Silk Road forums
Discussion => Security => Topic started by: sparkus88 on August 04, 2012, 12:29 pm
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Hi if this is not the right place please move this thread. I have noticed, particularly coke vendors, are setting their prices as btc rather than dollars so they making more money because of the slightly voliatile market at the moment. For example I have had 1 gram in my basket since monday waiting to get btc. On wednesday the dollar price of it was $114 today it is $131 but the entire time it was 12 btc and there seems to be alot of vendors doing the same. Is this really fair to the buyers? I made a deposit to intersango on monday and just got the btc today but because of the rise in btc prices and the fact the price of what i want hasn't changed in btc terms I'm now over 1btc short which is fucking annoying.
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Hi if this is not the right place please move this thread. I have noticed, particularly coke vendors, are setting their prices as btc rather than dollars so they making more money because of the slightly voliatile market at the moment. For example I have had 1 gram in my basket since monday waiting to get btc. On wednesday the dollar price of it was $114 today it is $131 but the entire time it was 12 btc and there seems to be alot of vendors doing the same. Is this really fair to the buyers? I made a deposit to intersango on monday and just got the btc today but because of the rise in btc prices and the fact the price of what i want hasn't changed in btc terms I'm now over 1btc short which is fucking annoying.
Vendors have the option either to peg the prices of items they list to the USD/BTC rate as per Mtgox (which is updated daily I believe) or to set prices in BTC.
There are a number of advantages in the former approach as that way they vendor and the buyer are clear on the exact price they need however there is also a risk that the vendor will lose out too as the BTC may drop in value between the time they list the item and the time they actually receive the coins (this is where "hedging" comes in but more on that later...)
Having said this if vendors are capitalising on the mounting Bitcoin, you can do the same. Ordering a couple more Bitcoins that you need means you'll have a better chance of being able to afford the products you need and any coins you have left over will appreciate in value for your next order.
V.
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pegging the price to the dollar renders bitcoin nothing more than drug-buying tokens. setting the price in BTC is better for the bitcoin as a currency in general.
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pegging the price to the dollar renders bitcoin nothing more than drug-buying tokens. setting the price in BTC is better for the bitcoin as a currency in general.
This maybe true but it seems to be only in the last week that alot more vendors have be doing it. Before that there was only a few doing it. Also I doubt many of the vendors are doing it for the good of the btc currency they are just trying to make some extra bucks at the cost of the buyers. As soon as the btc price starts to fall again they will be pegging the price in dollars again.
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pegging the price to the dollar renders bitcoin nothing more than drug-buying tokens. setting the price in BTC is better for the bitcoin as a currency in general.
In fairness, if you live in the US and you travel to Germany, you won't find that the hotel you're staying at will suddenly lower their prices because your dollars don't buy as many Euros as they did last time you visited, so it's true you can lose out due to the relative purchasing power of your home currency versus the Bitcoin if prices remain static.
Having said this, vendors are savvy enough to know when they have priced themselves out of the market. All it would take is for a business rival to either peg their prices to the dollar or revise their BTC price manually to trigger off a price war which would stabilise the prices.
Also as I mentioned in a separate thread, two can play at this game. If the Bitcoin is on the rise (and it is!) you can always purchase more than you need and use your gains to offset any losses caused by having to buy more at an increased price at a later date.
There's also nothing to stop buyers from contacting sellers and pointing out that their prices need to be revised...
V.
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From a vendors perspective this comes to individual preference. I set my prices at the higher end of average because it's all quality shit so I don't mind hedging so the price doesn't go up. I feel that as the BTC is rising all the time I get another 20-30% on top anyway so hedging is fair on everyone.