[HAVELOCK] Mintspare (MS) Bitcoin Electronic Trade-in Service - Official Thread

[MintSpare]

Sean Geng is our main developer, who has been working on the MintSpare's site for over two months now. He will be directly contributing to this thread, providing insight on where we currently stand in development, future progress, and providing feedback to any questions or concerns the community may have. Since he's the main developer, he'll be able to better inform the public on the technical standing of the site. His bitcointalk handle is 'blackswan'.

[blackswan]

Hey guys!

I'm the lead developer on the MintSpare project.  I've worked on various projects in the Bitcoin space before in the past, some of you might remember my exchange live trading tracker Kryptotrader.

To give you all a status of the site so far, I've been working with the team over the last couple months and I'm very happy with the progress we've made.

- Products and their offer prices have been uploaded to our database
- Device selection is complete (Being able to narrow down your device similar to how Gazelle does it)
- 2FA and SSL encryption has been incorporated
- All sensitive user data is encrypted in our database
- User accounts and user dashboard is complete
- Employee backend is nearly complete (we recently completed the ability to scan in received items, among other things)
- Shipping label generation is complete
- Most of the UI is complete, but this will be one of the last things to finish (functionality first!)
- Referral program is receiving finishing touches
- Email system is complete

Overall, the current development of the site is looking good, and as I've said, we've been working and planning this for a few months now.  Our hard deadline of February 1st for our Beta launch is looking very obtainable.

Feel free to ask me about any questions relating to the development.  

[twentyseventy]

Do you have a contingency plan or additional funds in case the 150BTC for setup costs has been exhausted in January and February revenues are deficient? Can you assure investors that you will not dip into the 350BTC reserved for equipment purchases?

The January projections for marketing are an error on our part. We thank you for pointing this out but believe we’re unable to correct this misstep. Only around March 1st, our expected official launch, would we start investing in marketing. Since the marketing funds will be spent alongside incoming revenue and profit, we’ll be able to constantly adjust angles for optimum ROI. With that said, we have no reason to believe that we will need to dip into our 350 BTC reserve.

We hope this was helpful in alleviating your concerns.

I appreciate the answer, and the first two concerns have been as adequately addressed as possible. I'm now even more confused about the revenue projections, however.

The service is going to go live in March now, instead of January? And, even if you take out the 35 BTC January Marketing spend, you'll still be spending 25-30BTC in February for overhead, which will be putting you on the brink again.

And, again, you guys really need to cut out the marketing speak. I get it - I can read it and understand it. Others may not be able to, however.

This:

Since the marketing funds will be spent alongside incoming revenue and profit, we’ll be able to constantly adjust angles for optimum ROI.

might be more simply said as 'The marketing budget will be separate from revenues, so we can adjust it up or down as necessary'. However, I do still see some issues here, as I expect you to have to spend more than 50BTC on marketing to pull in sales of 300-400BTC in your first month or two.

Plus, is this just the first time that you're notifying shareholders that March 1 is now your launch date? I don't see that anywhere in the prospectus.

[brakoo]

I find the idea good and I'm happy to see that more and more business are coming to spread the bitcoin all over the world.
However, from the investor's perspective, I would not invest in this venture for the simple reason that the web portal isn't available.
You claim that it will be ready on Feb 1st. I would have recommend you to make your beta public available before announcing any IPO.

Good luck with your business, and pay attention to the logistic point, it might be hard to manage if you're successful.

Regards.

[Bobsurplus]

SCAM



IF YOU INVEST IN THIS YOU WILL SURELY LOSE YOUR MONEY!

[MintSpare]

Here are pictures of our office/warehouse space located in Miami, FL.

https://i.imgur.com/mGkn2SZ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wvQjqlc.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/LzOSyBj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/z6LnYut.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/G0GvQhS.jpg

[Bobsurplus]

Here are pictures of our office/warehouse space located in Miami, FL.

LMAO, 1 desk and a scrony long haired dude, yet you think your worth 2.5mill..


HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

[Vod]

Didn't bother to read entire thread, because OP is investing 0% of funds, but taking 80% of assets.   

If you invest, just remember your $1 will instantly become $0.20

[Bobsurplus]

Didn't bother to read entire thread, because OP is investing 0% of funds, but taking 80% of assets.   

If you invest, just remember your $1 will instantly become $0.20

+1

[Korbman]

[...]
Expenses will be reduced. Since all MintSpare expenses are being paid in US dollars, having the value of bitcoin rise would require less bitcoins to pay for expenses.
[...]

Following up to this statement, are initial expenses (salaries, rent, utilities, web/graphic design, etc) paid using investors' Bitcoins (converted to USD)?

[malevolent]

You're not the first to come with a similar idea and so far it doesn't seem like you are providing anything to justify the $2.5M valuation, I think you should reconsider your numbers.

[zevtiefenbach]

it would probably be prudent (and give you guys some credibility) if you took the feedback from this board, delayed your IPO and re-considered the terms of your prospectus. in the meantime, you could roll out a (revised) business plan, build some value in your project and gain a bit of practical experience running the company that you are proposing.

this would give any potential investor a lot more confidence in your product, your ability to deliver the service, and the projections that you have laid out.

doing this would really take advantage of what can be beautiful about these forums and this community which is the ability to foster feedback from a grassroots investor base.

going ahead with the IPO anyway would be a pretty clear indicator of the long-term viability of the project . . . and a clue to any potential investor . . . to stay clear!

