Country: USA
Year: 2016
Concept
- OpenBazaar is an open-source, decentralised marketplace where users can buy and sell products using Bitcoin
- As OpenBazaar is decentralised, the platform does not operate like most typical e-commerce sites. Instead, users download a copy of OpenBazaar onto their computers (decentralised) where they can browse, buy and sell products
- The platform removes the middleman with their restrictions and fees, allowing users to directly carry out transactions with the other party
- In order to avoid transactions fees incurred by PayPal or card transactions, OpenBazaar uses Bitcoin – the only payment method currently accepted on the site
- Like any other peer-to-peer marketplace, trust between buyer and seller is crucial. Buyers can opt to use a peer-voted trusted moderator, who witnesses the transaction and creates a multi-signature account between the three parties. Two of the three parties are required to agree before any money can be moved
- Users are welcome to suggest and contribute to new code and ideas through the developer resource page
- OpenBazaar also operates a Slack room for users to ask questions or get a node up and running
Consumer Benefits
- Private: users can reveal as much or as little personal information as they choose
- Free: no membership or transaction fees. However in the case of a dispute, users who use moderators are warned that they may pay third parties; although these are not forced to charge fees, nor are users forced to use moderators
- Secure: escrow system for Bitcoin payments (multi-signature)
- Evolving: marketplace based on user contributions and cod
How To Use
Creating an account:
- Users download a copy of OpenBazaar (available on Windows, OS X and Linux)
- When running the programme, users are asked a couple of onboarding questions such as language, country and preferred currency
- Users then create their own profile page with a theme and avatar before reading a disclaimer agreement
- Each Openbazaar page has a long string of characters. These can be customised (handles) to create a shorter and memorisable page name
- Users are free to browse OpenBazaar. By default, the NSFW filter is turned on, removing any NSFW items listed by vendors. If needed, users may switch this off
- Favourite vendors can be starred and stored for later
Buying an item:
- After choosing an item to buy, the user enters an address and checks if the vendor ships to their country
- Users are asked if they already have a Bitcoin wallet and can easily set one up in a matter of minutes if they don’t
- Two payment methods are offered:
- Direct payment – where the buyer pays the vendor directly
- Moderated payment – where the buyer sends the money into an escrow account, witnessed by a moderator, which is released once the transaction is finished
- Users can find information about trustworthy moderators on the OpenBazaar moderator forum (Reddit)
- A QR code is shown which can be scanned (mobile Bitcoin wallet) or opened on another page for a local wallet (examples shown below)
Illustration
An example of how OpenBazaar trade cycle differs to that of Amazon or eBay:
Browsing on OpenBazaar (middle) and an example of transaction (bottom)