Is escrowing for yourself using a secret alt OK?

[tsoPANos]

It is definitely not Ok, as escrow is meant to be a neutral third party.
Why don't you trade directly with your escrow account? That implies guilefulness.

I am deeply disappointed as quickseller

[cakir]

Imagine e-bay.
It's basically an escrow service. Don't e-bay workers (even the financial department) use e-bay as a customer?

BUT

IF the escrow bend the rules for himself then it's a big issue. (Imagine e-bay worker sent broken stuff but got paid from customer, what happens to that worker? Will be fired of course).

[LFC_Bitcoin]

This just proves you can't fully trust anybody on this forum. Ask yourself the question, if you were trying to buy or sell 100,000 bitcoins or a similar ridiculous amount would you trust anybody on this forum to escrow for you?

I'd rather do a face to face meet but carry a gun for protection

[Blazed]

This just proves you can't fully trust anybody on this forum. Ask yourself the question, if you were trying to buy or sell 100,000 bitcoins or a similar ridiculous amount would you trust anybody on this forum to escrow for you?

I'd rather do a face to face meet but carry a gun for protection

That is pretty obvious I would only trust certain people here with up to maybe 50-60BTC. I really doubt anyone here escrows 100's of BTC without meeting up.

[John (John K.)]

No. The entire notion of having an escrow is the fact that a trusted neutral third party is available to arbitrate the deal if anything ensures. The argument that some people here say they're 'self-escrowing' for some deals lies to the fact that the other party knows and fully trusts him/her to go through his part of the deal, and understands that there will be no  third party being involved here. It is utterly dishonest and downright cheating when the escrower and one of the party is colluding/the same person as the outcome/decisions made will not be fair to the other party at all.

This just proves you can't fully trust anybody on this forum. Ask yourself the question, if you were trying to buy or sell 100,000 bitcoins or a similar ridiculous amount would you trust anybody on this forum to escrow for you?

I'd rather do a face to face meet but carry a gun for protection

That is pretty obvious I would only trust certain people here with up to maybe 50-60BTC. I really doubt anyone here escrows 100's of BTC without meeting up.

I've did much more then that without meeting up, just fyi.

[Kanapka]

Imagine e-bay.
It's basically an escrow service. Don't e-bay workers (even the financial department) use e-bay as a customer?

BUT

IF the escrow bend the rules for himself then it's a big issue. (Imagine e-bay worker sent broken stuff but got paid from customer, what happens to that worker? Will be fired of course).

If things went bad because of the conflict of ebay workers using the ebay, the customers still can go to the court.

SInce this forum is anonimous, with people from all over the world and the forum itself won't take responsability, then your point is not valid

[cakir]

Imagine e-bay.
It's basically an escrow service. Don't e-bay workers (even the financial department) use e-bay as a customer?

BUT

IF the escrow bend the rules for himself then it's a big issue. (Imagine e-bay worker sent broken stuff but got paid from customer, what happens to that worker? Will be fired of course).

If things went bad because of the conflict of ebay workers using the ebay, the customers still can go to the court.

SInce this forum is anonimous, with people from all over the world and the forum itself won't take responsability, then your point is not valid

Is this forum anonymous? Don't you know about BFL case?
theymos gave the court lots of information about users who talked about BFL (including PM's).

[Sarthak]

I think it's OK because whenever  you ask the trader to use your alt account as an escrow, he first checks if your alt can really be trusted! If you have enough trust and good intentions, No problem at all.
But at the same time i think its like "You're the cop and you're the prisoner".

[Neotox]

Of-course NO

Escrow means a third party that is trusted by both buyer and seller and in case if there is any problem they can take a fair decision without taking anyone's side

but if the seller/buyer is also using his alt account to escrow then how we can expect a fair decision in case any problem occurs

or if they want to trade without third party escrow for their alts then better they trade directly with their main account,

[Blazed]

No. The entire notion of having an escrow is the fact that a trusted neutral third party is available to arbitrate the deal if anything ensures. The argument that some people here say they're 'self-escrowing' for some deals lies to the fact that the other party knows and fully trusts him/her to go through his part of the deal, and understands that there will be no  third party being involved here. It is utterly dishonest and downright cheating when the escrower and one of the party is colluding/the same person as the outcome/decisions made will not be fair to the other party at all.