[twentyseventy]

Well, IPO day has come and gone with about 20,000 shares sold. I'm doubting that the next six weeks are going to see an additional 30,000 sold to reach the self-imposed minimum limit of 50,000 to call the IPO a success.

It's a bit too early to call it a flop but I hope that, if/when this IPO fails, the company will realize the folly of its ways and come back with a less one-sided public offering.

[zevtiefenbach]

Well, IPO day has come and gone with about 20,000 shares sold. I'm doubting that the next six weeks are going to see an additional 30,000 sold to reach the self-imposed minimum limit of 50,000 to call the IPO a success.

i was wondering about that 6 week window too. the prospectus says that if they don't get the 50,000 shares sold in the 6 weeks they will return all BTC. does that mean that in the interim they won't be spending cash? that would really alter their expense (and revenue!) profile for January/February that they enclosed in the prospectus. is it possible that they will spend it anyway and not refund IPO investors? 

anyway, i gotta say that anyway you slice it approximately $70,000 in gross sales for February doesn't seem too likely nor does $350,000 for March for that matter.

i think on top of everything else, the prospectus hasn't really been thought through and doesn't make sense.

i wonder if they'll answer me on these questions:

1) What are the current revenue/expense projections for January/February?
2) If you don't raise the full IPO amount, how will this change your spending projections?

[Thumper650]

Well, IPO day has come and gone with about 20,000 shares sold. I'm doubting that the next six weeks are going to see an additional 30,000 sold to reach the self-imposed minimum limit of 50,000 to call the IPO a success.

It's a bit too early to call it a flop but I hope that, if/when this IPO fails, the company will realize the folly of its ways and come back with a less one-sided public offering.

Lol, if 20k shares have really been sold, and the d00d has any scratch/connections, he'll buy the remaining 30k himself.  Profit.

[twentyseventy]

Well, IPO day has come and gone with about 20,000 shares sold. I'm doubting that the next six weeks are going to see an additional 30,000 sold to reach the self-imposed minimum limit of 50,000 to call the IPO a success.

It's a bit too early to call it a flop but I hope that, if/when this IPO fails, the company will realize the folly of its ways and come back with a less one-sided public offering.

Lol, if 20k shares have really been sold, and the d00d has any scratch/connections, he'll buy the remaining 30k himself.  Profit.

The company/founders weren't willing to put up any capital before the IPO, why would they now? Also, if you buy 30,000 shares so that the company can acquire 20,000 shares, that's not a net gain.

[Thumper650]

Well, IPO day has come and gone with about 20,000 shares sold. I'm doubting that the next six weeks are going to see an additional 30,000 sold to reach the self-imposed minimum limit of 50,000 to call the IPO a success.

It's a bit too early to call it a flop but I hope that, if/when this IPO fails, the company will realize the folly of its ways and come back with a less one-sided public offering.

Lol, if 20k shares have really been sold, and the d00d has any scratch/connections, he'll buy the remaining 30k himself.  Profit.

The company/founders weren't willing to put up any capital before the IPO, why would they now? Also, if you buy 30,000 shares so that the company can acquire 20,000 shares, that's not a net gain.

You're forgetting that "the founders" will get both the coin spent on the 20k shares, and the coin they have "invested" by buying the 30k shares.  Minus the Havelock fees, of course.
That's a net gain.

*Think of it like this:
1. If 50k pennies are in the pot, you win the pot.
2. Other players have anted up 20k pennies.
3. You add 30k pennies to the pot, and rake it in.
4. Profit.  Since you won the pot, you get to take back the money you threw in.  Minus the house edge (Havelock)

[twentyseventy]

Well, IPO day has come and gone with about 20,000 shares sold. I'm doubting that the next six weeks are going to see an additional 30,000 sold to reach the self-imposed minimum limit of 50,000 to call the IPO a success.

It's a bit too early to call it a flop but I hope that, if/when this IPO fails, the company will realize the folly of its ways and come back with a less one-sided public offering.

Lol, if 20k shares have really been sold, and the d00d has any scratch/connections, he'll buy the remaining 30k himself.  Profit.

The company/founders weren't willing to put up any capital before the IPO, why would they now? Also, if you buy 30,000 shares so that the company can acquire 20,000 shares, that's not a net gain.

You're forgetting that "the founders" will get both the coin spent on the 20k shares, and the coin they have "invested" by buying the 30k shares.  Minus the Havelock fees, of course.
That's a net gain.

*Think of it like this:
1. If 50k pennies are in the pot, you win the pot.
2. Other players have anted up 20k pennies.
3. You add 30k pennies to the pot, and rake it in.
4. Profit.  Since you won the pot, you get to take back the money you threw in.  Minus the house edge (Havelock)

You're correct, they would just have to borrow the funds for 30,000 shares.

[zevtiefenbach]

You're correct, they would just have to borrow the funds for 30,000 shares.

effectively they would need to borrow $150,000 to scoop up the $100,000 sitting on the table.

they would then be able to try and liquidate the 30,000 floating stock that they hold to recuperate the $50,000 difference. but of course, there's not going to be much volume on the stock and trying to sell 60 % of the available float won't work too well.

however if a few more suckers put their money into this IPO and the ratio changes . . . say needing $100,000 to scoop the $150,000 sitting on the table. . . . now that's gotta be their wet dream . . .

[WillShill4BTC]

op need a hand?

William T. Shiller III