Silk Road forums
Support => Customer support => Topic started by: deep987 on March 06, 2013, 05:35 pm
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I purchased an item 32 days ago (international) that I have not received and I am trying to consider if I should ask for a refund. My question is, would I get back the amount of bitcions I had put into escrow, or the dollar amount? The vendors offers 50% refund, which sucks, but the value of BTC has doubled over that same time frame so as long as I get the same number of bitcoins back as I put into escrow, it's effectively a 100% refund.
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If the vendor has already shipped your product and it just happens to be taking awhile, I imagine they would not want to give you any refund at all, but if something happened to the product (ie it was seized) a 50% refund seems fair so that you and the vendor both take some of the loss. The 50% will probably end up being 50% of the initial dollar value of the bitcoins though as most vendors hedge their prices to avoid issues like this. There is a resolution option you can us to work out an arrangement with the vendor.
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The question as to how many bitcoins you get back is one I had to ask DPR myself after customers complained that the amount refunded after I canceled an order was less than the amount they originally paid. The answer I got back, and have sense given the customer is this:
If the vendor has "hedged" his or her prices, then the amount paid out by SR will be the amount adjusted by the change in exchange rate. So, assuming for a minute that the vendor agreed to a 100% refund, if you paid 20 btc and the "price has doubled", you would only get back 10 btc. The fiat currency value would be the same, but the since the price of bitcoin has doubled, the number of bitcoins received would be less.
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From the buyers guide on the wiki:
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.
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Thank you that answers that. I've also found that on the account page it lists what type of funds in escrow:
escrow (usd) escrow (btc) available
$XX.XX ฿0.00 ฿XX.XX
I'm already well familiar with the resolution center as I've had to get the auto-finalize pushed back twice now. I think I'll ask for a reship, or at least how long do I have to wait before he'll reship.
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Locked as resolved.