Do you guys use OpenBazaar?

[hautch]

Hey everyone! First time posting here. Lately I've become interested in studying bitcoin marketplaces, and have been looking at some use cases. I'm sure some of you have heard of OpenBazaar, but I would like to know how many people who post around here use their platform, and if not, why not?

I haven't used it and don't plan on doing so. I think they focus too much on privacy and anonymity, which is obviously of interest to a lot of people in the Bitcoin community, but with the growing increase of the currency doesn't really appeal to what you might now call the "average user". People who just want to buy/sell stuff for some BTC mostly don't want to download software to do so.

What are your thoughts? What would an ideal bitcoin marketplace look like to you?

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[CreatePrivateServer]

I've tried a few days ago and I don't really like it.

I find it troublesome and there are no sales.

[FlatTime]

When i first tried to use it it involved downloading things and it was a barrier to entry.  It does need to be as simple as ebay/amazon to get buyers/sellers.

[Nathan047]

Simply put: It’s a haven for illegal activity and drugs.

It’s decentralized and anonymous, and since most consumers consider it’s system less attractive then “normal” markets the only people who will use it are those who need the anonymity because they’re doing something illegal. From there it only becomes a downward spiral of illegal activity.


PS: So in case it wasn't as obvious as I thought it was: no I haven't used OpenBazaar and don't plan to.

Edit: I thought the dark net markets each used a their own version of OpenBazaar (or something along those lines). I now realize how stupid I sounded.

Whoops. I was thinking that most of the dark net markets used OpenBazaar. I have read up a bit more and now I realize that my entire post above is wrong.

If OpenBazaar does become used and isn’t mainly drugs then I might check it out at some point, although I probably will only end up using it because I think that the principal of a decentralized market is a neat idea.

[1Referee]

Nope. People want simplicity and usability in form of a direct web-interface, and for that reason won't go through the 'hassle' of downloading a piece of software that the average person isn't familiar with. If you didn't brought OpenBazaar to my attention by creating this thread, it wouldn't have come up in my mind at all, and that while I'm quite active in here. People who end up making use of this platform either do it because of them looking to obtain a certain form of privacy, or because of them not looking to be dependent on a central authority for principle reasons. In both cases these people know what they are searching for, and know that these alternatives are available, which doesn't really apply to the average person.

[gentlemand]

I've downloaded it a few times. I couldn't find anything directly. Using a search portal thing most of the listings on there looked completely dead.

So that's a no.

I'm very surprised all dark markets haven't migrated straight to it either directly or with a fork. That's where it makes most sense.

Simply put: It’s a haven for illegal activity and drugs.

Not yet. But it will be.

Right now it's the test bed for fans of decentralisation. There don't appear to be very many of them.

The principle is very sound but just as most people are happy with their debit card, most will stick with Ebay or Amazon.

[Joel_Jantsen]

Hey everyone! First time posting here. Lately I've become interested in studying bitcoin marketplaces, and have been looking at some use cases. I'm sure some of you have heard of OpenBazaar, but I would like to know how many people who post around here use their platform, and if not, why not?

OpenBaazar is dead,long ago.It was thing on this forum when it was initially launched but downloading a huge piece of software which takes forever to open and shut down is a big no for us.

I haven't used it and don't plan on doing so. I think they focus too much on privacy and anonymity, which is obviously of interest to a lot of people in the Bitcoin community, but with the growing increase of the currency doesn't really appeal to what you might now call the "average user". People who just want to buy/sell stuff for some BTC mostly don't want to download software to do so.

We love anonymity.I personally like market places which are not controlled by the authority.If you don't want that,you may stick to amazon and Ebay.

What are your thoughts? What would an ideal bitcoin marketplace look like to you?

SilkRoad,except the guns and all the other disastrous things,their concept remains quite game changing.Mike paved a way for bitcoins.

[truthstalker]

I browse there occasionally to see what people are selling and if there are any good deals there. But I tend to find the best deals here at this forum and with the option of using the most trusted escrows around.

[hautch]

I've been brainstorming how to take the correct approach when it comes to developing a good bitcoin marketplace website. People like to make things overly complicated and I believe simplicity is key. In order to make it appealing to most people, building it on top of Tor won't do it. There's just no way your marketplace won't be associated to a dark market.

