I didn't want to do this. BTC Guy has not shipped or responded to me in a week.

[TangibleCryptography]

I actually wont trade with anyone called BTC(insert name) now after this, Have you noticed these users coming on that registered a year ago with no activity until now?

sorry, I'm just a conspiracy theorist.

You can trade with anyone you want.  Just use a trusted escrow agent.  Bitcoin being irreversible is about trust.  If you don't completely trust the person you are trading with you shouldn't send first.  However if they don't completely trust you they shouldn't send first.  Simple solution is use somebody you both trust.

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[JoelKatz]

You can trade with anyone you want.  Just use a trusted escrow agent.  Bitcoin being irreversible is about trust.  If you don't completely trust the person you are trading with you shouldn't send first.  However if they don't completely trust you they shouldn't send first.  Simple solution is use somebody you both trust.

I don't see how that works. I guess I've never understood escrow. How do they deal with these cases (assume you're buying a video card):

1) Coins are sent. Package is sent and tracked. Recipient refuses package, saying he opened it in front of the delivery guy, it was empty and the delivery guy allowed him to refuse receipt even after he opened it. Sender says he got the package back and it was empty but that he shipped the video card. What does the escrow agent do? The shipper may have put the items in the package and the receiver removed them and then refused the package, in which case the coins should go back to the sender. But it's also possible the shipper shipped an empty box, in which case the coins should go back to the recipient.

2) Coins are sent. Package is sent and tracked. Recipient says item was not as described and mails it back to the sender. Sender says he received back an inferior item with a different serial number. What does the escrow agent do?

[DeathAndTaxes]

Depends on the terms of the escrow generally there are two routes: arbitration and no-recourse.

In no-recourse moving the funds requires consensus of both parties.  There is no economic value in pulling a scam.  You can pull a scam but you will never get paid.  You rep takes a hit and you get nothing for it.  The net value is a loss. 

Escrow doesn't need to be absolute scam proof it simply needs to raise the cost of a scam to the point it isn't worth it.

[JoelKatz]

In no-recourse moving the funds requires consensus of both parties.  There is no economic value in pulling a scam.  You can pull a scam but you will never get paid.  You rep takes a hit and you get nothing for it.  The net value is a loss.

Not true. In a no recourse, you say to the other person, "Approve the 10 BTC to me and I'll send 8 of them back to you. Otherwise, you get nothing." There's every incentive to pull a scam, you might get money and you have nothing to lose.

Escrow doesn't need to be absolute scam proof it simply needs to raise the cost of a scam to the point it isn't worth it.

If it raises the cost on the victim, that doesn't help.

I've yet to see a model that raises the cost on only the abuser and ensures that the abuser is not better off for having pulled the scam. Perhaps you know some combination of escrow rules and who pays when that I don't.

[Coinoisseur]

Escrow adds cost even to honest transactions. That cost can be justified if the escrow service has decent scam protection in the form of reliable arbitration. It's interesting that there does not seem to be much in the way of this kind of service available for online transactions, that I'm aware of. Probably ripe for some grad student papers.

[SysRun]

Yikes, looks like he chose his spot to get out of dodge.

[aznjack31]

BTC guy offered to refund me the coins in his thread. I'll update the thread with more information as I get it.