LBC/Why verified

Why you're here
This article is targeted at someone who is participating in an ongoing Bitcoin trade on LocalBitcoins. If you've found it by some other means then it might not have the right context for it to make any sense to you.

You've most likely received a link to this article because you're currently in a Bitcoin trade with me on LocalBitcoins, I've pointed out to you that the trade is not acceptable to me because of your lack of a verified real name, and you are objecting to my insistence on a verified real name.

Please cancel the trade
First things first, if you haven't already done so, please cancel the trade. By this point there is no way it's going to happen, so cancelling it would be the polite thing to do.

If you feel there is more to say then you can say it, but please cancel the trade first. Cancelling the trade doesn't prevent us from communicating further, and in fact I'll be much more likely to do so if you have been polite enough to cancel this doomed trade.

Don't open trades with me unless you accept my conditions
Secondly, I shouldn't have to explain myself. My trading instructions clearly state that I will not trade with users who do not have a verified real name, and that should be enough. If you don't agree with that policy then simply trade with someone else!

The most common reasons that we got to this point are that either you opened the trade without reading the instructions, or you didn't understand LocalBitcoins' real names policy and mistakenly thought that your real name was verified. You have to admit that that was your mistake and not something I should have to spend time explaining to you for no benefit to myself.

However, in the interests of salvaging something from this, hopefully if I do explain this then you'll be more willing to sort out getting your real name verified and we can have successful trades at a later date.

Risks to me as a seller
Bitcoin transactions are not reversible, but UK bank transfers are reversible.

If you pay me by bank transfer and then tell your bank that your online banking was compromised and the transaction was unauthorised, they will most likely convince my bank to take the money away from me and give it back to your bank who gives it back to you. So I will lose both the Bitcoins and the money. Worse still, my bank is very likely to close my account.

I have lost two bank accounts so far in my career as a seller of Bitcoins. Each time I have been forced to increase my security requirements. I don't want to have to do that. I'd love to be selling my Bitcoins to anyone that wants to buy them. But it's because of bad people that we can't have nice things.

I now insist upon a verified real name because it means that:


 * You have traded with at least one other person.
 * That trade had a favourable outcome.
 * You chose what your real name would be and your payment to them came from an account in that name.
 * Your real name is now fixed on the site.

Together with the other requirements, this makes me far more comfortable in my belief that you are a genuine buyer who is not going to later cry fraud.

"How am I supposed to get my real name verified when no one will trade with me until it's verified?"
You'll most likely find that there are traders who will trade with an unverified real name, it's just that they're further down the list (worse prices). I suggest that you do a small trade with one of these and specifically ask them to mark your name as verified.

If you've already done some trades but no one has marked your name as verified then you could go back into your released contacts, find a trade you did in the past and message the trader asking them to mark you as verified. You can still message people you traded with in the past.

"I'll show you a scan of my passport / driving licence / other ID!"
Thank you, but no. The trade is not going to happen. There will be other traders who will be happy to trade with a buyer without verified real name who will show ID, and I am happy to give these traders the business. Please cancel the trade.

From my point of view, even if you do show me some identity documentation, once you've sent me the money I have to give you the Bitcoins. Then if you report it as fraud my copy of your identity documentation is worthless to me. No one is going to hunt you down for me and extract my money, and I probably still lost my bank account.

"But I've done plenty of trades no problem!"
I appreciate this, but requiring a real name is a firm policy with me. Please cancel the trade.

LocalBitcoins accounts do get compromised from time to time, but having a name that I can match to a name on a bank transfer helps me to believe that I am trading with the person who legitimately owns both the LBC account and the bank account, not someone who perhaps has compromised both an LBC account and someone else's online banking.

"That's just shifting the burden of verifying my name onto other traders!"
Correct. That's why they're charging you more.

I do verify the names I trade with though, so that provides additional assurance that the name remains the same.