Silk Road forums
Support => Customer support => Topic started by: Anon2423 on May 08, 2013, 11:50 am
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Hi
I placed an order with a seller whom i've never bought from before. I just got a message from him stating he cancelled the order and i should order a smaller amount. I got my BTC for the order back, but not the ones for the shipping cost.
what do?
greetz anon
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Hi
I placed an order with a seller whom i've never bought from before. I just got a message from him stating he cancelled the order and i should order a smaller amount. I got my BTC for the order back, but not the ones for the shipping cost.
what do?
greetz anon
Hi Anon2423,
As far as I can recall shipping fees are not refunded when an order is cancelled by the vendor but I will double check this and get back to you on it.
Libertas
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Your seller was likely hedged and the BTC that was not returned was the hedge fee.
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 vendor 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.
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As WhiteShark has mentioned, if the order was hedged then you will receive back your Bitcoin minus the 4% hedging fee (this goes to Silk Road for assuming the volatility risk upon hedging the order). I double-checked and when an order is cancelled either by the vendor or by the buyer you will receive a full refund. However, this will not include the hedging fee.
You can read more about the hedging process here:
http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/wiki/index.php?title=Buyer%27s_Guide#Escrow_hedge
And more about the ordering process here:
http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/wiki/index.php?title=The_ordering_process
@ WhiteShark: thank you for your contribution. :) Locking this as resolved.
Libertas