Is it expected that most of the goods and services sold on OpenBazaar will be illegal, as is the situation with Tor and I2P?
If it's completely decentralised, presumably there is nothing to stop that?
What incentives are there for legitimate business to sell on OpenBazaar, as opposed to remaining on 'traditional' web channels (e.g. their own websites, Amazon).
It is not expected that most goods will be illegal, we anticipate that it will be reflective of society at large - mostly legal with a small proportion doing illicit things.
> What incentives are there for legitimate business to sell on OpenBazaar, as opposed to remaining on 'traditional' web channels (e.g. their own websites, Amazon).
Traditional marketplaces take a cut of the transactions, and monitor the data of their users. A decentralized marketplace has no middleman to take a cut or monitor the data. It's removing an intermediary entirely; trade is directly between the buyer and seller (with a voluntarily chosen third party, if they so chose).
According to the website there is a web of trust to establish reputation and you can set up voting pools whose members are those you trust. So it is based on buyer feedback.
Most trades have a buyer, a seller, and a third party arbiter. When an agreement is made the bitcoin goes into something like escrow. Any two of the three parties together can release the money. In a normal trade, when the buyer receives the product he OKs the transaction and the bitcoin is released to the seller. If the product is not delivered or isn't what was promised the buyer can appeal to the arbiter. The arbiter settles the dispute. The arbiter can also release the funds if the buyer fails to OK the transaction
I don't think an arbiter is strictly required so if a big name company enters the market you can probably avoid paying an arbiter. Generally though, in a ebay like situation you'll probably need to pick a trust worthy arbiter and pay them accordingly.
If it's completely decentralised, presumably there is nothing to stop that?
What incentives are there for legitimate business to sell on OpenBazaar, as opposed to remaining on 'traditional' web channels (e.g. their own websites, Amazon).