Thank you, once again, Dingus.
Let's watch this seller -- viperpray121 -- on eBay.
He'll probably teach us some more clever tricks.
I've just added him to my "favorite sellers" list, to be notified by eBay whenever he posts any new auctions for anything.

Now, does anyone have any other clever tricks from other sellers or buyers?

So, russelljohnson, have you observed any clever tricks for buying and selling Bitcoin, that you can describe here?
That's the topic of this thread.

Excellent catch!
Two tricks in one auction.
Thank you, Dingus.
Clearly, you have a good eye for details.

The seller's requirement for ID is in the "Description" tab of eBay auction page mentioned in first post on this thread.
It is under banner for, "eBay Buyer Protection".
Link here: http://tinyurl.com/3odrrgg

So, we have added charge for "shipping" plus specific requirement to provide ID, or else lose your money.
eBay seller "viperpray", in Syracuse, NY, United States, is a clever trickster, indeed.

Have you seen any other clever tricks, from buyers or sellers?

Now that's clever.
Source?
Link?
Or are you replying to a post on some other thread, because nothing about that on this thread so far.

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Looks like we've got the shipping charges trick sorted out quickly here.

Have you noticed any other clever and subtle tricks floating around?

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You're right about that, and you won't get any arguments from me against a philosophy of free-trade and buyer-beware.

But have you noticed any other clever tricks among sellers and buyers of Bitcoin?
(Tactics more clever and more subtle than the crude scam of charge backs which is well-known and already widely discussed here.)

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Fascinating to see tricks starting to appear in various Bitcoin markets.

One seller is charging $6.00 "shipping" for Bitcoin on eBay -- added to the final auction price.
Clever trick to boost his selling price without it being noticed too much.
Not really a scam, since fully disclosed on the auction page.
And if he can get it, why not?

That seller on eBay is "ViperPray" in Syracuse, New York, United States.
Here's a link to one of his auctions: http://tinyurl.com/3odrrgg

More tricks are sure to appear on both sides: sellers and buyers.
Useful to expose more of them.
I hope others will post on this thread the tricks they observe -- we'll all benefit.

     This is a highly valuable topic.
Thank you, Anderxander, for thinking about it and posting.
As a "thank you" tip for doing that, I have just sent 1.14 Bitcoins to the address in your signature line.

     Now to dig into the topic more.
I'm a newcomer to Bitcoin, but I have half a century of experience with computers and networks.
Forgive me, and please correct me, if, in what follows, I make some conceptual mistakes about the structure of Bitcoin.

1.) The word "downfall" introduces confusion to a very important subject.
The main worry here is "risk".
Bitcoin may or may not "fall down", but there are always risks.
If we analyze risk, then we have a chance of mitigating it.
Not eliminating it, but reducing the probabilities.

     A solar powered data center is very trendy concept.
But, no, a solar-powered data center is not a good idea.
It doesn't mitigate any risk other than lack of power-line electricity.
And it adds the risk that a data center could be destroyed by accident, by weather, or by deliberate attack.

2.) To spend Bitcoin, there is no requirement to convert to any national government currency.
It may be easier to spend by converting first, but it's not required.
And, if Bitcoin grows as many here expect it will, there will be even less need to convert in the future.
I'll offer you 5,000 Bitcoin for your 1957 Corvette.
Or, you offer me 1 Bitcoin for a cheese and sausage pizza from my pizza shop.
Deals, big or small, can be done without any currency, without any banks at all.
And without any "Feds" at all.

3.) Yes, operation of Bitcoin does require the Internet, or some network than can transfer data.
So one risk factor is that all data networks disappear.
An asteroid striking earth could do that.
Or electromagnetic pulse attack at key points around the world.
But if an event destroys all of the Internet, then our problems are much greater than could be solved with solar-powered data centers.
So I'm not going to try to lay-off the risk that the Internet will suddenly disappear.

4.) The biggest risk in the Bitcoin system is the risk of market manipulation.
Market manipulation would be easy to do, quick, and cheap.

     Let's put ourselves in the place of the "dark side" and think this through.
The central banking powers will hate Bitcoin, guaranteed.
They will want to destroy it, and plow salt into the concept so nothing like it ever grows again.

     It would not take any laws at all to completely destroy Bitcoin.
The dark side would simply take advantage of Bitcoin's single point of vulnerability: it's small market size.
What could they do?
Simple: The dark side will buy Bitcoins.

     Bitcoin's small market can be "cornered" easily, for only a few millions of US Dollars.
The dark side could simply allocate those millions from their petty cash fund.
Then place orders on every exchange and every forum to buy up every Bitcoin offered for sale.
The price of Bitcoin would shoot up to the sky.
Wouldn't take much.

