BlockRun.com - Bitcoin Auctions

[grue]

it's pretty much a scam.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_auction

at the best, it's gambling

[NielDLR]

Good implementation! Especially the signing part there. Clever use of the Bitcoin protocol.

I'm a little bit bummed that you don't ship to other countries (South African currently living Taiwan, so both are out of the question).

[dipsy]

Thanks Niel! We will look at those countries and see if we can ship in future.

@Grue
How is it a scam? We offer a prize to the winner, and either make a profit or loss on the auction.
All bids are in the blockchain and everyone plays by the same rules of the blocks counting down..

Another Nexus 4 Auction will be ending soon;
http://www.blockrun.com/auctions/lg-google-nexus-4-16gb-1

[Mitchell]

My bet on the Nexus isn't visible, but it has conformations: http://blockchain.info/tx/a0cce40535884477a3107b11ceb66d5a0d24b494433c16c9260f3cc95ee3c147
I bet 0.014BTC, so it's higher then the one from that other guy.

EDIT: Nvm. it has been handeld.

[dipsy]

Thanks for bidding 

Occasionally our blocks fall behind on the auction page. However, if it is confirmed on the chain, the site will process all the blocks as they come and the same rules apply; we are simply looking whether transactions (bids) are in blocks or not.

[dogie]

The problem with this is that either the collective bidders make money, or you do. Neither is sustainable.

[dipsy]

The winner makes money, as long as their cumulative bids do not add up to more than the price of the product.
We make money if all the bids add up to more than the price of the product. Otherwise we make a loss, which is fine.
Losers lose their bids in order to subsidise a cheap prize for the winners.

It is completely sustainable if we make more profits on all auctions than losses; in the long-run we hope this to be the case but are also happy to cover any losses.

[dogie]

The winner makes money, as long as their cumulative bids do not add up to more than the price of the product.
We make money if all the bids add up to more than the price of the product. Otherwise we make a loss, which is fine.
Losers lose their bids in order to subsidise a cheap prize for the winners.

It is completely sustainable if we make more profits on all auctions than losses; in the long-run we hope this to be the case but are also happy to cover any losses.

ONE winner makes money. The other bidders get NOTHING for the money they put in.

[Mitchell]

The winner makes money, as long as their cumulative bids do not add up to more than the price of the product.
We make money if all the bids add up to more than the price of the product. Otherwise we make a loss, which is fine.
Losers lose their bids in order to subsidise a cheap prize for the winners.

It is completely sustainable if we make more profits on all auctions than losses; in the long-run we hope this to be the case but are also happy to cover any losses.

ONE winner makes money. The other bidders get NOTHING for the money they put in.

That is exactly what he said.

[dipsy]

That's a reasonable request, we will look to add unsubscribe. At present, you are only subscribed to an auction until it ends, but understand you may want to unsubscribe before then.

A couple of more auctions ending soon and we'll then be done for today:

http://www.blockrun.com/auctions/lg-google-nexus-4-16gb-1
http://www.blockrun.com/auctions/1-bitcoin-2

[Vod]

That's a reasonable request, we will look to add unsubscribe. At present, you are only subscribed to an auction until it ends, but understand you may want to unsubscribe before then.

A couple of more auctions ending soon and we'll then be done for today:

http://www.blockrun.com/auctions/lg-google-nexus-4-16gb-1
http://www.blockrun.com/auctions/1-bitcoin-2

Like others have said, you are probably out bidding so you don't have to lose money.  No way to tell!

Until you can prove its fair, I suggest everyone stay away from this site.   

[dogie]

The winner makes money, as long as their cumulative bids do not add up to more than the price of the product.
We make money if all the bids add up to more than the price of the product. Otherwise we make a loss, which is fine.
Losers lose their bids in order to subsidise a cheap prize for the winners.

It is completely sustainable if we make more profits on all auctions than losses; in the long-run we hope this to be the case but are also happy to cover any losses.

ONE winner makes money. The other bidders get NOTHING for the money they put in.

That is exactly what he said.

What proves my exact point that the whole business model is unsustainable.

[dipsy]

What proves my exact point that the whole business model is unsustainable.

Not sure how this proves it is unsustainable as a business model. We either make a profit or loss on each auction.. if we are losing too much money, we will just stop creating new auctions and shut up shop.

Like others have said, you are probably out bidding so you don't have to lose money.  No way to tell!

Until you can prove its fair, I suggest everyone stay away from this site.   

As I mentioned on the other thread;

I understand why you may think we would bid up, but this would be stupid as it would quickly become apparent that nobody ever wins. Why go to the bother of building a site & game mechanic on top of the protocol just to scam people out of a few coins? We hope that it will be profitable in the long-term and make more than a few coins. We will also be releasing more bitcoin projects, so I see my reputation as far more important than a few coins...

Hopefully someone off here will win soon and provide a little reassurance to everyone else.

[Vod]

We will also be releasing more bitcoin projects, so I see my reputation as far more important than a few coins...

Dude, you have no reputation on here.  You might scam all you can on this site, then move on to your next project under a new user ID.  It happens all the time.

I'm just warning people to stay away until you prove it's fair.  And I believe that is fair.  

[dipsy]

Would it help to state who I am?

This is me:
https://twitter.com/dabrowne

This is where I was at the weekend:
https://twitter.com/DaBrowne/status/336233607276404737

[Vod]

Would it help to state who I am?

This is me:
https://twitter.com/dabrowne

This is where I was at the weekend:
https://twitter.com/DaBrowne/status/336233607276404737

Nice to meet you!

I'm Peter Griffen.

http://www.petergriffen.com/

 

[Mitchell]

Today at 21:21:55
Well, I think you are scamming at blockrun by pausing auctions.

One hour ago I bet for the 1BTC and it still says that it is waiting for 3 blocks. Which, by now, should have passed.
It didn't took that long on the Nexus, so this smells kinda fishy.


Today at 21:30:05
And now, suddenly, a bet appeared. Very strange.

[dipsy]

Today at 21:21:55
Well, I think you are scamming at blockrun by pausing auctions.

One hour ago I bet for the 1BTC and it still says that it is waiting for 3 blocks. Which, by now, should have passed.
It didn't took that long on the Nexus, so this smells kinda fishy.


Today at 21:30:05
And now, suddenly, a bet appeared. Very strange.

Apologies, occasionally our blocks fall behind as we are using an external API that falls behind. One we get the blocks, they are processed and the page updates. It doesn't make a difference to the auction as transactions are either in a block on the chain or not. It just means the page may occasionally be out of sync.
We are working on switching to our own infrastructure so that the page is never behind

[pstudart]

I placed a bid of .1 but it did not go through, it was on this auction http://www.blockrun.com/auctions/1-bitcoin-3 my wallet is begins with f0591

How long does it take for it to be refunded?

[dipsy]

I placed a bid of .1 but it did not go through, it was on this auction http://www.blockrun.com/auctions/1-bitcoin-3 my wallet is begins with f0591

How long does it take for it to be refunded?

As far as I can see there were no other bids to the address after the auction closed:
http://blockchain.info/address/1Run24CHfzsS8xX1HS4MX21zcear6hsEd