Great questions. I just contacted Amazon support to get very detailed answers on some of these questions.
Is the BTC buyer's info known to the spender when they buy something from the wishlist and have it shipped to the spender? On the invoice with the package?
No. Packages that were fulfilled by Amazon no longer comes with an invoice or packing list. Only when the Buyer selects the "This item will be a gift" option will then the invoice be included. The invoice will contain the buyers name and billing address, so it's highly advised against doing so. Note that it is unchecked by default so this can be completely disregarded.
What about product returns, defective merchandise or simple dissatisfaction? I could see the return/dispute thing being a real pain for the BTC buyer.
Actually, all the returns/refunds can be handled solely by the spender (receiver of wishlist items). The buyer needs not to take any part in it. The invoice is meant to speed up the process, but is in fact unnecessary. Buyer can provide the order number as a courtesy, but even that is unnecessary. Amazon will be able to look up the information by what I assume to be tracking number or address only. If the spender opts for a refund, a gift card balance will be applied to his account. However this only applies to Amazon fulfilled items. The buyer will still have to handle it for 3rd party merchants.
How would you deal with 'unresponsive BTC spenders'? The BTC should be released to the buyer after a certain amount of time by default, don't you think?
Short answer: Yes
Long answer: We have features on the road-map such as text messaging updates that will hopefully reduce irresponsiveness/laziness. A final decision on such policies will depend on user suggestions and behavior. Incentives can also be set up to encourage users to responsive and responsible.
So with reviews you can deal with trusted spenders/buyers... would the market be able to adjust for risk, like better prices for trusted members?
Overall I look forward to seeing where this goes!
The incentive mentioned above can also include fee/discount bonuses for those who help create a smooth experience for everyone. We have many ideas on how we can handle this, but again will be one of those things that'll heavily be based on user feedback and how the marketplace develops. A possible route is offering value added options such as "trade only with well rated partners" that can directly go to the other party for their history of good trading practices. Obviously, because of the nature of these transactions, you cannot expect the same consistency that you'd get from directly dealing with Amazon, but we recognize how critical it is to be as close as possible to that experience.
Thanks for your questions and looking forward to your feedback during beta testing.