     Countless people would try to catch the trend and pour their life savings into Bitcoin.
Many others would run up their personal credit card debt to buy mining rigs.
Some might quit their normal jobs to be "day miners", trying to make a living digging for Bitcoin.
The price would go parabolic, due to dark-side money pouring in week after week.

     Then what?
The dark side would sell.
And sell, and sell, without stopping until they had sold every last Bitcoin they had.
They would overwhelm every exchanger and every forum, with sell orders.
Bitcoin would plummet to the depths.
Countless Bitcoin faithful, who had invested their money and dreams in Bitcoin ventures, would be destroyed.
And all Bitcoin miners would suffocate.

     It could be accomplished in a month or two.
Maybe it has already started with the recent jump in the price of Bitcoin.

     And the final chapter would be written by the mainstream news media.
They would relentlessly attack the foolishness and risks of Bitcoin.
And that would bury the concept for at least one generation, maybe more.

     The only way to mitigate the risk of small market size, is to grow big quickly.
Personally, I think Bitcoin can get big enough, fast enough, to stay ahead of the risk of an attack from big money.
So I'm buying Bitcoin.
But I'm not sure about this.
It's a gamble: for me and for all who are investing in Bitcoin.
Only time will tell if Bitcoin can survive the attack which is sure to come.

     At this stage, Bitcoin's biggest risk is the small size of its market.
It is vulnerable to deliberate attack by those who wish to destroy it.
I wonder what are other risks inherent in Bitcoin, both now and in the near future.
And, please, what are the shortcomings in my risk analysis here?

Hello Nat -

Thanks for posting about that.

I'm new here, too, and looking to build a reputation.

Sending a private message to you now about buying some of your silver.

Thank you, Ian Maxwell, for most helpful explanation about the PayPal situation.
Your writing style is crystal clear.

I'm new here; trying to get a grasp of how all this works.
Good advice and clear writing has value to me, especially at the first steps.
So, sending now 1.55 Bitcoin to account in your signature above.
With thanks.

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Valuable topic.  Thank you, Simme101 for starting this line of discussion.  Worth thinking about carefully:  e-Gold and Liberty Dollar started off with much enthusiasm, but they are no longer with us.

But e-Gold and Liberty Dollar were easy to attack.  Everyone here knows the situation: They had physical locations and human presence, while Bitcoin is designed to avoid that.

Bitcoin looks more like Hawala.  Hawala is either outright illegal or highly discouraged most every place that it exists.  And yet it has endured for 1,200 years.  May Bitcoin do so well!

Reference link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala

From another thread:

Thank you Caveden.  I just used PayPal to pay for Bitcoins a few minutes ago -- via an eBay auction -- I need to learn about essential factors like that.  It's well-known to the veterans here, but it's new for newcomers like me.

Thank you, Caveden, for posting about that.  Important to know.  I see this thread topic is devoted to Silk Road feedback.  Is there a thread on this forum devoted to the PayPal situation?   Since I just used PayPal to pay for Bitcoins a few minutes ago -- via an eBay auction -- I would be most interested in such a thread topic.  

I just bought my first Bitcoins on an eBay auction today.

Yes, I paid more on eBay than from one of the direct exchangers.  But buying on eBay is easy, almost effortless.  And using eBay is a simple way to exchange PayPal for Bitcoins.  Plus, two other, important factors:

• eBay offers a reputation rating of the seller.  
  
• If there is any problem, eBay has a good dispute resolution system.
  
  

For someone just starting with Bitcoin, eBay is an easy -- and safe -- first step.   I'll buy again on eBay for those benefits.  

Of course, eBay and PayPal are very much not anonymous.  So that's the negative side.

Now, I wonder, are eBay sellers just one-time deals?  Or, are Bitcoin miners selling their output on eBay?  If so, that would be a convenient way to buy Bitcoins from a variety of miners who may have output available at varying times.  Rather than buying direct from a stranger, I'd use the eBay "private auction" system, just for the "insurance" factors mentioned above.

Thanks, Ron, for posting link to that auction on eBay.  I was just in time, and won that auction.  So now am the proud owner of my first 10 Bitcoins.  

Perhaps it will help other newcomers (like myself), and to avoid getting off topic here, I posted some thoughts about a beginner (me) using eBay for Bitcoin on another thread: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=10982.0  

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I second that recommendation from Mikegogulski.

Almost every day now, something about Bitcoin is posted on the Orlin Grabbe web site.   It offers a good overview of what is being written about Bitcoin on the Internet, especially outside of Bitcoin-specific sites:  http://orlingrabbe.com/