Whether for business or regular p2p transactions, there are no fees so long as the transaction value is equal to or greater than
BTC.1 (in which case, I'd like a pre-paid
BTC.01 tip). Tips are appreciated but neither required or expected. Escrow is not provided by any establishment, service is guaranteed by nobody, and funds are not insured. However, I have a long history on this forum and in providing escrow, with
over BTC1.3k in public transactions held to date.
Arbitration in case of dispute is provided freely but is non-binding. I'll suggest what should happen, but will not necessarily enforce it. If either party disagrees with what I suggest, they're welcome to either renegotiate between themselves or go to a proper arbitrator or court to hash it out in a more formal setting. I'll continue holding funds until a binding decision is made. The only time funds may be sent without permission by both parties is when one party logs a dispute where they've upheld their end of the bargain and the other party is non-responsive for at least 14 days from the time the dispute is logged and I contact them or in extreme cases where I have absolutely no doubt the other party would win in court and that the ruling would be just.
What is escrow?Escrow agents hold funds until certain conditions, defined and agreed to by the buyer and seller, are met. Escrow is used to ensure the buyer has the funds to pay and the seller sends the goods or renders the service as described. Escrow is most commonly used in the US for real estate, but is also used with some online stores (PayPal, for instance, acts as a kind of escrow provider) and in informal gambling.
What's included?Coin control. When coins are sent to an escrow address, they stay in that address until funds are released or refunded. You can always check Blockchain to ensure your funds are where they sent them, safe and sound.
Pre-made forms. If you choose to use them, I can generate a form for your specific agreement (or use my
default one) which covers many things you may not think of. For general users, it's recommended you use a pre-made form to prevent vague, difficult-to-enforce agreements.
Dead man switch. If I die and am survived by my partner, she has instructions on how to proceed. Specifically, she's to ask which escrow provider you'd both like your transaction transferred to, pay any applicable fees, then send the coin and original contract to the new provider.
Attention to detail in dispute resolution. See previous non-binding ruling
here. In other cases, I've emailed and called various companies to ensure stories check out, whether they speak English, Mandarin, or Swedish. I recognize both the financial and reputation-related harm which'd come to me if I made an inappropriate ruling.
Available on requestMultisig. Provided through
Casascius' Bitcoin Address Utility, multisig escrow is a little more labor-intensive for everyone involved, but provides insurance against me running off. Provided freely.
Man-in-the-Middle. I will allow items to be shipped to me for inspection and testing (if hardware) prior to shipping to the buyer. This strongly protects the seller from a buyer claiming he didn't receive what was advertised or that it was DoA. This is often cost-prohibitive as I require my shipping costs to be pre-paid along with an extra mandatory fee of $15 equivalent in crypto or cash for my time.
PGP-encrypted communications. Available at request and free. I do not handle illegal goods.
Private transactions. By default, all transactions are logged in my Google spreadsheet for the sake of transparency and somewhat for advertising. If you'd prefer I not do that, just ask -- no skin off my bones.
As long as both the buyer and seller recognize risks associated with non-tangible goods (especially possibility seller can reclaim accounts), I'm now willing to accept escrow contracts for non-tangibles like domain names or MMO accounts. I will, however, refuse to handle any transaction involving pre-selling or "investments," with very few exceptions. Giveaways and bets (within reason -- no 200-person 1ksat giveaways, please!) also accepted. Currency exchanges are fine, but I will not hold online fiat (PPUSD, PerfectMoney, etc) -- cash would be okay in the strange situation where that'd make sense.
PM,
email,
Skype. I may take up to ~18h to respond and have a varying time I'm online. Calling is available in case of emergencies (see GoogleDoc, first link in this post).
