I hope I'm putting this in the right area, sorry if not.
I see tons of people selling bitcoins (partials) at 2x-3x normal going rates. Why is that?
Or better yet, why would anyone buy those??
Thanks.
Mainly because PayPal is reversible.
This causes 2 effects:
1) Sellers have to take a risk effects. For example if 25% of buyers scam the sellers then they have to increase the price more than 25%.
So if they sell $1,000 worth of bitcoin for $1,300 and they lose $250 on scams then they still profit.
2) Because of this very few people risk and sell for PayPal. This reduces supply and the price is increased out of speculation.
People who want to buy have fewer options and have to pay more for it.
On your first point, can you elaborate on what scams would cause a seller to pay out bitcoin and not receive payment?
I was also very curious about the bitcoin price on ebay, and similar to the gold/silver price, I think another factor is that the purchase can be made on credit. That usually can't be done in normal channels. For me, local silver/gold dealers do not accept credit.