8/24 EDIT: All info in this thread is null and void. Some sections were recycled because we're green. 
Info is being kept to show how GBEC Cooperative came about. Please see Version 2.0 Thread:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=280412.08/20 EDIT: I need to publicly retract my offer to hold Escrow Deposits for now to not run afoul of potential state laws that apply. I will offer this shortly but for now I will offer Coordinator Services at 0.1% of your proposed Group Buy. REPEAT: I DO NOT INTEND TO HOLD FUNDS IN ESCROW YET, AT THIS TIME. Please keep this in mind while reading the info below. Thank you to bitterdog for helping to keep me out of trouble. I only intend to help do good here. Info will be kept as-is but slashed out for now.
ON HOLD while seeking two partners to form the beginnings of a Group Buy Coordinator Escrow Service *co-op* or for John K. to shelter this under his umbrella. Yes, why not. 
We make co-ops for group buys, why not make a co-op for our *own* escrow service that this forum can claim as it's own? Please PM me if you're interested in sharing the risks and benefits of running GBEC Escrow Service Co-op. [/b] Hello,
My name is DyslexicZombei, DZ for short, an ASIC miner & speculator just like you. I love the
BTC economy and the future and promise that
BTC holds for people all over the world. I recently organized my first Group Buy and experienced first hand, the trials and tribulations of a Group Buy Coordinator or a GBC, for short. I am going to carve myself out a niche here as a Group Buy Escrow Coordinator or GBEC, for short, to help out both buyers and sellers.
- I intend to be an Expediter/Coordinator and Escrow Service Provider just for Group Buys on this forum. My role is that of a neutral (but encouraging) party in all dealings. Group Buyers deserve a safe marketplace and a coordinator / expediter / arbiter that's on THEIR side. I know that sometimes speed is of the essence when pre-ordering. I intend to be the grease that lubricates the wheels that help to keep things moving.
- I intend to act as a spam filter for this board, by helping to weed out fraudulent Group Buy Coordinators and to help improve the quality of Group Buys even listed in the first place, by coaching/mentoring GBCs *before* they get started with the Group Buy, in order to greatly improve their chances of success.
- I intend to help Group Buyers feel confident about taking part in any Escrow protected transaction that I'm involved with, in this crazy, crazy Wild West economy where risks abound everywhere and every cockroach wants your hard earned money and BTC.
Doing this will add new competition to the marketplace, meaning everyone has to keep on their toes as new value is added to this marketplace with innovative ideas and innovative forms of risk management that are beneficial to *ALL* stakeholders involved. Value is thus created out of good will and intentions.
I'm willing to risk my job and my freedom to help facilitate this, because as someone who's been watching new technologies take off my entire life, I feel that I can offer unique value to this forum with my expertise and experience and I see so much promise in both this forum and our larger BTC economy as a whole.
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Here are my Services and Fees I'm offering below. ON HOLD:
Escrow fees to be paid up front. Collateral is to be paid up front; this form of Group Buy transaction can sometimes allow for: PayPal for BTC purchased shares of miners when set up in this way. Take that Pay(notyour)Pal!
DyslexicZombei's (DZ) Group Buy Escrow Coordinator Services
ON HOLD: Escrow Protection of Group Buys: In my free time, I am willing to risk my job and my freedom to help you, a well intentioned Group Buy Coordinator, perform a Group Buy on this forum as an Escrow Service for the purposes of facilitating reduced risk Group Buys for ASIC hardware.
This will include - at this point - ASIC chips, cases for manufacturer specific ASIC mining rigs such as BitFury, mass quantities of fans and Power Supply Units direct from a manufacturer, as well as Escrow protection for traditional (ha!) ASIC Bitcoin Mining machines Group Buys.If someone wants to facilitate an order of 500 PSUs or case fans to get a wholesale discount, and ship them out to Group Buyers with a small markup (perhaps selling the extras on ebay/coingig), well, now they have an easy way to do it! Variety and competition will have been added to the market helping to result in lower prices for all, and we all win![/color] I know I wouldn't mind access to wholesale cases and fans bought under escrow protection if I have to build a HashFast miner for our co-op, in the event that HashFast is late & has to send chips.
In this transaction, I agree, in my own free time and using my own purchased resources, to help facilitate your Group Buy by:
1)
Vetting your ID and background with your permission on behalf of the Group Buyers.
We may check LinkedIn, we may check Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. We could even contact a colleague on LinkedIn if you have a profile (which would help your cause tremendously), to help keep people honest, and if the Group Buy is large enough to warrant it.[/b]
2)
Securing a collateral or deposit from the Group Buy Coordinator for providing a public bond against fraudulent behavior from you, the Group Buyer Coordinator.
