How Not to Sell Bitcoin on eBay for 300% Profit • Hacker News Board

Re: How Not to Sell Bitcoin on eBay for 300% Profit

#101

Post by Helianthus » Sun, Aug 25, 2013, 8:46 PM UTC

dysruption wrote: post #43

Helianthus wrote: post #41

>I have never traded stocks. I have never taken an economics course. I have never aspired to be someone who trades money for money. This is how someone becomes greedy. >As an advocate of privacy, Bitcoin intrigued me at a fundamental level. Trying to make money was (hopefully) merely a side effect. Just a side effect! >I would be scraping maybe $5-10 every BTC, and I would have to wait weeks to see the money. I also…

I am not angry at anyone, in fact I understand why somebody can get sucked into the "game". You're right, my intentions ended up being not-so-pure. A good lesson!

To be clear, my criticism is meant to be directed at Bitcoin and Bitcoin's culture, not at your honest and well-crafted story-telling.

Cheers.

Re: How Not to Sell Bitcoin on eBay for 300% Profit

#102

Post by arantius » Mon, Aug 26, 2013, 1:48 AM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #31

Venue (space) arbitrage in illiquid, disconnected markets necessitates holding collateral at each venue. In this case, it means holding USD and BTC at both Coinbase and MtGox (presuming you don't know, in advance, which way the arbitrage will open up). If one can fund accounts instantly USD and BTC can be held in outside accounts, waiting. When opportunity arises one simultaneously sells in one location and buys in t…

The words you're using make it sound very much like you know what you're talking about. And it sounds interesting. But I can only make sense of bits of it. Do you have a good suggestion where I can read a bit more about this?

I.E. Why is the space vs. space-time distinction important? Why is borrowing BTC important? You give an "i.e." but I still don't understand delta hedged.

Re: How Not to Sell Bitcoin on eBay for 300% Profit

#103

Post by Havoc » Tue, Aug 27, 2013, 9:45 PM UTC

aianus wrote: post #91

Havoc wrote: post #72

I'm on the opposite end of the transaction - I'd like to buy some BTC but everyone is (rightly) so scared that the only mechanism available is via bank account. Great...except im not in the US. I'd have to string together multiple online currencies to arrive at something that is accepted. Or trust a tiny local exchange. So much hassle to cover VPN costs...

Why not purchase them locally in cash? Localbitcoins.com probably has some sellers near you who would be happy to help.

This being South Africa, "local" is a bit more difficult and often not all that safe. I've got solid local contacts - the problem is nobody is selling here. Everyone is buying BTC & the only ones selling are scammers. So honestly I'd rather risk money dealing with an American/EU than a local tbh.

Re: How Not to Sell Bitcoin on eBay for 300% Profit

#104

Post by dragonwriter » Tue, Aug 27, 2013, 11:53 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #64

phoboslab wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it's a bit more specific: PayPal doesn't care about sellers. I sell a JavaScript Game Engine[1] and have made the exact same experience over and over again. Someone buys it, I send out the license email and the download link and 2 days later I see a chargeback. I can show PayPal screengrabs of the license email and database records, showing that my software really has been downloaded from the account in quest…

Why not send a small postcard with the license key that requires them to sign to get the postcard? Give them an instant key good for 14 days and then make them use the one on the postcard for long term use. Then you'll have your proof (and be pretty close to PayPal's chargeback limit)

> Why not send a small postcard with the license key

Sending a postcard with a license key certainly gives someone the license key, but whether its the person to whom it is mailed or not is less certain.