Silk Road forums

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Every time you complete a sale you can win one of our 420 second prizes, and for every btc you spend during the sale, we'll put in one entry for you for our Take a Trip to Paradise Grand Prize.

Suppose I ordered yesterday: Do I need to finalize early to be able to win any prizes?

you don't need to finalize

looks like there WAS a bug after all.  gift codes should be working now even if you have a zero account balance.

the winners of these prizes that are going out now are drawn from current buyers, so you have to keep making purchases if you want more chances to win.  However, your chances to win the grand prize trip are based on the total spent over the whole sale.  and thanks for noticing that the server is holding up well, very happy about that 

We got some awesome last-minute additions to the sale, so be sure to check out the latest on the main site.  still more to come!

I'm so figgin' excited for this weekend!!!!!!!!  I can't wait to hear the reactions from all the prize winners!  Love you guys 

Not sure what to get for that special someone?  Want to let them know you REALLY care?  How about getting them a Silk Road gift code!  Convert any amount from your available account balance into a Silk Road gift code and give it to whomever you like.  Then they can use it when checking out toward their purchase.  You may create a code that can be used site-wide, or you can create one for a specific vendor.

Vendors, this is also a great way to give store credit to your customers you find most deserving.  Just create the gift code with your username and give the code to your customer.

To create a gift code, click the "Gift codes" link from your account page.  From there, enter the amount of the gift code, and the vendor it can be used with.  If you leave the vendor field blank, the gift code will be useable site-wide.  Once created, the code and value will appear at the bottom of the page until the gift code is all used up.

Have fun! 

from the buyer's guide:

Escrow hedge
Unfortunately, the Bitcoin exchange rate isn't as stable as we would all like it to be, and can fluctuate wildly in a matter of hours, let alone the days or weeks it takes for a package to arrive. Because of this, there is a real danger that the Bitcoins being held in your escrow account will lose value by the time your vendor gets paid or you are refunded. So, we've given the option to vendors to hedge the future payments they are expecting from escrow such that the dollar value of the payment doesn't change as the Bitcoin exchange rate changes.

For example, a seller is hedging the escrow for a 10 btc order you place with them, and the dollar value of your order when you purchase it is $100. Now, let's say your order never arrives and your vendor agrees to a full refund, but those 10 btc are no longer worth $100, they're worth $50! Because your vendor hedged the escrow, you won't get a refund of 10 btc, you'll get 20 btc equaling the original value of $100. Of course, the opposite is also true. If Bitcoins appreciate in value while your order is in escrow, your refund will be fewer Bitcoins, but still equaling the original dollar value.

When checking out, you will see which orders will be hedged and which won't. After the order is placed, your escrow balance will reflect the dollar value of your hedged orders and the Bitcoin value of your unhedged orders. All hedged orders are hedged as soon as the order is placed. So when getting a refund for hedged items, don't be surprised if the number of Bitcoins you get back is not the same as the amount you paid.

If you need the most up-to-date USD/BTC exchange rate, we recommend mtgoxlive.com.

from the seller's guide:

You may also choose whether to set your price before or after commission is added. If you choose "pre-commission pricing", the price you set will be the amount of money you are paid when a transaction is complete, but your customers will see a higher price that includes the commission. If you choose "post-commission pricing", you set the price that your customers pay. When you get paid, the amount you receive will be less than this by the amount of the commission.

The commission is between the site and the vendors.  The price you pay at checkout is the price you pay.  The costs that go into that price are irrelevant to the checkout process.  Whether they are currency  exchange costs, labor costs, materials, cost from suppliers, or the commission.  If it's too high, don't buy.  the only thing you have to worry about is the part in the buyer's guide about the escrow hedge.  If you don't like it, don't buy from sellers who hedge.  And no, amazon doesn't display their commission at checkout for the same reasons.