[ANN] Purse.io - Bitcoin Amazon Marketplace - Save ~10-25% on Amazon Wishlist

[mrkent]

Purse - Spend BTC, Save money

Video: https://vimeo.com/134665223

Purseis a marketplace that connects bitcoin "Shoppers" and bitcoin "Earners" by leveraging Amazon wishlists. By creating a platform for Buyers to easily, safely, anonymously, and quickly purchase bitcoins, the Spender gains wide selection of Amazon merchandise at BELOW FIAT prices.

Front page


E.g. 21 Bitcoin Computer - $380 instead of $400

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[mrkent]

reserved

[b!z]

Excellent site. Good luck with your service.

[DoctorBTC]

I'm starting to like this idea... but here are a few questions that might need to be addressed...

Is the BTC buyer's info known to the spender when they buy something from the wishlist and have it shipped to the spender? On the invoice with the package?

What about product returns, defective merchandise or simple dissatisfaction?  I could see the return/dispute thing being a real pain for the BTC buyer.

How would you deal with 'unresponsive BTC spenders'? The BTC should be released to the buyer after a certain amount of time by default, don't you think?

So with reviews you can deal with trusted spenders/buyers... would the market be able to adjust for risk, like better prices for trusted members?

Overall I look forward to seeing where this goes!

[mrkent]

Great questions. I just contacted Amazon support to get very detailed answers on some of these questions.

Is the BTC buyer's info known to the spender when they buy something from the wishlist and have it shipped to the spender? On the invoice with the package?

No. Packages that were fulfilled by Amazon no longer comes with an invoice or packing list. Only when the Buyer selects the "This item will be a gift" option will then the invoice be included. The invoice will contain the buyers name and billing address, so it's highly advised against doing so. Note that it is unchecked by default so this can be completely disregarded.

What about product returns, defective merchandise or simple dissatisfaction?  I could see the return/dispute thing being a real pain for the BTC buyer.

Actually, all the returns/refunds can be handled solely by the spender (receiver of wishlist items). The buyer needs not to take any part in it. The invoice is meant to speed up the process, but is in fact unnecessary. Buyer can provide the order number as a courtesy, but even that is unnecessary. Amazon will be able to look up the information by what I assume to be tracking number or address only. If the spender opts for a refund, a gift card balance will be applied to his account. However this only applies to Amazon fulfilled items. The buyer will still have to handle it for 3rd party merchants.

How would you deal with 'unresponsive BTC spenders'? The BTC should be released to the buyer after a certain amount of time by default, don't you think?

Short answer: Yes
Long answer: We have features on the road-map such as text messaging updates that will hopefully reduce irresponsiveness/laziness. A final decision on such policies will depend on user suggestions and behavior. Incentives can also be set up to encourage users to responsive and responsible.

So with reviews you can deal with trusted spenders/buyers... would the market be able to adjust for risk, like better prices for trusted members?

Overall I look forward to seeing where this goes!

The incentive mentioned above can also include fee/discount bonuses for those who help create a smooth experience for everyone. We have many ideas on how we can handle this, but again will be one of those things that'll heavily be based on user feedback and how the marketplace develops. A possible route is offering value added options such as "trade only with well rated partners" that can directly go to the other party for their history of good trading practices. Obviously, because of the nature of these transactions, you cannot expect the same consistency that you'd get from directly dealing with Amazon, but we recognize how critical it is to be as close as possible to that experience.

Thanks for your questions and looking forward to your feedback during beta testing.

[termhn]

This sounds really cool. If I need to buy something off amazon I will definitely be trying this. Thanks OP!

[zkoynz]

I have my first impression of the site.  It is quite simple and easy to move through.
(1) I expect the homepage will change in the future to be a bit more interactive and engaging because i hit the home button ALL the time on webpages. But it serves it purpose right now.

(2) The user tab is nice. I like how it is just my name in the corner. I like how it provides me with my account info right off the bat. All BTC values, USD conversion, and rating. I'm sure "feedback" will be clickable and allow me to see all corresponding users, comments, and ratings broken down in a useful format.
 -With regards to the "invite friends" tab, I would make it an "Affiliates" tab. "Invite friends" can nest under that, as well as, various other links like facebook or twitter, or advertisement code and rates. etc.
-I really appreciate transaction history having its own space. Some very respected and mature BTC sites either have this important info hidden or dont provide it at all. Like BTCJam.com.
-My final critique today has to do with the lack of some sort of order book. I do like the search capability of specifying what amount I am willing to facilitate, but I wish I could view ALL open orders at once.

[zkoynz]

Q's from OP
    1. What kind of interaction did you expect on the home page?
    2. Affiliate program will probably be added once I can think of a good pay structure.
    3. Why would you want to view all orders at once? I want to avoid that as it would be more prone to people falsely     claiming they purchased too many items.

[btcton]

Sounds like a neat service! Definitely going to use it.

