Hi all.
I've been slowly working, over the past few months, on what I like to call a "Craig's List for sound money". I think I am finally ready to tell the world about it, though I know many important features are still missing; I need some real users to keep me motivated.
I plan to soon reach out to all of the libertarian/alt-currency websites and et al. that I know of, but before I get too much traffic, I want to make sure the basics are in place and functioning properly. So, I'd like to ask the members of the Mises Community, here, to help me out.
Here's a link to the site: http://www.murrayslist.org/
Please consider posting any things you were looking to sell and any services you might care to offer. I would love to hear what you think, and I'd especially like to know if you come across any bugs or issues you consider to be show-stoppers. I realize there are many obvious features missing -- such as photo uploading, interfaces for easily converting between USD and gold/silver prices, and better site navigation -- but I hope that it is at least usable at a bare-minimum level already.
Also, if you have any suggestions for promoting the site, that'd be great as well. I have already begun creating a list of liberty-oriented websites, mailing lists, and the like, but I'm sure there are hundreds I haven't considered.
You should consider using these guys like a Paypal in gold. And you should add a link to your site containing theirs (after asking permission of course). Or you should use somebody else if you can find a better service. But I think you need an easy low cost reliable payment system.
Neat concept.
Stephen: You should consider using these guys like a Paypal in gold.
You should consider using these guys like a Paypal in gold.
Indeed, I have an account on GoldMoney.com and I assumed this would be a common method for making transactions. In general I planned on having a policy of "letting the market decide", though I will probably add something about, e.g., GoldMoney.com in the FAQ... I have been in contact with GoldMoney.com, and it sounds like there may be a possibility of some mutual linking.
Another thing I am really interested in working on is an "open, decentralized payment-routing system". Specifically, I'd love to get Ripple working as it's intended to. That would allow a very low barrier-to-entry; people could get started without even needing to posses any physical metal -- they'd just need to have some credit granted by friends or other trusted parties. Hopefully pioneering users would even be willing to grant a little credit to strangers to "grease the wheels"...
But generally, I'd like to allow the parties involved to decide how payment will be made for each transaction, though I can see optional integration likely in the future.
Are you up to speed on the legal implications of this?
"I cannot prove, but am prepared to affirm, that if you take care of clarity in reasoning, most good causes will take care of themselves, while some bad ones are taken care of as a matter of course." -Anthony de Jasay
Solid_Choke: Are you up to speed on the legal implications of this?
Well, presumably it is perfectly legal (according to the relevant monopoly governments that presume rule over any given place in the US, at least) for two people to voluntarily exchange goods for other goods and/or services. I assumed there are tax implications (considering the exchange to be "barter"), but I think I would be both wasting a lot of my time and potentially risking giving out incorrect advice if I were to try to understand and display the relevant tax implications and law for people in every region that might possibly use the site...
What do you think?
Hmmmm...
I thought this was going to be a movie about a guy who saved the free market ideas from the libertarian holocaust that was the 1950's.
Murray: The Schindler of Libertarians.
Where I come from, the women don't glow, but the men definitely plunder.
Solid_Choke:Are you up to speed on the legal implications of this?
I can't really speak for the OP, but this has potential to become microsecession at its finest. JustAHappyKid, I'd recommend registering your domain through a proxy (preferably extranational) for anonymity. Similar solutions for the web hosting itself would probably be a good idea. Even if it's 100% legal now, the government hates sound money.
Edit: By the way, BullionVault has a free, live gold and silver price chart (see also customizing the gold chart).
Life and reality are neither logical nor illogical; they are simply given. But logic is the only tool available to man for the comprehension of both.—Ludwig von Mises
Life and reality are neither logical nor illogical; they are simply given. But logic is the only tool available to man for the comprehension of both.
Legally speaking the site doesn't do anythign bad. Technically you can alrady do this on craigslist. Legally speaking the site just brings people together, how they trade is up to them. The site does not do anything criminal. The traders must report their income on taxes. It's not the site's fault if they do not.
Though it would be naive to assume that the site would not be a political target.
Perhaps host it out of country?