Introduction on trading Monero
Overview of the trading process
A typical trade on LocalMonero works like this, the example is an online sell trade where you're selling Monero to a buyer. The process is similar when you are buying Monero online, but for this example we're focusing on selling Monero, as that's the most common type of trade. First you need to deposit Monero to your LocalMonero wallet. Then, you need to create a sell Monero online advertisement (called an online sell advertisement). When making the advertisement you choose a payment method, set your pricing, your limits and write your terms of the trade as a free form message. You need to have XMR in your LocalMonero arbitration bond wallet in order for customers to be able to open trade requests from your advertisements.
When a buyer opens a trade with you, XMR for the full amount of the trade is automatically reserved from your wallet. Give the buyer payment instructions and guide the buyer through paying for the trade. You will receive email notifications when someone replies to your advertisement.
Once the buyer has paid and pressed the I have paid button you will receive a notification via e-mail and on the website that a trade has been paid for.
When you've confirmed that you have received the payment it's time for you to finalize the trade. After the trade is finalized and settled, the buyer will have the XMR in their settlement wallet.
The final step is to leave feedback for the buyer and encourage the buyer to do the same for you. Feedback is important in order to gain reputation and make more trades.
When a buyer opens a trade with you, XMR for the full amount of the trade is automatically reserved from your wallet. Give the buyer payment instructions and guide the buyer through paying for the trade. You will receive email notifications when someone replies to your advertisement.
Once the buyer has paid and pressed the I have paid button you will receive a notification via e-mail and on the website that a trade has been paid for.
When you've confirmed that you have received the payment it's time for you to finalize the trade. After the trade is finalized and settled, the buyer will have the XMR in their settlement wallet.
The final step is to leave feedback for the buyer and encourage the buyer to do the same for you. Feedback is important in order to gain reputation and make more trades.
Getting started
Before you start trading you need to consider what payment methods you are going to provide and research the payment method so that you know how it works. When you first start trading we recommend you don't choose a high-risk payment method. Transfer with a specific bank can be a good starting payment method, especially if there are few traders active in your country.
Before you start trading
Before you start trading make sure you familiarize yourself with your local legislation and that your are in compliance with any relevant laws and that you have the necessary business licenses for the jurisdiction you’re trading in.
Legislation varies a lot from country to country and whether you're trading as an individual or as a business.
Research the payment method you're going to offer. Read through other traders' ads of the same payment method and make some trades with them. Try to identify possible problems before you start trading.
Use payment accounts only for XMR trading. Some payment providers will temporarily or permanently close your account if you receive unauthorized payments that are related to fraud. Using accounts only for XMR trading protects your personal finances.
Before you start trading
Before you start trading make sure you familiarize yourself with your local legislation and that your are in compliance with any relevant laws and that you have the necessary business licenses for the jurisdiction you’re trading in.
Legislation varies a lot from country to country and whether you're trading as an individual or as a business.
Research the payment method you're going to offer. Read through other traders' ads of the same payment method and make some trades with them. Try to identify possible problems before you start trading.
Use payment accounts only for XMR trading. Some payment providers will temporarily or permanently close your account if you receive unauthorized payments that are related to fraud. Using accounts only for XMR trading protects your personal finances.
Setting up an advertisement
The advertisement creation page is where you create new advertisements. There are some options when creating an advertisement which are required, and a lot of extra options which are optional but recommended to set. Using the extra options allows you to tune your advertisement to suit your trading strategy. You can find all of the advertisements that you have created from your dashboard. In the dashboard you can also find your open trades. Required options Location
Enter the country where you want your advertisement to appear. Payment method
Select the payment method you want to offer from the dropdown menu. Currency
Choose which currency you're selling for. For instance, if you're selling in France you should select EUR. You can use this list (js) to find what your currency acronym is. Market or fixed price
To price your advertisement you can enter a margin you want above the XMR market price. To do that, enter a percentage in the margin field after choosing the “Market price” option. You might also want to specify a fixed price that will not change until you manually change it. For this you need to choose the “Fixed price” option and enter the price value.
Min. / Max. transaction limit
The minimum transaction limit sets the smallest amount someone can buy. If you set it to five, and you have your currency set to EUR it means that the smallest trade amount someone can open a trade with you for will be for 5 EUR. The maximum transaction limit sets what the biggest trade amount that you want to accept is.
Terms of Trade
This is the text the buyer sees before he opens up a trade with you. It's a good idea to write instructions for the buyer on how you want the trade to proceed and if you have any specific instructions. If you require, for example, the buyer to submit a receipt as proof of payment before you finalize a trade or if you need the buyer to provide an ID, this is the place to mention it. You can take a look at other traders' advertisements for the payment method you want to use to get an idea of what good terms of trade contain.
Extra options
Limit amounts to
You can restrict the advertisement to only being able to open trades for specific amounts. If you enter 20,30,60 into the box a potential trade partner could only open a trade for 20, 30 or 60 EUR.
Payment details
Enter here specific information relating to how the buyer should pay, this can be your bank account number or e-mail address (e.g. for PayPal).
Required minimum feedback score
The feedback minimum allows you to set a minimum required feedback score to have in order to open a trade using your advertisement.