2. Bitcoin Buyers shares with GBSB how much BTC he wants to buy. GBSB returns him several similarly valued options to choose from. Buyer then purchases the products in the wishlist and selecting the Spender's hidden ship-to address (known only to Amazon).

What do you mean by "hidden?"

[mrkent]

What do you mean by "hidden?"

That the buyer will not know the spender's real shipping address. Only the city and state will be revealed to the buyer.

[tim-tams]

I put a spend order in a few days ago. It told me how much BTC to deposit, but now it says insufficient balance in the "Pending Spend Orders" section of my account page. Any thoughts?

Also, just wondering, have we had any complete orders yet?

[mrkent]

I put a spend order in a few days ago. It told me how much BTC to deposit, but now it says insufficient balance in the "Pending Spend Orders" section of my account page. Any thoughts?

Also, just wondering, have we had any complete orders yet?

Strange. The final price is set at the time the buyer confirms the purchase. I would recommend spenders to deposit ~10% more than the stated price to account for fluctuations in exchange rate. But the exchange rate has gone up in the past few days. I'll look into the problem.

No, unfortunately, there hasn't been any complete orders yet. The price grabbing function is actually a bit broken on the beta site (while new features are tested).

[mrkent]

Okay, just checked. The situation with your order is that the balance you have in your account is just short of the price of the wishlist. This is the exact type of stuff we're trying to test for to work out the kinks. I think you might actually just be able to cancel it and reorder.

Another annoying thing is that the price of Amazon items actually fluctuate too.

[tim-tams]

Okay, just checked. The situation with your order is that the balance you have in your account is just short of the price of the wishlist. This is the exact type of stuff we're trying to test for to work out the kinks. I think you might actually just be able to cancel it and reorder.

Another annoying thing is that the price of Amazon items actually fluctuate too.

Sounds good, will do. I'll cancel the order, retry, and let you know how it goes.

[tim-tams]

Okay, just checked. The situation with your order is that the balance you have in your account is just short of the price of the wishlist. This is the exact type of stuff we're trying to test for to work out the kinks. I think you might actually just be able to cancel it and reorder.

Another annoying thing is that the price of Amazon items actually fluctuate too.

Sounds good, will do. I'll cancel the order, retry, and let you know how it goes.

I retried, same issue, "Insufficient Balance," even though the order is worth BTC0.07781298 and I have BTC0.08324137 in my account. Thoughts?

You could round to the nearest mBTC or something to help avoid minor price fluctuations causing issues.

[mrkent]

Okay, just checked. The situation with your order is that the balance you have in your account is just short of the price of the wishlist. This is the exact type of stuff we're trying to test for to work out the kinks. I think you might actually just be able to cancel it and reorder.

Another annoying thing is that the price of Amazon items actually fluctuate too.

Sounds good, will do. I'll cancel the order, retry, and let you know how it goes.

I retried, same issue, "Insufficient Balance," even though the order is worth BTC0.07781298 and I have BTC0.08324137 in my account. Thoughts?

You could round to the nearest mBTC or something to help avoid minor price fluctuations causing issues.

Hey tim-tams, I just looked into it. Not sure what it was before, but your balance ~1 hr ago was right below the total price of the purchase. Tax is actually calculated into the total, which might be the reason for confusion. I have been meaning to put in a recommendation of funding 10% more than then value of the wishlist to account for fluctuations in btc price. I believe it's now back on the orderbook since btc price went up.

[mrkent]

Tim-tams wrote a review on GBSB: http://www.youmeandbtc.com/2013/10/getbspendb-review.html

New features added
1. Quick checkout for buyer
Now buyers shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to check out
Add all items to cart button (will be one click regardless # of items)
Timer to prevent squatting when buyer didn't actually make the purchase.
https://i.imgur.com/olln6sP.png
2. 2 Factor authentication
https://i.imgur.com/pkoAVZ7.png

If anyone else would like to try out beta, please contact me.

[tim-tams]

I placed another order, this time for an external disk drive. I need someone to accept it so I can watch the extended edition of The Hobbit when it comes out in about a week

[Hfleer]

How will the discount be decided for the party that spend Bitcoin to receive items after Beta?

[Hfleer]

Because merchants benefits form near zero transaction costs of bitcoin and zero fraud risk, the reputable and competitive merchant must reduce the price (about 5%) on items paid in bitcoin. Given the hassle and cost of acquiring bitcoins, zero premium is still an uneconomic choice for the consumer. This lack of economic benefit is the sole barrier preventing bitcoin from becoming the glorious currency it should be. We aim to keep the fee low enough so that it's always cheaper for Spenders to replaced spent coins from exchanges in order to create a deep market for Buyers.
 

By fee do you mean the discount the Spenders get off retail cost of item?  When you say Merchant must reduce price on items paid in bitcoin, since the actual Amazon Merchants will be receiving cash from the Buyer, do you mean the discount will come from the amount of Bitcoin the Buyer receives?