#2: The Trust issues related to sending BTC to strangers for ASIC Pre-orders:
Problems & a Potential Solution
Problems & a Potential Solution
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The Problems:
1) Sellers POV: For a new or would-be Group Buy Coordinator it can be difficult to set up a successful Group Buy without Escrow Protection. Unfortunately, the BTC escrow agents are very busy and can only service a portion of the Group Buy community. Setting up and closing out an escrowed transaction can also be slow which is costly in terms of lost ROI.
2) Group Buyers POV: Group Buys are scary enough as it is, many buyers want the guaranteed Escrow protection of their BTC assets and 3rd Party Dispute Resolution that comes built in with Escrow Depository services and the safety of knowing that their BTC purchased shares can't be stolen or the funds taken without recourse.
3) Try to make it automated or most of it automated [Tip 'o the hat to CanaryInTheMine] while still keeping buyers safe.
Even with these problems, Escrowed Group Buys can *still* make sense to get the best value and access to hardware you normally wouldn't have access to:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/logic-of-a-group-buy-and-escrow-protection-for-noobs-274722
The Solution:
Form a Group Buy Escrow *Coordinator* Cooperative of trusted BTC Escrow affiliates with integrity, redundancy, and speed as its primary assets. Use BTCrow as an automated escrow service with 3rd party dispute resolution.
A good network is speedy and serves your needs when you need it. A great network is one that is both speedy *and* redundant, hence a Co-op instead of relying on a single agent. An awesome network is one that filled needs you didn't even know you had, that's built with your best available resources, is well planned out, speedy, redundant, and designed to fit the tailored needs of everyone involved.
We're building a GBEC Cooperative Mesh Network to fit the needs of *this* forum. What's this, you may say?
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Story Time:
If you can compare a Wedding to a Group Buy, in this case (and no disrespect is intended to any religion): the “Reverend” or “Priest” of the Group Buy is the Escrow Service - such as John K. and BTCrow - which can act as a legal Escrow Depository and 3rd party arbiter for BTC transactions. Using this analogy, the “Wedding Coordinator” of the Group Buy is my Group Buy Escrow Coordinator Cooperative. [ Full Disclaimer: I am an approved BTCrow affiliate. I have provided them evidence of my intentions via forum links in my application.]
Our Co-op is NOT an Escrow Depository. We don't hold anyone's BTC; BTCrow holds it in escrow until the pre-order is ready to be paid and all buyers release BTC funds upon notification of a Completed ASIC Pre-Order Group Buy..
Only when the Group Buy is sold out and the pre-order is made by the Group Buy Coordinator or the GBEC Cooperative on behalf of the Group Buyers, and after the funds are released by every one of the Group Buyers involved will BTC be released to the Co-op as your official expediter/order organizer. The delivery address must be agreed to by the weighted majority of the Group Buyers. BTCrow usually handles digital goods or physical items but I've found a way to use their automated Escrow services for digital goods to suit our purposes. BTCrow has been made aware of this plan.
In this case, our GBEC Co-op is selling you a completed Escrowed Group Buy Pre-order on the ASIC equipment of your choice (to also include ASIC chips, fans, cases, PSUs!)
We also don't handle Dispute Resolution either during or post-sales, that's also handled by BTCrow. What we do handle is Coordinating, Expediting, and Finishing your Escrowed Pre-order or Wholesale Group Buy on ASIC or ASIC related hardware. However, if the "marriage" fails 5 months later or so, you cannot expect to hold the "Priest" or the Coordinator responsible for THAT disaster.
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For new Group Buy Coordinators, for a very modest fee (0.1%), before you even publish your Group Buy we even offer Coaching and Mentoring services that should greatly improve your Group Buy's odds of success as well as it's placement in the queue!
Sound confusing? It's really not!
New jobs are going to be created in the future and this is just one of them! To make it easier: Please read the following posts below for the sections relevant to you. Please make sure to read Post 4 for Terms and Conditions that you agree to before completing a transaction.
Think carefully before paying for a share or shares: if you seek a refund, BTCrow charges a 1% fee for their Escrow/Dispute Resolution services which is non-refundable. A Coordinator service refund fee of 0.5% will also apply for time/effort spent trying to assist you in your part of a Group Buy.
* If you're a new or a relatively new Group Buy Coordinator for an upfront paid fee of only 0.1% of the size of the proposed Group Buy a Group Buy Escrow Coordinator (GBEC) such as myself will offer coaching and mentoring services to greatly improve your chances of success. For example, if you're trying to put together a 50BTC transaction and you want to improve your chances with Escrow, you would be charged 0.05 BTC for our Coaching/Mentoring. This is a modest fee to get started on attaining something that could be out of reach with the resources you have available. We can help you meet your Group Buy funding goals! *