Bitcoin Forum

Apologies if this is in the wrong section but its all we have access to for a few more hours.

We would like to take this opportunity to announce that The FreeMarket is being launched within 6 weeks (June 12th 2013).

Following months of planning and development we shall be launching the latest online marketplace that is 100% crypto-currency focused. Although hidden on the TOR network for privacy and anonymity reasons we are not entirely focused on the contraband market, however The FreeMarket will only restrict sales of the following items;

• Firearms.
• Chemical Weapons.
• Weapons of Mass Destruction.
• Child Pornography.
• Any item designed to cause harm to another human being.

Users have the option to "opt-out" of viewing any of the listings that are classed as contraband in many countries.

Accessibility

Our initial thought was that by providing a hidden tor service, it would immediately restrict the amount of people we could attract to the site so to address these issues we shall be releasing a modified version of the TOR Browser that automatically loads The FreeMarket upon startup. This modified browser will be shared by Torrents and the source code will be freely available for examination by everyone.

We have also started to develop "The FreeMarket" Android app that will incorporate TOR connectivity without the need of running any other third party software to make the app functional.

Vendors

Vendor accounts are available for a $10 refundable deposit. The deposit is refunded automatically upon the vendors feedback rating reaching 10.

Vendors have the option to peg their listing against the USD to protect against any drop in the exchange rate of BTC/LTC/PPC.

Vendors can choose which Crypto-Currencies they wish to accept for their listings.

Vendors also choose which fiat currency they wish to set the price of the item using. The buyer will see the price of the item in their chosen default currency.

Vendors can set their default refund policies and early finalization policies to save time when creating new sales listings. These can be edited for each item if required upon creation of the listing.

Vendors can offer up to 5 different shipping options and also list up to 5 shipping exclusions.

Upon receiving an order the vendor is presented with all the information about the buyer so they can make an informed decision as to whether they wish to request early finalization, accept with additional terms (Buyer will be requested to accept these terms), accept the order  or reject the order.

Early finalization can be completed in a percentage and not in full, no vendor or product feedback is required to be given until the item has been shipped and the escrow balance has reached its final destination.

Vendors can also add shipping discounts and product discounts. Upon the discounts being set the buyer is refunded the difference from the escrow balance automatically.

Fees are set at 5% of the total order value completed through the escrow process.

Buyers

Buyers can make informed decisions on which vendor they wish to use, all product details are included in the listings including any refund policies, early finalization policies, and product feedback from other buyers and which crypto-currencies the vendor will accept.

Buyers can cancel their order at the click of a button if they do not wish to accept additional terms set by the vendors. If a vendor requests part or full early finalization of an order, the buyer will be notified through their inbox, buyers are also notified of any discounts added by the vendor directly to their inbox with the discounted amount being refunded directly to the relevant crypto-currency balance.

Feedback

The  FreeMarket offers two separate feedback systems, one for the vendor and another for the purchased product.

All feedback ratings are a maximum of 140 characters long (just like a tweet).

Feedback does not have to be completed until the item has been shipped and the escrow balance has been finalized.

Product feedback will remain with a listing until the listing has been permanently deleted by the vendor. If a vendor becomes out of stock on a product they can deactivate the listing until they have more stock available to ensure they keep all previous product feedback.

Vendor feedback is there to provide an insight to the buyer as to what dealing with each particular vendor is like.

Feedback scores are set as +1 for positive feedback, 0 for neutral feedback and -1 for negative feedback.

Escrow

All orders are made through our onsite escrow service, the buyer can finalize the escrow balance in full or in part before the item is shipped at the request of the vendor.

Escrow disputes are something we wish to avoid to ensure both the vendor and the buyer has a great experience using The FreeMarket, however in the real world disputes do and will always happen. When a dispute occurs that cannot be settled between the buyer and the vendor, we shall follow the terms agreed to at the time of purchase, these terms are set out clearly by the vendor and displayed throughout the buying process. Buyers have the free will to decide themselves if they believe the terms offered by the vendor are to their satisfaction. If they are not, do not use the vendor. We understand that not all policies will cover every scenario and should the dispute require moderation, The FreeMarket will always be fair to both parties after reviewing each case separately.

