.

[minerjones]

.

[AT101ET]

So in essence this is a silent auction.
It's a good idea but what about the members who don't know how to use PGP signatures? I think it would significantly affect the number of users who'd participate in your auction and that could result in people wining with lowball bids.

[Quickseller]

It's a good idea but what about the members who don't know how to use PGP signatures?

I would think that either a GPG or a bitcoin signed message would work just as well as long as the address/GPG fingerprint is associated with the account placing the bid.

[Hellot]

So in essence this is a silent auction.
It's a good idea but what about the members who don't know how to use PGP signatures? I think it would significantly affect the number of users who'd participate in your auction and that could result in people wining with lowball bids.

Thanks for the input.
Would there be a way for people to send me bids while guaranteeing that I do not alter it...like a PGP, but not so "technical" for the aforementioned people??

Could we do the bids where they are also sent to 2 other trusted members who do not wish to participate...
And at the end we all post signed messages with the winner.... all 3 should have the same winner or winners.
Like a multi-sig verification

If you're going to post the bids afterwards, I don't see an issue.  You will get called out by the bidder if you try and post the wrong info. 

[nubbins]

So in essence this is a silent auction.
It's a good idea but what about the members who don't know how to use PGP signatures? I think it would significantly affect the number of users who'd participate in your auction and that could result in people wining with lowball bids.

The level of PGP illiteracy around here baffles me.

Just throwing it out there -- maybe if you want to bid on / own luxury crypto goods, you should learn how to use basic encryption tools?

 

[BG4]

I have thought about this same type of auction.... I think this would work well with a third party Auctioneer.

Funding an address with the coins as a bid could work somehow??
 

[whywefight]

To place a bet with a signed message in a fixed format would be okay as well as pgp signed. I also like the live auction stuff.

Ofc you could do a hang out where people can raise the arms on cam. I know no one likes to sho his face xD

[monkeynuts]

I have thought about this same type of auction.... I think this would work well with a third party Auctioneer.

Funding an address with the coins as a bid could work somehow??
 

I could send each person who bids an unique bidding address.
At the end of the auction, I could transfer all of the bids to my 1MiNeR address.
Keep the winning bid and send the rest back to the original address they came from.
I would then post the list of unique bidding address and txids.
That way all bids could be traced from being placed to transfer, then back to owner, and no one would know who's bid is who's unless you know someone's BTC address...
And the winner's name/id would not even be known unless the person would want to post it.
People would only know the winning bid.



Thanks

There will always be people who won't want to send funds for something they may not win. For something popular, there may be lots of bidders. The amount of funds sent would be far in excess of the value of item. I don't think it's a runner.

What is really needed is a forum with good auction functionality. It would be good if there were options for a number of different auction types .... Normal auctions, buy it now or best offer, auction also with buy it now, Dutch auction with descending offer price by time, and closed bid auction like you are trying to do.

If we can wipe out the need to trust, it would help that auction types work, and it could work well

[markj113]

!!!You get 1 bid!!!

Unless you open up a few new accounts and place some sock puppet bids.

[hybridsole]

What is really needed is a forum with good auction functionality. It would be good if there were options for a number of different auction types .... Normal auctions, buy it now or best offer, auction also with buy it now, Dutch auction with descending offer price by time, and closed bid auction like you are trying to do.

If we can wipe out the need to trust, it would help that auction types work, and it could work well

Open Bazaar should take care of this.   

[hybridsole]

What is really needed is a forum with good auction functionality. It would be good if there were options for a number of different auction types .... Normal auctions, buy it now or best offer, auction also with buy it now, Dutch auction with descending offer price by time, and closed bid auction like you are trying to do.

If we can wipe out the need to trust, it would help that auction types work, and it could work well

Open Bazaar should take care of this.   

Is that open yet? I have not kept up with them.

Live testnet launches March 1st.  The UI is very slick so I think adoption will happen fairly quickly.  Here's a sneak peak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8I2D8_8ktA

[nubbins]

Funding an address with the coins as a bid could work somehow??
 

I could send each person who bids an unique bidding address.
At the end of the auction, I could transfer all of the bids to my 1MiNeR address.
Keep the winning bid and send the rest back to the original address they came from.

Sorry, this is the worst idea I've ever heard.

1) I start an auction for a 2013 Casascius 0.5btc Silver S2
2) Five bidders place five secret bids: 10, 11, 12, 13, 15.
3) I cut and run with 61 btc and am never heard from again.

Anybody who "bids" on an auction like this is an idiot and deserves to get robbed.

[wheelz1200]

Funding an address with the coins as a bid could work somehow??
 

I could send each person who bids an unique bidding address.
At the end of the auction, I could transfer all of the bids to my 1MiNeR address.
Keep the winning bid and send the rest back to the original address they came from.

Sorry, this is the worst idea I've ever heard.

1) I start an auction for a 2013 Casascius 0.5btc Silver S2
2) Five bidders place five secret bids: 10, 11, 12, 13, 15.
3) I cut and run with 61 btc and am never heard from again.

Anybody who "bids" on an auction like this is an idiot and deserves to get robbed.

unless a 3rd party escrow held the funds but seems like a pain in the ass unless its worth it for the escrow (at which point it would make it unprofitable for the seller unless its a high value item).

[nubbins]

Or you could just make a regular auction and say "accepting private bids only". It's not like you can auction the same coin twice.

[nubbins]

I think you're needlessly complicating things.

If the bids are private, don't make people post "I bid" in the thread.

Proof of funds is an okay idea: the bidder sends the bid funds to a new address that they control. They sign an "I bid X on btctalk thread 12345" message with the funded address and PM you that message.

If the bids are private, losing bids should not be revealed at the end of the auction.

Ideally a silent auction thread should contain an OP, questions about the item, and a final price. Nothing more. FWIW this is essentially the same as a "checking interest" thread in practice.