Another obvious issue is that, while there is a lot of incentive to sell things for bitcoin, buyers mostly aren't willing to spend it. There has to be an incentive, and I believe with a price correction (there is way too much hype right now) that might just happen.

Some might say there is no real necessity for a proper bitcoin marketplace right now. While I partly agree with that, it bugs me quite a little that most of these negotiations take place either here on on reddit.

[yambub]

What are your thoughts? What would an ideal bitcoin marketplace look like to you?

hi, OpenBazaar is pretty good already if you consider that it works fundamentally differently to any existing or past online marketplace. It had to be designed from scratch and the team did an amazing job so far. There is nobody 'in charge', its a truly free marketplace. Because all transactions are recorded on the blockchain, you can see the record of any seller and see what other buyers have said about their experience.

It is not designed for people who don't care about freedom and privacy. Designing yet another system that sits in between buyers and sellers would be a total waste of time anyway, that market is saturated already. Cryptocurrencies open up many new possibilities that just can't be done with the cumbersome and parasitic banker currencies, via a big impersonal corporation and those possibilities (primarily the ability to buy and sell online directly, person to person like humans have done throughout time) are what open bazaar is designed to facilitate.

I've been using it since the alpha versions in testing. Even then I was impressed by how stable it was. The latest version is even better. It's the easiest store set up I have come across; much easier than ebay, for example (though that's not difficult to achieve!).

Where OB really excels is in how easy it is to buy or sell stuff, no need to involve banks nor give a cut of the profit to anyone. You don't have to wait for the banks to pay you, the payment is direct to you.

What most people don't seem to get is that OB doesn't belong to anyone. It's a fully distributed network that anyone can use, without having to get someone's permission first. A website could not provide that. Once the network is in use, there's nothing to stop someone creating a web interface to it, or any other kind of interface. It's open source and the possibilities are endless.

Sadly, most people don't seem to care about things like that any more. It seems most are dubious about using something that "might be associated with criminals" or something...  even though no criminals will benefit from you buying a crate of wine on OB. and yet they have no problem actively supporting a scumbag like Bezos! It amazes and baffles me.

As Bruce Lee once said, “Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light.”

I am really happy that OB exists. It's early days yet but I'll use it and promote it as much as I can because it offers a ray of light for the future and for the preservation of freedom generally.

[Nathan047]

...

Simply put: It’s a haven for illegal activity and drugs.

Not yet. But it will be.

Right now it's the test bed for fans of decentralisation. There don't appear to be very many of them.

The principle is very sound but just as most people are happy with their debit card, most will stick with Ebay or Amazon.

Whoops. I was thinking that most of the dark net markets used OpenBazaar. I have read up a bit more and now I realize that my entire post above is wrong.

If OpenBazaar does become used and isn’t mainly drugs then I might check it out at some point, although I probably will only end up using it because I think that the principal of a decentralized market is a neat idea.

[bribed]

I once installed OpenBazaar because I think the idea of a decentralized peer to peer marketplace is great, but I didnt found much stuff being sold on there. This was about half a year ago, did the volume on there change and many people use it already? If it becomes more used I would check it out again.

[gentlemand]

Whoops. I was thinking that most of the dark net markets used OpenBazaar. I have read up a bit more and now I realize that my entire post above is wrong.

If OpenBazaar does become used and isn’t mainly drugs then I might check it out at some point, although I probably will only end up using it because I think that the principal of a decentralized market is a neat idea.

What does it matter what anyone else is using it for? That's like uninstalling Chrome because you heard someone was looking at interior designs that you didn't like.

It'll be used by everyone for their own purposes with zero overlap or comebacks.

[Nathan047]

What does it matter what anyone else is using it for? That's like uninstalling Chrome because you heard someone was looking at interior designs that you didn't like.
...

Because:

A) I don’t want to end up on a bunch of government watch lists and/or get into trouble for anything along the lines of possession of illegal drugs/weapons or wire fraud.

-And-

B) If it were to become a haven for illegal drugs then that will probably end up being the sole use of the market, which I do not use.

[bribed]

I understand your concerns, but I guess as you are using crypto and are active in this forum, you are already on some government watchlists, only fools would believe something different. But I agree, you are not yet on lists along with the kind of stuff you mentioned, only on the "bad bad cryptocurrency user and therfore potential criminal" list
Just joking, each one his own! I think openBazaar is a great tool for the free market, but of course only if used the right way and by the right people.