Financial Exchangers

Not everyone has the knowledge on how to use the mainstream crypto exchanges and some people like simplicity, we have a section of the marketplace dedicated to financial exchanges. All crypto-funds being promised by an exchanger or buyer will be required to be placed into escrow. The vendor/exchanger can set their additional commission at the time of the listing being made to ensure the amount of currency being offered for exchange doesn't need changing every time the crypto exchange rate changes. No percentage fees are added by The FreeMarket on completed exchanges, a $2 listing fee is the set price for each listing made by an exchanger.

Service Offerings

We are currently developing a section of the marketplace that is solely focused on service providers and freelancers to ensure the core marketplace doesn't become full of people offering services. All service offerings have the option to use our onsite escrow service to ensure security for both the provider and the purchaser.

This section is still under active development at the time of writing and more details will be released once a final decision has been made.

Gaming

The FreeMarket will include an official onsite lottery, each ticket will be sold for $1.00 (or the equivalent based on the buyers default currency). To enter the lottery you can pick 4 numbers between 1 and 35. Every Sunday we will randomly request an individual number from random members once 4 unique responses have been received, the winners will be notified and will received an equal share of the jackpot. In the result of no winners the jackpot shall roll over to the following Sunday. No commission is charged or taken from the jackpot fund in the lottery.

Support

We have enough team members and developers to provide constant 24/7 support.

Security

Security and confidence is the most important factor when it comes to sending crypto coins anywhere. That is why we have implemented several security features in the backend of The FreeMarket to ensure that if any vulnerability are discovered and exploited by someone with ill intent, damage is confined and recoverable.

We could launch the site 2 weeks earlier than planned but we wouldn't have time to test all aspects of the website and its security features. We will not launch early just to get launched for the sake of launching either early or on time without all of our testing being completed.
There is not a single wallet held on our webserver, they are all held on separate servers to ensure the highest possible level of security for everyone’s coins.

We fully understand that most websites are not perfect, so to ensure that if vulnerabilities are discovered they get reported to us, we shall be offering high bounties and a hall of fame listing to anyone that finds vulnerabilities or major bugs within our systems. These bounties are set based on the level of the vulnerability found and the potential consequences. We will have a mirror of the website with dummy data listed for people to attack at their leisure to try and discover vulnerabilities. Anyone wanting to obtain the .onion address for the testing site you can request this information through our support system on the main website.

For peace of mind we suggest that you do not keep large balances on you FreeMarket account until you have established trust of both our systems and The FreeMarket team. We understand trust and respect is not a given it is something that we must earn over time.

Auction Listings (Future)

We have plans to implement further modules to The FreeMarket including an Auction marketplace, we shall only implement this feature once we have enough traffic to make it a viable option for vendors to list items on an auction basis.

Conclusion

We look forward to providing a new marketplace platform for both existing and new members of the crypto community, we are also more than happy to answer questions and receive feedback both positive and negative. If you have any suggestions as to features we should offer then please feel free to let us know.

We shall keep everyone informed of the changes to the launch date and changes to the functionality of the website.

Qweedo= Troll    but ya I agree.

We never claimed to be a game changer, however what we hope to bring to the marketplace is an alternative marketplace for both buyers and vendors. As much as Bitcoin, Litecoin and PPCoin are being used by speculators they were still designed as a medium for exchange.

We are not a direct clone of other sites offering an "anonymous marketplace". We are aiming to build on the original idea.

Vendor fees should be a lot higher, I have the feeling a lot of people will try to scam because it only costs $10 to try.

Thanks for the insight, we shall review this and try to find a happy medium that won't detract potential vendors on a new site. What would you be happy paying as a deposit?

Interesting

It needs to be something more than $10, I'm not sure what SR uses but something similar is probably a good idea.


I agree with this, nothing really new here with this site.

As stated above you are a bit of a troll, however having seen what we are developing and through testing the functionality it is very different from The Silk Road (Which is an amazing concept and execution). However there is some functionality missing from SR, that we believe The FreeMarket shall address.

