Devcoin Auctions are the first real community inspired business that actively seeks devcoins, and create inputs to the devcoin price (
http://devcoinauctions.com). There are many more to come.
Yes, but shouldn't devcoin auctions be
devcoin only ?
That BTC and LTC are also allowed to purchase bids, doesn't really help devcoin, does it?
If it was devcoin only, then everybody would have to go to the exchanges and buy devcoin.
It's not really reassuring to say that all recieved BTC and LTC will be used to purchase devcoins. How do I know? Why trust anybody?
Why not circumvent BTC and LTC totally and go for devcoin only?
Then it would deserve the name devcoinauctions. Now not so much.
Not necessarily, for one if you are bidding on a devcoin funded auction, then btc/ltc is certainly welcome as it will be used to directly purchase devcoins on the market bidding up the price (think of the middlepool idea just applied in a different way).
Secondly, I am personally opening up business by investing my own resources.. so not only is this site going to offer devcoin auctions, but auctions I will be providing for btc/ltc... this opens doors to many more auction items as I don't have to wait for devcoins to be exchanged for bitcoins to buy items to auction off anymore... especially with thelow liquidity this means there would only be 1 or 2 auctions a month. Now I can offer the devcoin funded auctions (1 or 2 a month) and my own auctions which I accept bitcoin/litcoin bids only to add value to the site. For example look at the 5.4th miner.
http://devcoinauctions.com/blog/auction/sp30-yukon-august-batch-asic-miner-5-4ths/ there is no way that this would be possible if it were only devcoins used here. This vendor only accepts bitcoin, so I need to work in bitcoin... I have worked out a special deal with this vendor for this miner, but it is limited time only and if noone bids on it I will probably not relist it after next month.
For this reason for these types of auctions (most of them right now) I only accept bids from people who bought packages with bitcoins or litecoins and not devcoins for obvious economical reasons. Later when there is more liqudity then devcoins will become the predominant form of payment as it will be desired.
The auctions funded by devcoins will remain accepting devcoins/bitcoins/litecoins and any btc/ltc used to bid here will be converted to dvc and put into the community fund.
I sell quite a few items online through a website and fleabay. I'd consider adding items to devcoinauctions but a buy it now price or a reserve selling price (reserve selling price - sale isn't valid if it doesn't meet or exceed the sellers reserve price). Shipping costs are also an issue with sellers overseas (like me). Also the buy in price (to the auctions) for potential buyers might put some off. I have to admit I haven't looked at the site in depth recently, but I'd definitely use a functioning popular crypto auction site.
Sorry I didn't quite get what you said? You would list items if there was a reserve and buy it now? Both of these two things are supported by the site. I turned off buy it now on all new auctions just because I wanted people to bid on them as with a buy it now there would be no profit for the site to just sell for what you get, unless you are able to buy in volume and sell in retail (maybe this is something I can work out with you personally if you are interested). I can add a buy it now for each auction you wish to list, just PM me some details I will list it up for you to view.
As far as reserve goes, it is a silent reserve intended to allow the site to avoid major losses on auctions. If reserve aren't met it is relisted and bids are refunded (or bids are kept and more time is added until reserve is met)... definetily marketing is the only thing holding it back. Also I'm still not sure if I should add a fiat alternative other than paypal so people with fiat money can buy in... although I'm not sure how this affects licensing and regulation.
As far as shipping, this is taken care of aswell, as the shipping price is given to the buyer upon sale of the auction... it can be listed in the auction information aswell on the auction page. The buyer is responsible for shipping and it is based on standard rates. Once you buy an item or win an item, it shows up as "bought but not paid" section of your My Account, then once you pay (if you didn't use buy it now) it shows under bought and paid... The payment mechanism here takes the shipping cost into consideration when it redirects you to the coinpayment page. Once you have paid and it is shipped, it shows up under paid & shipped section.