FORGED by 0xDEAFBEEF
About
A smart contract queue mechanism offering automatic price discovery of the limited time of an artisan. Case example: An artisan may be able to produce 1 ring per week. If their work is in demand, how to determine price without guess work?After purchasing, your order is put in a queue. By default, it is first come first serve. Buyers can change their position in the queue by depositing or withdrawing ETH. The artisan can accept orders one at a time from the top of the incoming queue. The buyer pays the purchase price, plus a premium equal only to the amount bid by the SECOND HIGHEST bidder (the next in line.)
Example: Alice buys a ring for 1 ETH, and boosts it by 0.04ETH to improve queue position. Later, Bob also buys a ring for 1 ETH, but boosts it by depositing an additional 0.05ETH to rank above Alice. When the artisan accepts Bob's order, Bob pays a total of 1.04 ETH: 1.0ETH for the ring, plus the amount bid by next in line(Alice) which was 0.04 ETH..
The buyer interacts with the contract in following ways:
1. Boosting. A buyer can 'boost' the position of their pending orders in the queue
by depositing ETH. The queue is sorted by increasing premiums. Highest bidder is served first.
Boost premiums can be withdrawn at any time, for no penalty except gas cost.
2. Refunding. At any time before the order is filled, a buyer can remove their order from the queue
and be refunded 95% of their purchase price, plus 100% of any boost premium.
The artisan interacts with the queue in the following ways:
1. Accept the top order, setting it to 'In progress'. At this point, the order can no longer be refunded: the buyer
has commit the purchase price, plus the premium equal to the 2nd highest bidder. That amount gets added the shopowner's
'earned' stack.
2. Withdraw funds, up to the limit of the 'earned' stack, enforced by the smart contract.
The system still requires trust that the artisan will make and ship the goods. The artisan stakes their reputation to earn that trust.
About the Artisan
Written in 2019.
I began forging metal years ago after watching a demonstration from a local blacksmith. Seeing the red hot metal deform, the physicality, the hand made tools.. I was hooked.
Scrounging for equipment, I forged as a hobby in the garage for many years. Compared to a daily software development job, blacksmithing was a wonderful counterpoint. I loved how low tech it was. The tools haven't really changed in hundreds of years. There's no danger of my hammer and anvil becoming obsolete. Compare that to the disposable gadgets that must be constantly replaced as they break or become incompatible with ever changing software.
My first attempts at selling were an assortment of hand forged items. It came as a surprise that the most popular items were rings. The smallest items I forged turn out to be the most popular.
I've refined and expanded my ring offerings. I love the texture of firescaled iron, hammer marks and small imperfections.. these tell the story of a truly hand made item. It's wonderful to be able to practice a skill I love and produce adornments that have meaning for people.
In an age of fast moving technology and mass produced products.. I believe that what makes an item precious is simply the demonstrated investment of a little time and love by a human being.