This just proves you can't fully trust anybody on this forum. Ask yourself the question, if you were trying to buy or sell 100,000 bitcoins or a similar ridiculous amount would you trust anybody on this forum to escrow for you?

I'd rather do a face to face meet but carry a gun for protection

That is pretty obvious I would only trust certain people here with up to maybe 50-60BTC. I really doubt anyone here escrows 100's of BTC without meeting up.

I've did much more then that without meeting up, just fyi.

Well a year or 2 back that was fine, but these days not so much. I really have issues trusting most people here these days.

[Keyser Soze]

It's not escrow if there is no third party involved. I can't believe this is even a question...

[mallard]

The definition of escrow specifically says "kept in the custody of a third party".

[21coin]

No it is definetely not OK to use your alt as an escrow, beats the whole concept of an escrow.
IMO the 5 votes saying "yes" are probably from Wardrick, quickseller, ACCTseller , panther and his other alt(something to do with fun). Lets see how many alts can QS turn against this poll, I guess he's still got a lot of alts.

[scumbag]

I voted NO and for that 5 who voted YES must be out of their mind.
If there's a need for a 3rd party then there should be a 3rd party, not same guy with a different hat

[Xian01]

The risks are exactly the same as if you do a direct trade.

What ?! No. Just... how ?!

The risk is theoretically mitigated by using a known and "trusted" third party with funds.

Do you think that is all that different from choosing someone you are close friends with as an escrow ?

Yes. It's different.

Cronyism much ?

[tygeade]

This just proves you can't fully trust anybody on this forum. Ask yourself the question, if you were trying to buy or sell 100,000 bitcoins or a similar ridiculous amount would you trust anybody on this forum to escrow for you?

I'd rather do a face to face meet but carry a gun for protection

If I would sell 100,000 BTC I would definetly do a face to face meet up! Good thing is that I have a cop as friend, would take him as helper.  

Also, I voted for no.

[hedgy73]

NO - An escrow should be a neutral third party.

[markj113]

Defo a no. you cannot escrow your own trades otherwise it is not escrow.

Can you imagine localbitcoins where the buyer gets to decide when to hit the release coins button 

There seems to be a lot of worming around the key issues by a certain individual who has recently been caught out.

Key points :

1) Escrow must be an impartial third party.
2) If 1 person in the trade uses an alt to fake Escrow then it is dishonest and a scam even if nothing was stolen.
3) Getting additional payments by faking an escrow service is theft.  You are deceiving an individual into paying for a service they have not received (this point still counts even if you spurt bullshit about the overall price you received for the goods would still be the same etc. )

[shorena]

Code:

THIS POLL WILL RUN FOR 7 DAYS
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR VOTE AT ANY TIME

Is voting here with known (or secret) alts ok?

I was one of the first people to consistently push for the use of escrow, even before default trust existed.

I view escrow as a trusted third party that can act as a mediator should the buyer and seller disagree. It also prevents the seller from running off the coins, or the buyer stealing intellectual property without paying for it.

An escrow can either be free, ask for tips, or charge a flat or sliding scale.  

If the person you are trading with is also the escrow, you have no protection from intentional fraud or accidental issues.

What do you think?

YES - Earn what you can, however you can.  Doesn't matter if a service is being purchased and not provided.
NO - An escrow should be a neutral third party.  The fee paid is considered like an insurance premium for protection

I know you made up your mind and I hope you are aware that the question is loaded.

IMHO an escrow should be a 3rd party, no matter what. Everything else should not be considered escrow. As BadBear said regarding moderation one should not moderate issues regarding oneself no matter how competent one is. Same goes for escrow, no matter the trustworthyness of your main account if you want to make a deal with another account get someone else to escrow. There are plenty people offering escrow and it should not be too difficult to find someone.

@QS if you agree with TF's argument that the proof provided by TSP regarding your alt is nil because of confirmation bias you should agree that an escrow that is not a 3rd party without any ties is also biased. The same can be true for someone very close, yes.

-snip-
True they should get ban... Tomatocage abusing trust system too.

No rules have been broken, there will be no ban. This is a DefaultTrust issue and should not involve the staff.

[redsn0w]

I voted for "No". It's is not correct act as escrow using (your) secret alt, because as you said "An escrow should be a neutral third party".