Hey everyone,
I may have unnecessarily overcomplicated this project. Since its usable now, I'm just releasing it and would appreciate some community feedback!
http://www.stuffpoints.com/
What is StuffPoints.com?
StuffPoints main purpose is to let users buy/sell their stuff (dvds,videogames,electronics) for virtual currency. We 'escrow' users currencys (Second Life Linden, Bitcoins) in our local non-cash trading points. This locks the currency into an already agreed upon rate. 100StuffPoints=1 Dollar trading/bartering power, backed by the ability to buy on Amazon
Basic explanation is you can buy users items/shop@Amazon with BTC, and sell items for BTC. BTC is escrowed so you can ship out the item with confidence that the payment is held for you.
What Can I do at StuffPoints.com?
-Purchase new stuff from Amazon.com with BTC. Search for items with the link below. When you find a product you want, just click on Purchase with BTC and it will give you the total price and payment information. Send your BTC, receive an email confirmation when your BTCs are received, and your order is processed by us through Amazon.com US only, free shipping at the moment.
http://www.stuffpoints.com/browse-new/
-Sell your Stuff
List items you have from dvds, to video games, to electronics. Users make offers on your items with their payments escrowed. Accept an offer, ship the product to the user (with delivery confirmation), and upon the buyer receiving your item, you receive Points on the site (convertible to BTC).
-Buy Users stuff
Convert your BTC to our non-cash trading currency StuffPoints. With the StuffPoints you can then make offers on users stuff. Your points get saved when they agree to the offer, and they ship your item. Once you confirm receipt, your StuffPoints get released to them and they can then convert the StuffPoints to BTC. Cant find anything on the site? Convert your StuffPoints back to BTC, or buy from Amazon.com at the fixed rate 100StuffPoints = $1 Dollar.
[I'm planning on adding the ability to buy users items directly with BTC, only on items being sold with a 'Buy Now Price'. That way we can escrow your BTC, and get them to ship out the item without you having to convert into our trading currency.]
How are StuffPoints created?
-I'm putting StuffPoints into the site by offering them in exchange for Second Life Lindens and BTC. (like any user on StuffPoints can do if they have StuffPoints) I regularly buy $Lindens, and am starting to buy BTC to supply my rewards site. So instead of buying from SecondLife directly, or BTC from the exchange, I'm pumping the $$ into StuffPoints. By letting users cashout their StuffPoints directly for Amazon.com merchandise, I'm ensuring their non-cash trading power. 100 StuffPoints = $1 Dollar on Amazon.com
-I have a sponsored offer section where users can complete offers like signing up to netflix, in return for StuffPoints. Advertisers have compensated me around $50 so far, which resulted into 50,000 StuffPoints being dolled out to those users. The current users on the site are from SecondLife.
The more people use the site, the more StuffPoints will just exist and be used to facilitate all the transactions as a middleman trading currency.
How exactly do users cashout, from StuffPoints -> Bitcoins?
When you have StuffPoints on the site, you can offer them for Bitcoins and pick your rate. For instance BTC0.05 / SP100. This would be 1BTC for 20,000 StuffPoints ($20 trading power). When you offer your stuffpoints, they get locked on the site. And when a user wants StuffPoints, they can pay you the BTC and you release the StuffPoints through our stepbystep trading system. Also in the event of a user purchasing an item from Amazon.com, they would send you the exact amount of BTC for the item. Upon receiving you would confirm, and their order would proceed (taking your StuffPoints). On their end, their purchase goes through like a normal checkout, and they do not realize their BTC is escrowed through a user cashing out. This is just to make the Amazon.com (or future stores) purchasing as easy as possible.
What happens in the event of a dispute?
There is a feedback system on the site so when selling your own stuff for instance, you can pick and choose who you sell to based on their previous positive feedback. Sellers are encouraged to get delivery confirmation to prove delivery.
When sending/receiving BTC, public keys are saved for the trade, and we would look at the public records to verify a trade actually happened if a user is claiming they did not get BTC.
Why a middleman trading currency (StuffPoints) instead of direct buying/selling?
-Easier to lock currency in at an agreed upon rate. So if BTC exchange rates change during a transaction, no one is affected.
-I do not want to hold BTC/Linden or any future virtual currency the site deals with.
Current Fee Structure
-No fees on virtual currency trades.
-No fees on selling/buying stuff from users.
-$1 fee when purchasing items from Amazon.com $1 goes to reward users who refer friends who list their items & make a trade.
