Topic: [ANN] LocalBitcoins.com - a location-based bitcoin to cash marketplace - page 20. (Read 126108 times)

Yes.

LocalBitcoins only handles the bitcoin portion of the sale they do not and can not know the status of the bank payments, cash transfers, or anything that isn't the movement of bitcoins.

Escrow is there to protect the buyer, so they can pay the seller with the assurance that the seller must deliver the bitcoins if payment is rendered.

As the bitcoin seller, it's up to you to make sure you actually get paid - LocalBitcoins can't take care of that for you.

Once you've been paid you release the bitcoins to the buyer using the button on the web site. The bitcoins will then instantly show up in the buyer's LocalBitcoins wallet.

I appreciate your help and explanation. But that is why I'm a little confused about the details page and what it is telling me. So are you saying that is for the buyer's information, telling him it's safe to pay me? But why then is there a "Release transaction" button for me to click along with a warning saying, "Be careful! Only release the bitcoins from escrow when you are sure you have received payment. There are sellers who try to trick sellers to release their bitcoins early." - if I already took care of my end of the bargain by funding escrow with btc?


So tell me if this is right, I just keep checking my bank account and when I see that the funds have been transferred into it, then I can hit the "Release transaction" button so the buyer can receive his/her bitcoins from escrow?

Sorry to sound so clueless. I just don't want to screw anything up for myself or the buyer. I thought I had read and understood everything before I started this process. I apparently missed the release transaction section. 

Escrow is always for bitcoins.

It means your (as the BTC seller) bitcoins are locked up such that you can not cancel the sale yourself, and it's safe for the buyer to pay you.

Hello,

Just started my first localbitcoins transaction/trade. I'm selling bitcoins to a buyer online via "Transfers with specific bank" and using the site's escrow service. I funded the escrow with my btc, but now I'm a little confused as to the meaning of the wording on the transaction dashboard/details screen and what I should do or look for at this point.

Specifically,

It says, Escrow status: Escrow enabled & funded. Safe to pay online.

 - Does this mean the buyer has put up the cash into the escrow and I can safely click the "Release transaction" button and that when I do, then funds will then be transferred into my bank account?
 - Or does it mean I need to confirm for myself by checking my bank account (BoA online banking) that the buyer transferred the funds into my bank account and that when I do confirm that the funds are in my bank account, then I should click the "Release transaction" button?
 - Or does it just mean that I fulfilled my end by funding escrow with btc and need to wait for Payment to be marked as complete?

I provided my bank account info needed for the buyer to transfer the funds into my bank account, but so far I haven't seen anything received.

So basically, do I need to wait to see that the funds have been sent into my bank account first before I release the transaction? Or has the buyer done his part and when I hit release, then the money will appear in my bank account?

Thanks, this is useful.

Interesting idea, even if it could be potentially abused. Something for the API too ^^

You also might find this helpful: http://bitcoinaverage.com/             

It can be exploited by creating several accounts and selling to self at an unreasonable price. The average will then go off. If exploiter is a buyer, he will make price go down. If he's a seller, he will make the price go up.

Feature request: calculate a weighted average of and/or history of trading prices for each fiat currency.

I know that most people price their trades based on some formula using bid/ask/last prices from the major exchanges.  However, given the divergence in prices between Mt. Gox and other exchanges, it would be very useful to have a bid/ask/last/depth based on what local bitcoin traders have actually decided to set their prices to.

As the volume of local exchanges increases, this consensus could displace using unreliable centralized exchanges as a pricing mechanism, and instead show the market price when taking into account things like the risk premium of in-person trades and the delay times involved.

Another interesting set of data would be to plot the market price in different geographical areas vs. the average for that currency.

I'd contribute some BTC to a bounty for implementing this.

That would be wonderful. I don't care if the information being sent is sensitive or not - I want as much of  the email I receive to be encrypted.

Count my vote for PGP.

+1

Agreed

second that!

+1 ^

With PGP plugins for email, just a matter of entering in your passphrase (if at all).

Or even better, have all non-escrowed deals go PGP bidirectional encrypted comms. (Not sure if you can encrypt to 2 recipients at once, your counterparty + localbitcoins escrow)

Feature request: 

I'ld like to continue receiving notifications via e-mail, but I'ld like those to be encrypted with my GPG public key.   If that is a little too advanced for public use, then I'ld like the notification to simply send me a prod ..., something like:  "New Notification For You - Login To View".

The signature below was generated at blockchain.info--and verifies just fine on their site--but doesn't verify on the LocalBitcoins.com signature verification page (https://www.localbitcoins.com/verify_signature/):

Address:
15YHUwqfkBWNe6czXAqQMwEW6hzgTs9q7X

Message:
I have at least 1.1 BTC, whalng&n@)/@/&*]%]¥\; 7/20/13

Signature:
G3OE5Vnd7GjzwZ/E5+jAKpjOXV/+glfqWCLrCSMey+jVA0ymayynMVWKuDS10WiedyFcLq8Ghjk6CtBF7W7/KTk=

Is anyone else having problems validating signatures at LocalBitcoins.com or am I doing something wrong?

PLUS http://bitcoinaverage.com/
API is here: http://api.bitcoinaverage.com/

REQUEST:

incorporate the BITPAY-EXCHANGE-RATE as displayed here: https://bitpay.com/bitcoin-exchange-rates
They're accessible via API, which can be called every 10 minutes.


pseudo-edit: I don't even know if the rates in the link above are the actual factual rates since reading this: http://blog.bitpay.com/2013/06/important-update-on-bitpay-exchange.html

I +1 this. Becomes especially important once the "floating" is implemented.

I've got a question as to how a certain situation should be resolved.

Let's say there is some technical issue at the time of the exchange, where the seller sends the SMS text message to release the funds but there is no SMS text response from Local Bitcoins (e.g., service stops servicing SMS texts temporarily).

If the release was processed and the funds did transfer, then the buyer might receive a text notification that the transfer has completed, but that is if the buyer has verified an SMS number with a LocalBitcoins account (and for anonymity the buy may not have that established).

And then let's say that neither the seller nor the buyer has web connectivity to determine whether or not the funds truly had transferred.

Then that puts these two in a predicament.  Neither the seller nor the buyer knows if the coins transferred.   But if it was a technical issue in getting the SMS text response, then the transfer did occur.  If the buyer has not yet already handed over the cash then the seller is at risk of a loss if the two agree to part ways (as the seller can't force the buyer to wait, or to visit another location where web access is available).   If the seller has already received the cash, the buyer would then be at risk of a loss in trusting the seller to later transfer the coins if that had not already actually occurred.

I don't know -- perhaps there being a voice response (IVR) system available would be something that would help in this instance?  Or perhaps a phone-based support method such that the buyer can call to verify whether or not the seller released the funds?

Or how about this phone-based support being able to help these two parties who don't trust each other to resolve their situation.