I am still not clear because in the explanation video I could see "Notice a part of the balance is now reserved as "Outgoing". This number will move with the BTC exchange rate, so be sure to have some extra in our account to accommodate volatility"
So my question before was due to a misunderstanding. It is not the buyer who assume the BTC/usd changes but the spender. Is this correct? Sorry for the questions but I am still a little confused. Perhaps is simpler than I see it. Is the spender assuming this volatility all the way until he/she receive the packet and mark it as received? I guess no but, why that indication in the video?
But the buyer will always consider volatility otherwise: The "buyer then purchases the products in the wishlist" with fiat at the price set at the moment the spender made the purchase (as you said, that is fixed). I am guessing buyer will only do so when there is an appreciation in the BTC price and this will result in many spenders purchase not being realized, would this be a possible outcome?
I wasn't clear before. There would be key points in time:
1. Spender places the order and the is asked to deposit BTC (ideally, a bit more than quoted price to accommodate fluctuations)
2. Buyer accepts the order and buys it from Amazon.
At this point, the rate/amount is locked at exactly what the outgoing quantity shows.3. Spender confirms shipment and the BTC moves from Spender to Buyer.
So, spender assumes exchange risk before the buyer buys the item, and buyer receives BTC at the rate he agreed to in step 2, won't have access to it until step 3 (usually 2 days later). It's similar to coinbase in that sense for the btc buyer, except he'd get it faster.
Could you also explain on the tax part of the price. Isn't it that already included in Amazon selling price? Sorry again because perhaps I do not know how it works. When I buy in amazon the price I pay is the one offered in the website. In the Amazon website for your example is 26.99 usd and the price after discount is 27.27 usd. Again, sorry because I may not be seeing something and that is way I came to this conclusion.
Amazon charges tax for certain states, listed here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=468512I would be spender myself but this could really spread fast here. I see great growth for your start up here in China where bitcoin is not accepted as a currency so purchases in btc are not allowed (other problem is that it seems BTC are more seen as long/short term investments rather than as currency). This is a good way to go over it! Problem still will be blocking the site by the government as it happens with many sites as youtube and I am seeing also many btc related places being blocked. I use vpn but many people do not have.
Yes I agree with everything, although we'd be flattered if China actually blocks Purse.IO. I spoke with several Chinese folks recently to ask about taobao, but apparently taobao doesn't have a wishlist. They said Amazon is #2 in China, so it'll definitely be a market to expand to soon. However, we're working on a few features that will make the service more attractive along with an affiliate program before expanding internationally.
In China on-line shopping is incredible popular. Even to buy the daily shopping people use the Internet. You can buy anything and the good thing is that the delivery takes very short time. Some pages even deliver the same day! Do you think there are ways to do the same with other on-line stores that do not have wishlist? Would it be possible to "put" BTC in the middle of purchasing transactions to reduce the price? Merchants are limited for BTC adoption due to regulation but if there would be a way for them to access it via ideas similar to purse.io then this will be a great push to BTC economy.
There are plans to add other stores, but it will come later. I'm unfamiliar with the Chinese e-commerce, so if you know any good sites with Amazon-like wishlists, let me know and we'll try to add it. If you'd send me an email at
kent@purse.io, I'll make sure to contact you when localizing the service for the Chinese market.
