Charlie Sheen

Scarcely Lethal Noob
I recently made a purchase with (cYs) Del Piero and was asked to use this Skial Middleman in the process. The first issue i ran into was trying to use a mtgox.com "code". It's just an hassle linking up all these different things just to add money onto my mtgox account so i could create this code. I ended up giving up not wanting to go through all these things when my already made paypal account could do the same thing with greater ease on my part. I can't really comment on the actual use, functionality or security of this "bot" but just setting everything up become a chore more then a simple business transaction. Just wanted to comment on this process since its still in beta as far as i can tell and was asked for some feedback on the process.
 
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Bottiger

Administrator
Thanks for the feedback. I know that it is more of a hassle to use than Paypal, but nothing can be done about it since everyone has a Paypal account already. But this system has really good benefits over Paypal.

Is it worth losing all your money due to a single scammer, or having your name and address sent out to random people all over the Internet just because you wanted the transaction to be instant?

This is why you should use Skial Middleman.
  • Paypal is subject to payment reversal. If you are paid with an account that happens to be stolen or the user files a charge-back on their credit card, Paypal will remove the money from your account to cover the loss even if you already traded your $1000 unusual.
  • Your name and address is private from the other party unlike Paypal.
  • No need to gamble that a certain middleman is trustworthy or hasn't had their account stolen.
  • No need to wait for a middleman to wake up when both you and your customer are awake.
  • The bot will be online 24/7 and have your items available for sale 24/7.
 
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(cYs) Del Piero

Notably Dangerous Demo-Knight
Contributor
Since I do a lot of cash trades and I always encourage the buyers to try Skial Middleman Beta I thought I'll write an experience reprot about it.

Most of the buyers tried using it but gave up because it got too complicated. In other words they set up their mtgox account but when it came to the point where they had to add funds it got very complicated.
My european buyers just don't have an option to add funds (unless they verify their account by sending a copy of their ID to mtgox so for a fast trade that's not an option)
The majority of the American buyers did not want to set up another account (after just signed up for mtgox). So lots of new accounts and many steps for a short transactions.
The rest either thought it's too much work before even creating mtgox or they did not trust the system.

Since I bought buds from Roman with Skial Middleman I can say that it works well if you manage to get funds onto your account. But exactly that is extremely complicated and challenging.

Every time I've guided a person through all the steps they give up. It's frustrating.

I personally don't see Skial Middleman succeed unless the payment options can be changed somehow. Also none of the buyers had a mtgox account when they wanted to trade. Maybe mtgox is not the most known service platform.

If any of you used Skial Middleman feel free to write your experience report. I doubt it will differ much..
 

Samuel92

Somewhat Threatening Sniper
Agreed. the process is very complicated. Adding funds for me was quite a horror. TBH I'd rather risk it and base my trust on the seller's rep and pay via Paypal than to go through with the hassle. Hopefully this process simplifies soon so that more people would be able to trade with more confidence.
 
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Bottiger

Administrator
I don't think anything useful will come from people complaining about the payment process being too complicated. I can't make mtgox or any other payment process get money any easier. Much of this is restricted by financial laws.

The money needs to exist on the bot in order for the middleman to work safely. If we accept Paypal, we are opening ourselves up chargeback. I understand the problem with European buyers getting money in, but there should not be a problem with US buyers getting money in. The signup with Dwolla is as easy as registering a bank account in Paypal.

It is expected to take more work than using Paypal, otherwise everyone would've stopped using Paypal already. The sellers need to push for more buyers to use this because it saves them from losing everything in a Paypal chargeback.

Unfortunately it seems like no seller is going to worry about this until it happens to them personally.
 

(cYs) Del Piero

Notably Dangerous Demo-Knight
Contributor
The sellers need to push for more buyers to use this because it saves them from losing everything in a Paypal chargeback.

I don't know how the few sellers who offer Skial Middleman as payment option should push this when the majority doesn't. If I were to change all my sales to Skial Middleman I would have no buyers at the moment. Would that be my fault? No; because I can't force the buyer to use the payment option I prefer if he can buy the same product on the same website with less work with the payment option he prefers, PayPal.
If all the US buyers I know of thought it's too much work to use Dwolla then what can the seller do? Either you don't sell and don't make money or you take the risk of getting chargebacked but make money.


Unfortunately it seems like no seller is going to worry about this until it happens to them personally.
It's wrong to generalize that no seller worry's about this. I can't speak for other but I do worry about getting scammed sooner or latter with a chargeback.
 

Bottiger

Administrator
I'm not saying you should solely sell on Skial Middleman. Well actually you should with expensive items.

But this is the problem with any Paypal competitor, it is not going to be as convenient as possible. If you get a chargeback on an expensive item, you could lose all the profit you built up over the months.

If people are going to be too lazy to even register for Dwolla, then they need a little persuasion. Once they get past the 2 minutes needed for a sign-up, it is easy.
 
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Aerelyte

Scarcely Lethal Noob
The seller has to be willing to work with the buyer, and the buyer has to be competent. Del Piero has been very reasonable with me. I set up my mt.gox account, i then discovered PAXUM EFFING SUCKS, dont ever use paxum lol but dwolla has worked out nice. It took two days to get my dwolla account set up because of the verification process. Honestly only impatient buyers/sellers should have a huge issue with this. I like the security the bot adds, personally. Everything makes sense and once the money is in your account, you are golden. Only thing is, you probably wont be getting anywhere with this method if you arent good at being patient and reading thoroughly. Sellers that sell high dollar items and dont use this system... well, i dont think they are taking the wisest of courses.
 
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