Governing law and entities: The voluntary payments market is diverse group of transactions that occur under a variety of circumstances. Some payments are purely free market such as a fee to fish or birdwatch in a private reserve while others maybe influenced by international policy such as the Equator Principles or Convention on Biological Diversity or national or local regulation.

Unit traded: Most voluntary payments are ultimately direct or indirect payments for the protection, restoration, or management of land in a 'natural' state. The actual unit traded is often reduced to a unit of land such as a hectare or acre, but in some cases the payment is made for an indirect quantity, for example Defenders of Wildlife pays ranchers compensation for each livestock depredation event by a wolf, this allows ranchers to maintain their property as suitable habitat for wolves without losing revenue.

Market Participants: Participants of voluntary payments vary widely. Buyers in voluntary deals can be corporations looking to mitigate the biodiversity impact of their operations, conservations organizations looking to set up positive incentives for conservation management on private land, or individuals willing to pay for the recreation value of biodiversity. Sellers have included national, state, or private landowners that are willing to accept payment to maintain or restore the biodiversity on their land.

Environmental performance requirements: Performance requirement are set on a per deal basis and most often made in good faith. As most deals are structured without an enforcing regulatory framework, the dealmaker's incentive to perform on environmental goals driven by the need to maintain the ability and credibility to make future deals.