The only reason we are offering the opportunity to have contraband listed through the website (the sole reason it is on the TOR network) is due to strong beliefs that people should be free to choose what they wish to do or put into their own bodies.

With all websites that require people to send/store any crypto-coin everything is based on trust, that is why we shall actively tell people to not store more than what you need to use within our wallets. We want to gain that trust, even if it takes 2 years plus to fully achieve.

+1
Sorry, but nothing relevant to my interests either.

Always happy to have another option to buy / sell items... so long as we don't entirely dilute the market (Bitmit looks to have such little buyer activity). Also... $10 fee... perhaps make a fee based on what amt you can sell?

Ex:
$0 fee - limited to 0.5 BTC-value items
$5 fee - limited to 1 BTC-value items
$10 fee - no limit on value

That way small time sellers can get in and perhaps start establishing a base - then upgrade later, or choose to directly contribute collected coin towards fee.

The $10 (We shall more than likely review this) fee is there to purchase a vendors account to prevent scammers signing up to attempt to scam, this is refundable once the vendor has achieved a positive feedback rating of 10.

Gweedo at least we agree on something, however had everyone listened to everyone on these boards and not made an attempt at improving on an idea then maybe the whole Crypto economy would be in a much worse place.

We could easily strip everything that is considered contraband out of the system and launch on the clearnet because a few people had doubts it could work. If everyone thought that existing thoughts and opinions were 100% correct the earth would still be considered flat.

So what is the direct copy of Silkroad, the fact that we will allow contraband and an escrow system. You tell us other areas that we have copied and I will explain how we believe we have improved on that area.

That would be a simple way to go about things.

Not greedy at all, would happily do it for free if it was sustainable on advertising revenues.

Ok you have an onsite lottery that is the only difference.

Ok so what functionality is a direct clone of Silkroad? Or do they all work in the same manner or have you seen and had a play on the platform to decide its a direct clone?

We are also developing methods to make it easier to access than having to download TOR and go trough the manual route (as the idea of TOR and cryptos still confuse many average Joe's) If we can bring more people to the crypto economy this way then surely that is a success in itself for everyone connected to the current economy. Also to help increase adoption, all prices are displayed in your selected local currency and not BTC0.2 for an item to make it easier for the buyer to understand, without having to do the math on just how much they are paying for said item.

That's one very small improvement, but still an improvement, yes or no? We do have many more that will improve the user experience for both the buyer and vendor.

Also what is your opinion on increasing the accessibility? Any feedback is good feedback if it is constructive.

Every new venture is an uphill battle, that we do not deny but one battle we shall enjoy taking on  ;)

LMAO so if I built a Satoshi Dice clone and gave some prices in local currencies that is an "improvement" but still a direct copy of Satoshi Dice.

Accessibility isn't an issue thou so I have no opinion about it, since your dealing with contraband items those people have only one option to do it thru tor, or not.

Every new venture is an uphill battle but if you don't see your a direct clone your going to have a big battle in that space, against a big whale "Silk Road". Look at Atlantis same concept and it is failing, so yeah I doubt you win this battle. 

As stated a small improvement on that part of the concept and one of many changes that makes us different.

With regards to TOR being the only option, agreed however taking steps out of the process to help the average person discover a broader world is for the better. Instead of "download tor, find the domain, ensure its the correct domain, connect and browse" how about, go to the same torrent site I always use search TheFreeMarket Official (We already have these accounts registered) download their app/browser click and go.

gweedo, with your logic we would still using brick sized phones since obviously building off of an idea that already exists is "doomed to fail from the beginning". I like the idea of this site and I am looking forward to seeing it.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rK-Q0dtVwg4/TZsybl985iI/AAAAAAAAAHg/vLoNZ6M_tTw/s1600/tumblr_litpa54yPb1qzy4ewo1_500.jpg

So I will get pass the fact you are a newbie and this is your first post and say we are talking about two different things. See your talking about taking a product or site and pivoting it to a different thing. They are just taking the original model and doing the same thing.