First time limit (XMR)
This is a specific maximum transaction limit for new users. If a buyer with no previous trading history with you wants to open a trade with you, this is the largest amount they can open a trade for.
Payment window
The amount of time the buyer has to complete the payment before the seller is able to cancel the trade.
Track maximum amount liquidity
Enabling tracking liquidity lowers the maximum limit of the advertisement by the amount that is currently held up in open trades.
Quick tips on identifying scammers
Fraudulent buyers are often in a hurry. The more a customer asks you to hurry/rush the more suspicious you should be, real customers always have patience.
Fraudulent buyers often suggest doing all or part of the transaction outside of the arbitration bond protection system and then do not complete their part of the transaction.
Be careful about photoshopped payment evidence, don't finalize a trade until you have confirmed that you have received the money. You are not obliged to finalize a trade until you can verify that you have received the buyer's payment.
Don't open any links that your trading partner is sending to you. If you must, use different browser than the one you are using.
Don't visit websites other than LocalMonero with the browser that you're using to trade. Use a different browser for other websites.
Bookmark LocalMonero in your browser and always use the bookmark when visiting the website. This helps you to avoid accidentally visiting phishing websites, they exist and can be very convincing.If you're unsure about a user, you can always contact support for help.
Enter the country where you want your advertisement to appear. Payment method
Select the payment method you want to offer from the dropdown menu. Currency
Choose which currency you're selling for. For instance, if you're selling in France you should select EUR. You can use this list (js) to find what your currency acronym is. Market or fixed price
To price your advertisement you can enter a margin you want above the XMR market price. To do that, enter a percentage in the margin field after choosing the “Market price” option. You might also want to specify a fixed price that will not change until you manually change it. For this you need to choose the “Fixed price” option and enter the price value.
Min. / Max. transaction limit
The minimum transaction limit sets the smallest amount someone can buy. If you set it to five, and you have your currency set to EUR it means that the smallest trade amount someone can open a trade with you for will be for 5 EUR. The maximum transaction limit sets what the biggest trade amount that you want to accept is.
Terms of Trade
This is the text the buyer sees before he opens up a trade with you. It's a good idea to write instructions for the buyer on how you want the trade to proceed and if you have any specific instructions. If you require, for example, the buyer to submit a receipt as proof of payment before you finalize a trade or if you need the buyer to provide an ID, this is the place to mention it. You can take a look at other traders' advertisements for the payment method you want to use to get an idea of what good terms of trade contain.
Extra options
Limit amounts to
You can restrict the advertisement to only being able to open trades for specific amounts. If you enter 20,30,60 into the box a potential trade partner could only open a trade for 20, 30 or 60 EUR.
Payment details
Enter here specific information relating to how the buyer should pay, this can be your bank account number or e-mail address (e.g. for PayPal).
Required minimum feedback score
The feedback minimum allows you to set a minimum required feedback score to have in order to open a trade using your advertisement.
First time limit (XMR)
This is a specific maximum transaction limit for new users. If a buyer with no previous trading history with you wants to open a trade with you, this is the largest amount they can open a trade for.
Payment window
The amount of time the buyer has to complete the payment before the seller is able to cancel the trade.
Track maximum amount liquidity
Enabling tracking liquidity lowers the maximum limit of the advertisement by the amount that is currently held up in open trades.
Quick tips on identifying scammers
Fraudulent buyers are often in a hurry. The more a customer asks you to hurry/rush the more suspicious you should be, real customers always have patience.
Fraudulent buyers often suggest doing all or part of the transaction outside of the arbitration bond protection system and then do not complete their part of the transaction.
Be careful about photoshopped payment evidence, don't finalize a trade until you have confirmed that you have received the money. You are not obliged to finalize a trade until you can verify that you have received the buyer's payment.
Don't open any links that your trading partner is sending to you. If you must, use different browser than the one you are using.
Don't visit websites other than LocalMonero with the browser that you're using to trade. Use a different browser for other websites.
Bookmark LocalMonero in your browser and always use the bookmark when visiting the website. This helps you to avoid accidentally visiting phishing websites, they exist and can be very convincing.If you're unsure about a user, you can always contact support for help.
Disputes
Please read our terms of service.
LocalMonero support handles disputes based on evidence supplied by trade participants and their reputation.
Disputes can be started after the payment is marked complete.
After the trade has been finalized, the trade is considered finished by LocalMonero and cannot be disputed.
When a XMR seller is unresponsive, LocalMonero will finalize the trade if the buyer can provide valid proof of payment.
If the buyer is unresponsive after starting a trade, the arbitration bond will be returned to the seller by the LocalMonero support.
LocalMonero support handles disputes based on evidence supplied by trade participants and their reputation.
Disputes can be started after the payment is marked complete.
After the trade has been finalized, the trade is considered finished by LocalMonero and cannot be disputed.
When a XMR seller is unresponsive, LocalMonero will finalize the trade if the buyer can provide valid proof of payment.
If the buyer is unresponsive after starting a trade, the arbitration bond will be returned to the seller by the LocalMonero support.
LocalMonero wishes you happy trading!
Further reading