Before you use Purse.io: A few things everyone should know

There seems to be quite a few threads singing the praises of Purse.io recently, along with the usual detractors screaming they're nothing but pure scam. As a long-time user of Purse (20+ purchases), I feel like people should know a few things before they decide to either jump in or stay away from it forever.

First the basics:

1. Yes, there are scammers on Purse. Quite a few of them, actually.

2. No, Purse is not all scam - the majority of its buyers aren't - and you can minimize your risk by knowing what you're doing.

What are those things one should know, you ask? Here are a few that I've gathered from my experience and the news/rumors.

1. As long as you're okay with just 5% discount, PurseInstant is generally safe. Purse.io becomes a real middleman here, ordering your stuff and buying your bitcoins, and assume all the risk. Do note, however, that the 5% might or might not be worth it if you come straight from fiat -> BTC -> Purse, as your fiat conversion can take a while, and BTC price fluctuations can be unpredictable.

2. The flagship paste-your-wishlist "exchange" is, of course, where the big discounts are at. First thing first, do not buy gift cards, you will get scammed. The reason: Gift cards are instant-transfer, it doesn't allow time for fraud detection: By the time Amazon/CC company detects fraud and revokes the gift card, your coins are already in someone else's hands. Shipping delays and shipping time is what makes fraud detection possible. I repeat, do not buy gift cards on Purse.

3. Cancellations happen, and it's not necessarily fraud. I've had a few people cancel because it turned out the item ships from Asia, and will take excessively long time to arrive (translation: will take a long time for them to get their coins). They were nice enough to tell me that, that's how I know.

4. Think like a purchaser. Think of what you've seen on Localbitcoins, and the kind of discount people are willing to give to get BTC. Do you really think anyone who's not a fraudster is going to give you a 50% discount for BTC? Be reasonable. I generally ask for 20% - pushing the limits but not improbable on LBC - and had no troubles getting my orders through at all.

5. Sometimes orders are cancelled because the other side was cancelled - and it looks like the other side was a scammer and got caught. That's okay, it's a good sign: the system works. Just put it up again, perhaps with a little less discount.

6. If you are really paranoid about black vans busting down your door (so far happened exactly once), ship to a public address. (office, receiving service etc.)

7. If you encounter an actual scammer who was somehow not caught in transit, was notified by Purse (perhaps for a return): Just follow instructions, relax, you'll be fine. That has not happened to me, but I did hear it happen to someone else. My impression is that it happens very rarely, but it doesn't hurt to know that exists.

What do I think about the scamming situation in Purse.io, personally? Craiglist is full of scammers, yet people use it everyday - and people are generally adviced to be savvy against scams. Purse is no different, and from what I see there are a lot less scammers on Purse than Craigslist.

If you're savvy enough to use Craigslist, you're savvy enough to use Purse. Know what you're doing, and you'll be fine.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to suggest additional points.

Submitted July 30, 2015 at 06:34AM by imaginary_username http://bit.ly/1MVtZjm