[ANN] LocalBitcoins.com - a location-based bitcoin to cash marketplace

[spiccioli]

kangasbros,

- latest site does not keep user location, I mean, I go to "Buy Bitcoins", I enter my location, I go to "Sell Bitcoins" it does not remember my location. It does not remember my location when I return the next day... annoying.

- on some browser/platform when I login a white pop up window comes out... browser (mostly firefox) does not remember user credentials inside this popup... annoying.

- listed online sellers/buyers per country contain sellers/buyers from other countries than the one of the user, maybe there should be a checkbox to include them/exclude them, I mean, I could not be interested in buying/selling to someone from the other side of Europe when there is someone near me/which speaks my language.

My 2c

spiccioli

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[saddambitcoin]

I find it annoying that I can receive bad feedback from someone based simply on the fact they contacted me. 

[quantsig]

Kangasbros,

Is there any chance of publishing location/book data in JSON outside of page html?

Perhaps even something as simple as /country/city/book.json, even in lieu of a proper API.

It would help you guys directly in terms of caching and more importantly allow others such as us to begin utilizing local transaction data. Not to mention those of us who may be interested in running our own localized exchanges using localbitcoins.com for book and escrow services.

[2weiX]

also, this needs to be an android app.

[giszmo]

Would you be interested in supporting local meetings?
The deal would be that you get people to meet in bigger groups and connect that event with "localbitcoins.com".
For that I would like to put up an advertisement not for "MtGox+5% near the central station" but for "Meetup 27th of June at Higgins hotel in Viña". Of course at these meetups there would also be an exchange opportunity and again it would be exchanges that you would not get a share of, so again let me suggest to question your revenue model.
I would pay for each guest you get me to publicly join my bitcoin meetup (unless you get tons of fake accounts roaming your platform to use up my funds without anybody showing up)
I could imagine all users always getting invited to the closest (time and distance) 3 events and I could imagine paying 10ct. for each user that "joins" assuming 10% actually would show up. I would not run these meetups for profit but I guess some people would sponsor such fees. If this kind of per advertisement fees is still not acceptable for you, please still use your access to local users to push bitcoin events on a local level.
If anything, such a service would get your users use the site more than today.

[xmrk2]

Goal: to inform the advertiser how serious the contact's offer is, and to force contacts to provide this information

It could be useful if you had 2 buttons for each advertisment:
- buy/sell - binding
- and non-binding - "maybe I am interested"

The reason for the non-binding button is that sometimes people want to ask the advertiser e.g.  about possible payment methods, and only then decide whether they want/can trade. (like "do you accept paypal?" ) In this non-binding mode, you have button to enter binding mode - this would fix the price, place BTC in escrow if applicable, and both parties would be reasonably sure that they want the trade. Also, there could be automatic negative feedback if the user enters binding mode and then cancels. And it seems reasonable to enforce non-binding mode for new users , and/or ask them questions "do you really want to enter binding mode?"

To sum up:
- newbie can only enter non-binding mode, then click to enter binding mode, then receive warning
- others can do both non-binding and binding mode directly, without warning

[giszmo]

oh, wow, 1 week without replies

[Yurock]

Feature proposal: discuss/non-binding mode

Currently, the only binding situation is when bitcoins are in escrow. In other situations any party can cancel the deal at any time. So, by default, contacts are non-binding. What is missing is a possibility of contacting the advertiser before fixing the amount and the price.

[mrkent]

I'm sorry to say that I've had a foul experience with using this service.  

Many sellers don't respond. For those who do respond:

- When the exchange rate moves unfavourably for sellers (say I buy at $60 and they're now worth $90), they'll ask me to pay "current market prices" even if I had clicked on the Buy button just a few hours ago and tried to arrange a meeting right away. (As you know, Bitcoin has sharp price movements these days.) Or they'll just click on Cancel Transaction without communicating with you, because they don't want to sell for below market value.

- When the exchange rates moves favourably for sellers (say I buy at $120 and they're now worth $90), they'll ask me to pay the price that was shown when I clicked Buy on the site.

the vast majority of them do not have escrow enabled, so it's impossible to pay for them immediately.

What they should be doing is accounting for the volatility in the prices they charge.

Other sellers don't even have the advertised Bitcoins on hand; they take orders and then buy them from Gox/BTCE/et al and charge a commission on top of the brokerage fees. They should state this in their ads.

I think the site would do better with a rule that requires sellers to honor the price they post, for at least 24 hours on weekends and 48 hours on work days. And I think buyers should be allowed to leave negative feedback for any transaction, not just escrow-enabled ones.

