Topic: Big problem with cryptocurrency used in ecommerce !!! (Read 661 times)

That is very true and fact as an earlier poster have said. When it comes to bitcoin because of its uniqueness means you should not place your own security in the hands of others rather be the one responsible for it. So, if you want to buy from a site using bitcoin, the first you want to established is how trust worthy the site is before going ahead.

I am sure that if Amazon should implement bitcoin payment today, there would be away to ensure that buyers and sellers are protected so it means its not about bitcoin as a payment option but the platform you are making the purchases from.

that happened to me once.. the best way is to look from which sites you are ordering they should be legal and legit, as most of people said here, you should also read feedback

This is just a very small problem which you have noticed. There are endless issues regarding usage of btc in e-commerce. First of all how would amazon be able to tackle daily price changes according to the value of bitcoin. Bitcoin's value is too volatile increasing each day. I think half of the Amazon's staff would have to be deployed merely for changing product prices everyday. Then comes the problem you stated. Moreover even if they deliver your product what if the quality of the product isn't worth it? Along with the advantages P2P system carries a lot of demerits too.

This is a feature, not a bug. I remember reading a psychology study that showed that children were happier with a toy when they were presented with a one-time chance to choose which toy they wanted. Children who were allowed to go back a second time and change their original choice ended up being less happy with their final choice. In other words, removing the possibility of "backsies" eliminates a huge swath of bickering and nonsense in financial transactions. If you don't want to get scammed, don't frequent scammy dealers. It's the same reason you don't walk around downtown back alleys late at night with a wad of cash in your pocket. If you do lose your money, it's on you for being stupid.

Someone mentioned MAD escrow (e.g. Particl.io) - I've never used it but this looks like an amazing concept that only works precisely because Bitcoin transactions are irreversible!

This actually is a "bitter fact " . No matter how much you start spending in bitcoin or start making payments in Bitcoin , at some point you are obliged to get hunt by some scams .
Either it is a big e-commerce website "Amazon" or some other small e-commerce websites , no one is responsible for your loss since bitcoin is decentralized and is based on anonymity . You might get some traces on block chain but that won't be accommodating enough to get your Bitcoin back . You have to be very careful before shopping via Bitcoin as what goes once will never come back in this case . That is actually the main reason why mainly retailers and big e-commerce institutions are still reluctant to Bitcoin.           

Use MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) escrow when in doubt.

if there is something of value for you, that you want to buy, then make sure upfront, that mothing can happen, and don't trust the vendor. Easy as this. In the bitcoin world you use an "escrow service", which is realized with multisig. Searching the forum for "escrow" will guide you in the right direction.
Oh, you might turn your headline into "a very, very small problem with cryptocurrency used in ecommerce !!!"

yes but this can happend not only for bitcoin

There are scams involved with all methods of payment, some of the worst are with credit cards and with PayPal. You need to check the buyer and his ability to deliver outside the payment service. This is why I like immediate registrar pushes following payment as a method of buying domain names.

I have to agree that reviews and feedback can be bought... However, i think it's pretty hard to buy/cheat/fake the complete picture while leaving no evidence for law enforcement. I mean:
a) if you have positive reviews on several different review sites

b) combined with an official label (for example: in my country a webshop can apply for an "official" label they can hotlink from a official site, if a webshop has this label, and it's hotlinked correctly you are sure that the identity of the owner is verified)

c) combined with whois records that are filled with real, verifiable data

d) combined with an ssl certificate filled with real, verifiable data

e) combined with real VAT and contact info published on your site

f) combined with an office location that actually points to a real office registered to the company you're buying from

g) combined with linkbacks from trustable sources

h) combined with the absense of scam reports linked to your site

I think that if you're able to check all (or allmost all) of these points, the chances of being scammed are pretty small...
But that's just my opinion.

I do fail to understand what you're trying to say with this sentence: "the coins need real apps to keep the price, but not only a symbol/number for exchange!". Bitcoin existed before exchanges existed. There are real apps around, but i fail to see how an app can keep the price (unless you just mean price tickers, but i fail to see where they would fit in the picture... I mean, they also exist for a long time, but it's not like they help people that are about to be scammed)

you know what, people can buy review and feedbacks...

since the price of BTC is rising... for example, they spend $10000 to buy good reviews and feedbacks all over the internet...that's only 1 BTC now.

the point is : this is not good for the future of crypto coins,   
the coins need real apps to keep the price, but not only a symbol/number for exchange!

i am totally agree with you. The best way is to check the store feedback/comments before making the payment.

Just like mocacinno said, you do a bit of research first, if you are not sure, you can hit the owners up on their contact emails and check if they are down with escrow or not. If you are not 100% sure always go with the escrow route. Also try finding products you are looking for from bitcointalk's marketplace almost all of legit sellers will accept escrow. In short you need to be smart while using bitcoins.

True, and in fact, this is what happens regularly... People buy stuff from a fake store and lose their BTC...
If you're spending BTC, you should do some carefull review of the store, read feedbacks, see if they have a label, check out their SSL certificate, check out their whois records, check out their business VAT numbers, check out their offices on google maps,...

Here is a problem

when you buy something on Amazon or other small ecommerce websites, you can trace your money transfer.
If been scammed, you can call police and bank for help!

So what if you buy something on a website using bitcoin ? !

You paid bitcoin, but they don't deliver the product, then what ?

No bank help, cos bit coin is decentralized
Police?  it's very easy to use fake information to buy domain and hosting, and use tor to hide the IP!