I think I can find something to agree on for both of the differing viewpoints in this thread (with regard to the original topic).
I do agree that due to the nature of magickal and occult work that it is one of the easiest markets to scam in. But I feel like simply banning or outlawing it is a cop out.
It's hard, because a buyer can scam simply by saying the workings were not effective or had no result.
A seller can scam by simply not doing anything, or doing something improperly or incompetently.
So whether it's the seller working first, or the buyer paying first, it is completely possible that either side can claim (whether maliciously or not) that they are right and the other is wrong.
At the same time, it's not like we can expect people to do things completely for free. There are costs associated with this practice, and not just sacrifices/offerings but things like candles and implements, incense and other expendable/consumables.
I don't think there's a perfect solution for this... and if there is, I'm probably not smart enough to figure it out... But what I'll strive for in the case of WFs future marketplace is minimizing recurrent scamming by placing a strong emphasis/focus on reviews and deciding whether to deal with someone based on their reviews. And minimize one-time hit and run scammers with the requirement for a paid vendor license.
There may be other things I can look into for the future, like a middleman service, and proof-of-work verification, and maybe even a larger deposit for first time vendors...
But I don't think it's a lost cause or something that isn't worth implementing. I've done work for others, and got work from others, though I've never actually paid for a service yet (mostly been a "you scratch my back I'll scratch yours" type of deal) but I've had very good experiences with having certain work done by others!