Otherwise, there's really not much of an incentive to use this service. With the slight inconvenience of opening a brokerage account, I get
- prices that correspond to current market rates, without the delay of setting up in-person meetings and exchange rate fluctuations
- don't have to pay commissions on top of brokerage fees (for the sellers who don't carry inventory)
- can buy/sell from the comfort of my home computer, without having to travel to an agreed location to do the transaction
- no risk of getting mugged
- no risk of dealing with poor customer service

Pick the guys with -otc records, like me

[justusranvier]

I found a bug in the site's definition of "near":

[molecular]

I found a bug in the site's definition of "near":

The definition of "near" is probably "closer than the 6th-closest one". Makes sense, better than displaying an empty list, isn't it?

[jbis1]

It would very convenient if Javascript wasn't required to create an ad. When one tries to submit the form, it says that Javascript is required for the location.

[herzmeister]

This service rocks. It has the potential to become big once it's polished a bit.

[DONE]. Congratulations! Great service. Could probably make a living with using it if I really wanted to.

Now we have changed the name of the escrow feature to "LocalBitcoins Transaction" or just "Transaction" where the connection is obvious. We changed the name because it is not actually escrow service by the traditional definition, no disputes or resolution services.

Other definitions:

"Transaction verify code": this is generated for the buyer. When the seller shows this code to the buyer, buyer can be 100% that funds have been released. The buyer should check that the code shown by the seller matches the code shown by localbitcoins.com
"Transaction release code": the seller can release the escrow by sending this code to the number +16466994674 . This releases the funds to the buyer, and the seller should receive the verify code promptly, which he/she can show to the buyer.

The benefits of the service are:

- No internet connection needed - only one SMS-enabled phone required to make the transaction on the spot
- Quick process - the buyer does neet any devices, just memorize/write down the transaction verify code
- Allows the users to gain reputation via confirmed trades. If users use this service, we have a way to confirm that trade actually happened.

The LocalBitcoins Transaction service is not enforced in any way. You are free to create any kind of deal with the customer, use smartphone clients, laptops, whatever. We just recommend to use the transaction feature when the customer requests it - it should make the process much easier for the buyer.

Edit: and sorry about the confusion/hassle caused by the name.

"Transaction" is also a term that has already been reserved by the Bitcoin system itself unfortunately.

I always have trouble explaining folks that there is something like an escrow which actually isn't but used to be termed that way on that site but now isn't anymore and it's not the same escrow for online trading etc...

So I lately use the term "mediation" or "mediation process" or "transaction mediation process". It's the least ambiguous.  

[spiccioli]

Hi kangasbros,

I'd like to point out a few annoyances:

- site does not remember location, sometime it requests to access my location, sometime I have to type where I live

- right now, inside "Buy bitcoins online in Italy" my offer at 90 EUR/BTC is not shown, but I see an offer at 94 EUR/BTC by topelius, why?

- if I search all online offers in Italy I see just a couple and I don't see mine

- if then I click "seach by payment method"/"PostePay" I don't get any, but I get a couple of PayPal ones ?


Apart from these problems, your site rocks and I really like it.

Thanks!

spiccioli.

[justusranvier]

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1gnahc/using_localbitcoinscom_to_help_grow_bitcoin/

[bitcats]

What about the feedback confirmation issue?

[2weiX]

got this transaction unconfirmed for a couple of days now: https://blockchain.info/tx/8b8ba1cde6fdae0886c6f6a0b22d3850087713d4694806c6ca6f038c8cbb96f3

sent from my localbitcoins wallet.

is there a way I can douple spend those WTH FEE to make the trx go through?

[coqui33]

Where can I find a complete list and explanations of the parameters that I can put into my pricing formulas? For example, what does "USD_24h" mean? 24-hr moving avg of gox? If so, what is the 24-hr moving avg of cbx?

[julz]

- site does not remember location, sometime it requests to access my location, sometime I have to type where I live

Yeah - the autodetection of location is not very useful. It guesses my location as being on the other side of the continent. Thousands of km away.
I don't use a VPN or anything fancy - but I guess some IP address geodata database has some bad entries.

I'd much prefer just to be able to type in a location and have it remember it.

[giszmo]

- site does not remember location, sometime it requests to access my location, sometime I have to type where I live

Yeah - the autodetection of location is not very useful. It guesses my location as being on the other side of the continent. Thousands of km away.
I don't use a VPN or anything fancy - but I guess some IP address geodata database has some bad entries.

I'd much prefer just to be able to type in a location and have it remember it.

Yes, pliis.