# Data verification before payment: what the companies say

> Data verification before payment in AI data deals: micro1's David Revland said micro1 verifies data, then pays. What Mercor, Handshake AI and Troveo publish.

By Matt Burns, Vaultfish. Canonical: https://vaultfish.com/answers/data-verification-before-payment-ai  
Published: 2026-07-20  
Updated: 2026-10-14

## The short answer

Verification sits between transfer and payment. micro1's David Revland said micro1 verifies data before paying. Mercor says wire transfer on delivery. Handshake AI says due diligence affects the amount. None publishes pass criteria. Ask what the check tests before transferring.

Verification sits between the transfer and the money, and it's the step with the least published detail. That gap is the story here.

Verification comes late in a deal. The first read of your offer happens much earlier, and [how a lab's data team judges an offer](/answers/how-ai-labs-evaluate-a-data-offer) covers it.

## What did micro1 say?

In an undated recorded forum talk, David Revland, who works on human data at [micro1](/buyers/micro1), listed seven steps for a corpus deal. The last two are the data transfer, then micro1 verifying the delivered data and paying (recording, date not stated).

micro1's data partnerships page states no payment timing and no verification procedure.

The [process page](/answers/micro1-data-partnership-process) lists all seven steps.

## What do other buyers publish?

| Buyer | What its page says | Pass criteria published |
|---|---|---|
| Mercor | [Wire transfer on delivery](https://www.mercor.com/data/) of the anonymized dataset, typically 2 to 4 weeks from the signed agreement | None found |
| Handshake AI | [Due diligence outcome affects pricing](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/). Payment typically comes 30 to 60 days after it accepts the de-identified dataset | None found |
| Troveo | [Pays on every sale](https://www.troveo.ai/business-data), not just the first | None found in what I read |

Every entry is a buyer describing itself.

One more buyer view: Ryan Lock of Polyshares wrote that a 30-day acceptance window is standard ([X article](https://x.com/RyanLockAI/status/2107864069105389717)). No pass test came with it. See [acceptance periods](/answers/what-is-an-acceptance-period-in-a-data-deal).

## Why does the order matter to your company?

If payment follows verification, a failed check could change the amount or end the deal. Nothing I read says which. The [corpus deal page](/answers/micro1-corpus-sale-vs-workflows-track) shows where the check sits against micro1's other track.

## What should you ask before you transfer?

- What does the check test, and who decides a pass?
- If part of the data fails, is the price cut or the deal cancelled?
- How long does verification take, and when is payment due after it?
- Who bears the cost of re-exporting data?

Put the answers in the contract. Talk to a privacy or commercial lawyer in your state before you sign.

micro1 may pay us a referral fee if a company we introduce goes ahead with it. [How we are paid](https://vaultfish.com/disclosure)

The [checklist for choosing an AI data broker](/guides/how-to-choose-an-ai-data-broker) covers more questions.

Figure: steps Your data transfers -> micro1 verifies it -> micro1 pays. Revland (micro1) said in an undated recorded forum talk that micro1 verifies the delivered data first and pays after.

[Apply to micro1's data partnership (paid link)](https://req.micro1.ai/post/74520e8b-4673-4da5-b855-53609aaf6710?referralCode=f82e519e-5d64-4e0e-9574-760c84371cf2&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=data_referral) · [micro1's own data-partnerships page](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships)

_Paid link. [How we are paid](https://vaultfish.com/disclosure)_

_Vaultfish helps you run the process. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. If you need counsel who knows this area, we can point you to one._

## Sources

- [Wire transfer on delivery](https://www.mercor.com/data/)
- [Due diligence outcome affects pricing](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/)
- [Pays on every sale](https://www.troveo.ai/business-data)
- [X article](https://x.com/RyanLockAI/status/2107864069105389717)