Comment by mt_

5 hours ago

Four critique points:

- Who wants to drive across town to inspect a €50 item for a small fee (we can draw comparison to Uber Eats like platforms fees economies)?

- Can a random broker validate a luxury watch? Do we need another blockchain tech for broker validator skill reputation?

- Physical validation adds days to trades, in online economy, the faster the merrier

- Fees might price out low-value items

Let's see how this plays out.

5 comments

mt_

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kalenvale  5 hours ago

Thanks for the critique! Here’s a breakdown of the points raised:

-Who wants to drive across town to inspect a €50 item? The focus is on mid to high-value, preferably niche items. Lower-value goods often don’t justify the costs involved in driving and the time spent on validation.

-Can a random broker validate a luxury watch? Not all brokers have the necessary expertise to validate every item, especially luxury goods. The proposal is to enhance the current system by assigning brokers based on item categories. This specialization will be particularly effective when there are enough brokers for specific categories, such as watches.

- Physical validation adds days to trades. While physical validation can slow things down, brokers who fail to validate effectively will phase out over time, ensuring that only those with the right expertise remain. It should be economically infeasible to accept assignment, where you have no expertise. This approach aims to streamline the validation process.

-Fees might price out low-value items. Focusing on mid to high-value items helps avoid the issue of fees pricing out lower-value goods.

Additionally, this idea is designed to integrate into existing niches where validation matters significantly, like trading cards, electronics, watches, and sneakers. Numerous businesses already specialize in validating these items and have the necessary expertise to navigate legal requirements.

  • dleeftink  4 hours ago

    > ensuring that only those with the right expertise remain

    How will this ensure waning/gaining expertise is accurately represented/fostered? Wouldn't you rather attract a steady-stream of experts indefinitely?

    • kalenvale  3 hours ago

      In practice, anyone with sufficient funds can become a broker. The pseudo-random selection process means that the probability of Broker A being chosen to audit or inspect an item is positive. If Broker A accepts and validates an item they are unfamiliar with, regardless of its actual validity, the likelihood of a dispute arising increases. Since Broker A lacks knowledge about the item, proving their case becomes challenging, potentially resulting in financial losses. Over time, this situation should lead to a pool of brokers with expertise. Consequently, the system is likely to attract a continuous stream of experts, as expertise will prove itself financially advantageous.

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