Bitcoin Forum

please recommend a good escrower and let me know escrower fees.
 ;D ;D ;D

John (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=141672.0)

+1!

John K. s a great escrow, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him.  I'd be willing to use John K. for escrow of transactions in excess of $100,000 worth of bitcoin if such a situation presented itself. Because he is so well known, so trusted, and so reliable, he is getting to be pretty bust with providing escrow services.  If he's the only person you trust, then go ahead and use his escrow, I assure you he will manage it well.

However, if you want to spread around the load a bit there are a number of other escrow providers I would trust with smaller amounts.  I'd trust nearly all the escrow providers on this list with amounts up to $500 worth of bitcoin:

Escrow List (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108716.0)
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108716.0

Of the members on that list, I'd trust a few of them with amounts up to $10,000 worth of bitcoin:
gweedo
Graet
and (obviously) I'd trust myself  ;D

I was waiting for this the whole time, and you waited until the last line :P At least you didn't disappoint.

I was wondering, what do you think the best option for an Australian would be as far as escrow goes? International transfers don't seem like the best solution.

I'm quite new to currency exchange, so any good info would be appreciated :)

In many cases it is sufficient for only the bitcoins to be held in escrow.

If the sender of the AUD fails to deliver, then the escrow holder can release the bitcoins back to the original owner.  If the sender of the AUD delivers as expected, then the escrow holder can release the bitcoins to the AUD sender.  Complications can arise if the AUD sender claims that they sent the funds, but the BTC sender claims that they never received the AUD funds.  In this case the escrow holder is entrusted with determining which party provides the best proof of their claim, and releases the bitcoins based on that determination.

If you want the escrow holder to receive both the AUD and the BTC and then forward each of the funds to the intended recipient, then you'll probably want to find somone in Australia to act as escrow to avoid the significant international transfer fees.

Thanks for the info, I always thought both Bitcoins and fiat were held in escrow.

Since I'll be dealing with AUD, would I be better off finding someone with an Australian bank account? How does international money transfer work?

I must sound like a real noob right now, but this is just completely new territory for me :)

John K
+1000

You can perhaps avoid a few potential pitfalls and complications if both the fiat and bitcoins are held in escrow, but generally, it is sufficient for just have the escrow holder hold one of them.


If you specifically want for the escrow provider to handle both the AUD and the BTC, then yes, it probably would be faster, cheaper, and easier if they had an Australian bank account.

Generally you would need to wire the funds.  How that is done would depend on the method the receiving banks expects (which would depend on where that bank was located).

Other options would be money transmitting services such as Western Union or the exchange of redeemable vouchers such as gift cards.

I'm not sure about Australia, but I know that the U.S. Postal Service also provides a redeemable money order that can be used to transfer value for a relatively cheap price.

Finally, the most risky (but otherwise cheapest) option is to simply package up the money and send it in the mail.


Ask any questions you can think of.  It is far better to sound foolish, and learn how to protect yourself than to fear sounding foolish and end up looking like a fool when you've lost a substantial amount of money in a fraudulent transaction.

john has scammed me

I highly doubt it.

Proof?