Buyers will more readily trust a Group Buy from new or relatively new GBC attempting to organize a Group Buy if they see that the GBC seems to be risking his job/freedom as well as sufficient collateral to NOT be that douchebag that scams and steals from others via the interwebs. Seriously. Don't be that d-bag. When fraud is almost nonexistent on this forum, Group Buyers will feel more secure about their transactions and the Group Buy economy, as a *whole* will grow in both size and variety.
3)
Setting up a Group Buy wallet under Escrow Protection which can be watched by all, and receiving payments on behalf of the Group Buy Coordinators and Group Buyers. 4)
Once all payments are received, purchasing and arranging shipping details to a majority group approved hosting or colocation facility will be handled . Any left over BTC, will be handed back to the GBC for hosting fees.
My fee for this transaction is 2.2% of the proposed value of the Group Buy . For example, if you're trying to raise 50BTC in funds, my fee is 1.1 BTC, paid in BTC up front.
Escrow+ Services: Escrow+, or Escrow Plus, is a new service I'm offering just for the Group Buys forum. This is the premium package: my coach and mentoring before you even get started. I'll help clean up your writing (yes, I know, I make mistakes too ya grammar Nazi
), improve your sales pitch, and help you figure out if your Group Buy idea is a *good* idea. [Please don't take it hard if I decline to help you at this particular time. I'm just here to back up John K., for the most part, and there's only so many hours in a day. We may be able to work together in the future.]
Escrow Plus services cost 2.3% of the proposed value of the Group Buy, meaning that I'm offering you everything above except with my coaching and mentoring before the Group Buy starts to help you greatly improve your odds of success for
only 0.1 % more then your typical "complex" Escrow service! I may not be able to offer such low rates for mentoring/coaching in the future but for now these are my rates.
ON HOLD: When you pay for my
Escrow+ Services Escrow Coordination Services, essentially consulting, for now:
- You're getting the full attention of a world class IT Specialist skills that many of this country's top rocket scientists and research engineers in a variety of projects have relied on for about 10 years for their IT related needs. I've supervised and/or worked on the the e-infrastructure of 6 different world class Hawaii based research lab facilities on 3 different islands, including supervising the electronics of a premier rocket test facility for missions with 6, 7 and 8 figure budgets.
- Someone who was once Mensa qualified as a child FWIW (142 on the Stanford-Binet scale, big whoop) and offered the opportunity to jump up a grade (declined).
- My knowledge of technology, electronics, and networking.
My first PC used was a TRS-80 and my first PC was a Commodore-64. I've read WIRED from the start & keep up with tech changes, and changes in the ASIC marketplace daily. I was the first national internet football champ. I was a beta tester for the first Instant Messaging program (ICQ), a beta tester for Gmail, and have been involved in CAD/3-D printing, even fixing the 3-D printer for the Kauai Robotics High School team. I'm an IT specialist in every sense of the word.
- My knowledge and respect for world history, foreign countries, and my fellow man/woman
I read The Economist, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, WIRED, Ars, Slashdot, Reddit, and Kotaku on a daily basis, among other sites. I have approx. 85% of a US History degree in addition to an IT degree which allows me to not only better understand technology, but also technology's role in cataclysmic changes throughout history, such as the one we're seeing now with the rise of the worldwide Bitcoin Economy.
- My understanding of designing and developing Information Technologies from scratch from low TRL numbers
- My deep understanding of fraudulent behavior, scams, and phishing attempts
- My nearly 30 years worth of sales skills which were honed by learning/selling/teaching skills since I was a teenager
- My understanding of the current and near term market values of various technologies, which has allowed me, a rank noob to have reached ROI on my BTC related investments in only a month (even with a huge ASX Projects brain fart) thanks to arbitrage.
- A huge respect for Karma and the rest of my brothers and sisters living under my flag and other flags.
If your good idea seems to be worthy of my limited time & efforts, you agree that I will vet you to check that you appear to be a good intentioned Group Buy Coordinator that appears to bring innovation, value, and variety to the Group Buys forum. I will only take a few Group Buys at a time under escrow because I do owe it to my family to also spend time with them too.
This is my offer of services to the Group Buy forum. I hope it can provide more liquidity to the overall BTC economy and quality to the Group Buys forum. I intend to follow up on Canary's comment about an automated web site, but for now, it'll be manual escrow support.
Also, since this is a new service, the Introductory Price will be 10% off the listed prices above.
Since I want to encourage the world's youth to explore safe opportunities on a worldwide digital marketplace, if you're a student you'll get a Student Discount (but you might have to prove to me that you appear to be an adult in High School or College).
Please PM me for Student Discount rates.
Why should you trust me? Well, you'll have to read through these threads - with associated links - if you're interested in my services and are curious about the quality of my services and how I can help the users of this forum.
I highly recommend this reading for new or would be Group Buy Coordinators:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=274055.0https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=276947.0Cheers!
DZ