TheFreeMarket, don't feed trolls. Let your project development and market reaction speak for you  ;)

Best of luck! With the troubles SR has been having, getting extra markets on TOR can only be a boon for this revolution we've got going. I'm interested in seeing PPcoin's introduction into the market; any bit of work helps, and hell any bit of work is profitable in this game, look at feathercoin  :P

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for sure!

I'm interested in this new market as well. I have used the Silk Road extensively, only on the buyer side, and throughout my time there, noticed a handful of things that I didn't like.

Reading through the first post, it seems like The Free Market intends to address most of my complaints about Silk Road. I really hope that some established vendors from other TOR marketplaces take a chance with The Free Market as I believe this new marketplace has potential.

Although it is fairly similar to other TOR marketplaces, I believe that another marketplace, with some innovative new features, can only be a good thing.

I've always felt that an online revolution is coming, with the anonymity of TOR, and the implementation of another marketplace only adds to this.

I support The Free Market.

 :)

Why are you restricting firearms sales?

If we could viably ensure/trust that the buyer would use the firearm/gun for something other than bringing harm to another human being then we would not restrict this type of item, however it would be impossible for us to do so, hence the restriction. Its not an issue with the gun/firearm itself.

No drugs then either!

They are not restricted, chemical weapons are naturally restricted.

If someone wishes to purchase and use a substance that will alter their own body or mind, that is the decision of the buyer.
If people wish to buy weapons there are other platforms available to purchase them with Bitcoin online.

All you have done is criticise without offering as much as a shed of help. You've even started to spread FUD by stating that it's insecure when there's no evidence to back up that claim.
You are a troll, and you've been ignored.

I think that your market would hold a better chance if it offered services on both Tor and i2p since no one offers any services on the latter yet. Namecoin through Tor and i2p might be an option, but I don't know if it would fit into your proposed plans.
Also adding support for other popular alt coins such as Freicoin and Feathercoin would increase the potential market for your store.
I also think that Atlantis was a far better marketplace than Silk Road in terms of design and speed even though it hasn't taken up due to lack of knowledge, if you make something better you should market it heavily in all spaces you can.

Thank you for ignoring me and necrothreading :) Also should I just give him business ideas? I am not using his platform I could care less if he succeeds or not but I am not giving out good ideas to someone that clearly didn't know how to run a site. Hence why this never took off. Also their was evidence he had no clue on how to secure it.

So what you're saying is that you could actually benefit someone else, yet you're not going to because you have personal beef with anything other than Bitcoin and Silk Road?
How can you be so petty?
Do Alt's scare you?

I'll also point out that you stated that his site was insecure.
Where's the proof?
You made the claim, burden of proof is on you, unless of course you're FUDing.

Wait I thought you ignored me? Why you talking to me, I am ignored.

No personal beef, but why should I give out good ideas LMAO and help someone that called me a troll? Now that is stupid.

Yes alts scare me so much, that is why I have devcoins and litecoins. ;)

Actually security falls under that the owner should prove it to us, until then I label them insecure ;) Or at least explanation of what they are doing, all they said was"being taken care of and not to worry. Not very comforting to me.

Also again why you talking to me I thought you ignored me? Can you go back to ignoring me :) thank you!

I like to stop those spreading needless FUD around and call out those trolls where possible. Just because you think you're better doesn't make you any less of a troll ;)
I'll even ignore an ignore to get that point across ;)
Just to let you know, that's not how burden of proof works. Where's your proof for these insecurities?
I'm still waiting for citations or a retraction, since those are the only options you really have if you want to remain factually correct.

This talks about no security steps taken, it just basically says don't leave large amount of coins on the server. So basically that means it is insecure cause, it should clearly say what and how about security steps.

By the way, no FUD ;)

Actually it discusses how there's no Escrow at this point in time and users would have to have mutual trust until  such a service could be implemented, tested then released.
In fact it goes through how testing is the main factor holding the project from launching right now.

