How to best escrow digital goods?

[Celroc Amaul]

Hi all!

So, I was considering at one point selling various gift cards on the forum for bitcoins.  One thing that I'd like (or, virtually need) is to use escrow, but it dawns on me, how would I go about proving to escrow that I indeed sent the item to the buyer?  I suppose I could send a copy of said gift card to the escrower, too, but doesn't that have an inherent security risk? (i.e, someone else other than the buyer now has access to the gift card....).

Thanks!

Celroc A

[1715065757]

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[bitbaby]

Hi all!

So, I was considering at one point selling various gift cards on the forum for bitcoins.  One thing that I'd like (or, virtually need) is to use escrow, but it dawns on me, how would I go about proving to escrow that I indeed sent the item to the buyer?  I suppose I could send a copy of said gift card to the escrower, too, but doesn't that have an inherent security risk? (i.e, someone else other than the buyer now has access to the gift card....).

Thanks!

Celroc A

This is the problem with selling Gift Cards, especially Amazon gift cards because afaik there is no way of checking the card that whether it is claimed or not other than try to load it up in your account, if it does, its ok, if it isn't then nothing can be done about it. And even if you send it first to escrow, they cannot guarantee that it is claimed or not, because to do that they'd first have to load them up in their account, but they will not be able to issue another gift card from gift card balance.

And this is why it is a risk to both buyer and seller, a buyer can claim the gift card and say that it was empty and the seller can also sell bad gift card and escrow cannot provide cover for this. Which is why I think Bitify (formerly Cryptothrift) has now stopped sale of any gift cards on their website because they cannot resolve if a dispute arises.

[yahoo62278]

The easiest way would probably be for the person whom has the gift card not send the code til the btc is in escrow for the card. Once the btc is in escrow the person with the card can send the code and have the escrow release the funds. The problem though is the guy can claim the card had 0 balance on it.

Maybe this is why ppl dont like escrowing these deals

[lumeire]

Nope, these kinds of transactions are fully dependent on trust and reputation. You might wanna consider selling other stuff first to get your feet wet and get a hang on selling here before trying to sell gift cards, you'd earn respect and trust as a seller along the way.

On another note, probably a way around this is selling accounts with pre-loaded gift card balance. It might not always work but I've already seen a couple people selling pre-loaded accounts like Spotify.

[mobnepal]

I think purse is there which sells amazon gift cards but don't know either they buy those code themselves or you can post your ad there. For small deals it may be fine to deal without escrow for these types of items with some high ranked members also in this forum.

[newcoins1978]

If you want to buy a coupon or some other kind of voucher, you should be very carefull.

Some are stolen and even if it works, you will be charged back if you use it...

[Pollak]

You can use any kindo of middleman. Don't go for an website bt ask for a member on this forum. They can check and you can define terms.

F.e. release the escrow when the coupon has been uses in a succesfull purchase.

[Celroc Amaul]

Thanks for your input, everyone.  I think it does sound wise to wait until I have a bit more reputation and selling experience.

Celroc A

[erikalui]

This is the problem with selling Gift Cards, especially Amazon gift cards because afaik there is no way of checking the card that whether it is claimed or not other than try to load it up in your account, if it does, its ok, if it isn't then nothing can be done about it. And even if you send it first to escrow, they cannot guarantee that it is claimed or not, because to do that they'd first have to load them up in their account, but they will not be able to issue another gift card from gift card balance.

And this is why it is a risk to both buyer and seller, a buyer can claim the gift card and say that it was empty and the seller can also sell bad gift card and escrow cannot provide cover for this. Which is why I think Bitify (formerly Cryptothrift) has now stopped sale of any gift cards on their website because they cannot resolve if a dispute arises.

One can always get to know when the code was claimed from Amazon or any other website's support department.

If the buyer is the first time holder of the code & not a reseller, using an escrow is not an issue as escrows here are honest and they wouldn't use the code. Escrows who cannot verify the codes only take charge of sending the code to the seller and the seller then needs to verify the code by adding it to his/her account instantly. Note here that the seller shouldn't be a one who resells the code. Problem does arise when more than 1 buyer or seller is involved but the escrow isn't an issue.