access to all projects and available CORCs. Membership has this added benefit and enables direct wholesale purchase negotiations to take place with Puro.earth’s suppliers.
We do not charge extra for opening, closing, or reactivating accounts. For suppliers, the fee is also not dependent on the size of their CORC issuances.
2. The Puro.earth Service Fee
Puro.earth takes a service charge when CORCs change ownership. When CORCs are sold for the first time, the fee depends on the supplier’s annual issuance volume. The fee covers all the services we provide to the supplier, from the development of new methodologies (if needed) to the issuance of CORCs in the Puro Registry. It also covers the costs associated with third-party verification by an accredited auditor.
| Annual CORC issuance volume | Service Fee |
|---|---|
| <2,000 | 12% |
| 2,000-300,000 | 8% |
| >300,000 | 3% |
By design, our Service Fee is simple, transparent and - based on estimates produced by a top tier consulting firm - one of the most cost-efficient means of issuing credits.
The Service Fee is charged only when the supplier receives their payment from the buyer. This pricing strategy was designed to lower the entry barriers for new suppliers that may struggle to pay high upfront issuance costs.
Listing of a supplier’s CORCs and primary trading on the Puro.earth Marketplace is free. CORC suppliers can choose to make use of this optional service or, alternatively, sell CORCs directly or through another marketplace, exchange, or channel partner.
The listing price on the Puro.earth Marketplace, as well as other marketplaces, already includes the Puro.earth Service Fee. So, the price you see on these marketplaces are inclusive of our fees.
Secondary trades
Puro.earth charges a commission on secondary trades to register the change of ownership in the Puro Registry. This fee is dependent on the volume of the CORCs that are traded.
| CORC traded | Service Fee |
|---|---|
| <100,000 | 2% |
| 100,000-500,000 | 1.5% |
| >500,000 | 1% |
Example
ACME Biochar gets issued CORCs and sells them for €100 via the following channels: 1) Direct sales to buyers, 2) Puro.earth Marketplace, and 3) ABC Marketplace (which charges a 10% commission).
| Sales channel | Listing price (price displayed on different marketplaces) | Revenue per CORC sale | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACME | Puro | ABC | ||
| Direct sales by ACME Biochar | 100 | 92 | 8 | - |
| Puro.earth Marketplace | 100 | 92 | 8 | - |
| ABC Marketplace | 110 | 92 | 8 | 10 |
In this example, Puro.earth and the supplier’s revenue stay the same in all three scenarios, even when using the Puro.earth Marketplace as a distribution channel. While the associated cost of using an intermediary is higher for buyers, it should be noted that this commission often includes additional value-added services, such as advisory services.
In all instances, the Puro.earth service fee would already be included in either the suppliers’ asking price or the listing price on the relevant marketplaces.
