Does anyone else do this?

[Speaker]

I'm trying to figure out if there's any cons to doing this.

Buy Bitcoin on btc-e
Sell on mtgox

It'll probably take an hour or so for each transaction but it'll always be a huge price difference. Why don't we do this?

[yatsey87]

I'm trying to figure out if there's any cons to doing this.

Buy Bitcoin on btc-e
Sell on mtgox

It'll probably take an hour or so for each transaction but it'll always be a huge price difference. Why don't we do this?

People do do that. It's called shorting coins.

[Speaker]

I'm trying to figure out if there's any cons to doing this.

Buy Bitcoin on btc-e
Sell on mtgox

It'll probably take an hour or so for each transaction but it'll always be a huge price difference. Why don't we do this?

People do do that. It's called shorting coins.

Okay then. Gonna start now with maybe 30$ and see how far I get today.

[batoelrob]

Trading on different sites can be very profitable, especially the bter-site differs often a lot from other sites.

[bglshimo]

Yes, it is profitable.

Short coins and earn profit.

[elmsreol]

How are these market inefficiencies not being exploited in large enough volume to even out the prices? Does this mean the floor for making a trade is that high? What am I missing...

[odolvlobo]

Buy Bitcoin on btc-e
Sell on mtgox

This is an old idea. There have been dozens of threads talking about it. In short, prices are higher on Mt. Gox because it takes months to withdraw dollars. Prices are lower on BTC-e because it is difficult (and costly) to deposit dollars.

People do do that. It's called shorting coins.

It is not called "shorting coins". It is called "arbitrage". Shorting an asset means to borrow and sell it, and then later buy it back and return it. Being short in the commodities market means to own a contract to sell.  "Arbitrage" means to take advantage of discrepancies in value.

Yes, it is profitable.

This particular instance of arbitrage is not profitable because of the reasons above. If it were, thousands of people would already be doing it and there would be very little price discrepancy. If you have way to get around those problems then you can make a lot of money.

[Speaker]

Well its fine if I can't withdraw USD from it for now. I'm basically doing this until I'm able to get a shit ton of smaller alt coins.

[hilariousandco]

I'm trying to figure out if there's any cons to doing this.

Buy Bitcoin on btc-e
Sell on mtgox

It'll probably take an hour or so for each transaction but it'll always be a huge price difference. Why don't we do this?

People do do that. It's called shorting coins.

Okay then. Gonna start now with maybe 30$ and see how far I get today.

Highflyer.

People do do that. It's called shorting coins.

It is not called "shorting coins". It is called "arbitrage". Shorting an asset means to borrow and sell it, and then later buy it back and return it. Being short in the commodities market means to own a contract to sell.  "Arbitrage" means to take advantage of discrepancies in value.

Yes, it is profitable.

This particular instance of arbitrage is not profitable because of the reasons above. If it were, thousands of people would already be doing it and there would be very little price discrepancy. If you have way to get around those problems then you can make a lot of money.

It can be quite profitable, but I'd suggest finding other exchanges or sources to deal with. People can make a decent wage out of full time currency arbitrage.

[odolvlobo]

Well its fine if I can't withdraw USD from it for now. I'm basically doing this until I'm able to get a shit ton of smaller alt coins.

Right now BTC-e is $693 and Mt. Gox is $775. So, you buy on BTC-e and you sell on Mt. Gox. Then you try to withdraw it and it takes 4 months.

Now, what do you think the chances are that the price on BTC-e will rise to over $775 in that 4 months? I think the chances are quite high. It seems like it would be more profitable to just hold the BTC for 4 months rather than have the cash tied up in Mt. Gox.

[akaCash]

For the same reasons odolvlobo just listed, you won't be very successful in this. It's not impossible and you could wind up making a little profit but for the headaches it could cause it's just not worth it, or as said above, everyone would be doing it.

[Speaker]

Oh shit, it takes all that time to withdraw the cash from Mtgox? Okay yeah this idea is totally stupid. I'm good.

[n00b3rt]

Not only the time wasted, but it's also a risky strategy considering fees/bank taxes, some of us who don't use popular currencies that are supported by mtgox and the likes have to pay a money exchange tax as well.

I've also seen a couple of times when mtgox did not hold the highest price for a btc - which is easy to spot if you check the prices from this page : http://markets.blockchain.info/?currency=USD&exchange=mtgox

[BitcoinBobbeh]

Oh shit, it takes all that time to withdraw the cash from Mtgox? Okay yeah this idea is totally stupid. I'm good.

Gox is notorious for this and believe me, they have lived up to the reputation in my experience. I joined this forum because I prefer Peer2Peer trades.