And your argument is still based on the false, one might say elementary assumption, that an absence of proof is proof in itself. If you took that argument to court, you'd lose if you were in front of a judge ;)
If you can garner some hard evidence of security issues, then come back and present them.
Until then, all you're doing at the moment is defamation and spreading FUD.
You should add those two to your resume too, your clients should know how professional your conduct is :)

Your starting to be annoying, so do you want me to hack it and prove that it is insecure, well that isn't happening. This isn't court, and if I say it is insecure, then it is insecure that is how it goes. There is no trust in that team, they have an onion address which makes less trust, which in the case of torwallet or onionwallet, makes it an easy scam. I like how you find a thread that is dead, bring it back and tell me how your going to ignore me, now your here just saying "Your spreading FUD" which I clearly never did. Thank you sir, but go back to ignoring me, I hate when newbies get big balls. Just cause you feel like you got to make a name for self by trying to disapprove something the community agreed on, then have fun, but I am done here.

You're missing the point.
You spread FUD by stating a claim without any evidence to back it up.
You made a false accusation and that doesn't reflect well on you or any projects that your name may be attached to.
And by the way, user gweedo is not the community.

If you would like to present some evidence to back up your claim, I'll be waiting. If not, I'll note you down as a person who spreads defamatory and false material :)

LMAO and I care what you think because? I just told you my reason and you didn't think it was good enough so that isn't my problem that is your problem. The rest of the people in this thread agreed and I could care less about what some newbie thinks, go run along.

Only three others said they didn't have any interest, with the rest in support or offering ideas to improve to this project, so that's another thing you're blatantly lying about :)
In fact more users were calling you a troll than who actually agreed with you, just saying ;)

And the fact that you're still replying shows you still care, not to mention that this is all being stored in the forum for others to see your false claims and your behaviour.
Needless to say this would all look great if someone was seeking your (not so) professional services.

No I just think it is funny, you actually read this entire thread, but whatever, I guess I have too many things going on to care. Just move your mouse to the ignore button and click it ;)

Also I don't care about my professional service, I actually code cause I love it, not cause I need too. I am a millionaire because of bitcoins and could care less, I do it cause I like it. :)

So you actually find it funny that I did research into an area where you did none and call you out for a false remark?
Wow, you must have a pretty great sense of humour.
And it's great that you don't really see your programming as a professional avenue, as stuff like lying and spreading false rumours is usually looked down upon and has a habit of negatively impacting a business.

But it's good to know that you have an ample supply of Bitcoins left over so such an impact would leave you completely unscathed, even if this news were to spread around. ;)

But still though, you're still posting and it's great to see that you care so much about sticking to your false claims :)

I have proven that it is insecure what do you want me to do break into their servers? That is illegal and I am not doing that, so it isn't false claims it is just that you don't believe the facts I shown, that is ok.

All you've done is show how they're testing their escrow service and until it's been released users will have to depend on peer trust.
You haven't actually shown how the site is insecure.
And no, I'm not asking you to break the law, what I am asking you to do is either come up with evidence or retract your false statements.
By the way, this discussion isn't doing the best for your street cred ;)

So basically I can't make you believe it, then that is all I need to know. I am sticking with that it is insecure, who even cares the site may not even be up.

What street cred? I don't care what anyone on this forum thinks.

No, the reason you can't make me believe it is because what you've stated isn't correct. Find me some evidence to back up your claim and I would be willing to side with you.

So you don't care what your largest potential client base has to think about you, your conduct or your programming skills?
That's a great professional attitude to have, should add it to your donation and project webpages
'I don't care what you think'. What a motto.

I showed you evidence you dismissed, I can't help you if your not going to accept my evidence. Aside from hacking that is the best evidence right from the person, who created the site.

Exactly I don't care what anyone has to say.

There was no evidence in that excerpt that you supplied for reasons that I have already stated and you have failed to rebuff.
The fact that you're still citing it as evidence is amusing actually.

You didn't rebuff anything you just said it...


Which has nothing to do with the security of the site, but with features. So you are wrong. Good Day sir. And keep on trolling someone else ;) *Can't Troll a Troll*