Pride Of Our Footscray Community Bar Share Exchange Platform

What is this Platform?

This platform provides an independent; at arms length; open and transparent and fair share exchange mechanism that enables existing shareholders in the Pride of Our Footscray Community Bar to put their share(s) up for sale and for prospective shareholders to bid on and purchase these shares.

Who implemented this Platform?

This platform was implemented by INTJ Billing Pty Ltd ABN 30 607 261 398.

INTJ Billing is an LGBTQIA+ 100% wholly owned and operated business.

The platform is a collaboration between INTJ Billing CEO Clarke Towson and Pride of Our Footscray CEO Mat O'Keefe.

The idea for the platform came from INTJ Billing CEO Clarke Towson when he missed out on buying shares in Pride Bar several times when they came up for sale. The seller chose a different person to sell to despite the fact that Clarke was offering the same or a higher price for the shares and that's when the idea of creating a fairer system came to mind.

Why has this platform been put in place?

To solve the existing problems of buying and selling shares in the bar and to offer additional payment methods to pay for shares including PayPal, Direct Bank Transfer and Bitcoin.

The platform adheres to the fair and equitable values of Pride Bar as detailed in the Pride Bar logo indicated by the round table signifying fair access for all/everyone.

Everyone who stands with us has equal status.

What were the existing problems buying and selling shares in the bar?

The process was not as fair, equitable, transparent, open and timely as it could be.

The old process worked like this:

1. Mat placed a message on Facebook advertising that a share(s) was available for sale by an existing shareholder.
2. Interested buyers needed to spot the Facebook message quickly and then send an email to the shares at prideofourfootscry.bar email address where Mat would then put the existing shareholder in contact with the prospective buyer/shareholder.
3. The existing shareholder then received a large number of emails from prospective buyers. If the seller had a price in mind already (eg: $1,000 per share) and this was known to the buyers a bidding war often broke out with buyers offering more for the share. Note carefully - regardless of whether the seller intended to hold an auction and create a bidding war or not this situation occurred anyway due to the scarce nature of the asset for sale (fractional ownership/equity in a business).
4. The existing shareholder who was selling then had to choose which buyer to sell their share to.

The old process raised several important questions:

1. How does an existing shareholder choose a buyer? (What is fair?)
2. Based on what criteria does the shareholder choose a buyer? (What is equitable?)
3. How does the existing shareholder price the share? (How is price transparency in the market for Pride Shares achieved?)
4. How quickly does the share sale take place? Most share sales did not give enough time to all market participants interested in purchasing the share (What is a fair time for the shares to be on market?)

There was no transparency of price, the number of market participants, the current offers/bids for the share(s) (transparency and openness) in the old process. This new process greatly improves the efficiency of the market for shares in Pride Bar.

How does this new platform solve the problems with the old way of buying and selling shares in the bar?

This share exchange platform marketplace serves as a platform where existing Pride Bar shareholders and the numerous and ever growing band of prospective Pride Bar shareholders can meet, interact and transact with each other and since the number of market participants is numerous each is assured of a fair price. Buyers bid the shares up to whatever they think they're worth and sellers receive the amount of money that is fair based on the number of prospective buyers and the market price. The platform benefits the interests of both buyers and sellers.

Pride Bar is a small business and there is a high demand to become a shareholder. Due to the high demand for shares there is a low supply as existing shareholders rarely want to sell their shares. There is competition amongst buyers to secure shares but at with the old method the competition process lacked openness (How many buyers are there?), transparency (Who are the buyers? What are the prices they're bidding?) and fairness (Why did I miss out on shares even though I offered the same or a higher price than someone else? That doesn't seem very fair to me!)

A small scale share exchange platform designed for trading Pride Bar shares in a controlled, secure and managed environment is what's needed and that's what this platform is and enables. Whilst an auction process is not perfect (ie - it does not specifically offer all the functionality of a broker like Commsec) it goes a very long way to improve on the old process of buying and selling shares in the bar.

This platform brings together existing Pride Bar shareholders (sellers) and prospective Pride Bar shareholders (buyers). These people are market participants who wish to buy and sell shares whilst ensuring fair pricing practices and transparency in transactions.

The platform instills confidence in the participants with zero to low operational risk for Pride Bar.

This share exchange platform operates independently and at arms length from the business.

The platform is responsible for ensuring price transparency, liquidity, price discovery and fair dealings in share trading activities.

The platform enables:

a. Fair dealings in Pride Bar of Our Footscray Community Bar share transactions.
b. Efficient price discovery.
c. Security and validity of transactions.
d. Equitable access to the shares by everyone. (Everyone who stands with us has equal status)

e. Transparency in the pricing and bids of other market participants.

f. Timely access to the shares in the marketplace so participants know when they’re made available for sale, at what starting price, how long the auction goes for, how to bid on them and buy them.

g. Links to the financial results of Pride Bar which prospective share investors and sellers can read when doing their due diligence on investing or divesting in Pride shares.

Is this platform approved by ASIC?

Yes. Approval was granted from The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for INTJ Billing to be admitted to the register of entities under the Corporations (Low Volume Financial Markets) Instrument 2016/888 on Wednesday October 13th 2021. This approval was necessary in order for INTJ Billing Pty Ltd to run this platform and provide this marketplace for the buying and selling of shares in The Pride of Our Footscray Community Bar.

Can I place a "Buy It Now" link to the shares I want to sell?

Not at the moment. This functionality has been disabled for now. The reasoning is to allow all share sales to be auctions which have a specified time-frame to allow for everyone who is interested in buying the share(s) to have time to see that a share(s) auction is taking place and give everyone time to bid. Sellers have a choice of 1 day, 2 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month or 2 months to have their share(s) available for sale on the market. It is possible to set a custom duration but we ask that you stick to the standard time frames available for now please. We recommend the 1 or 2 week time frame is likely best for most buyers to be aware of the sale and for sellers to obtain the highest sale price for their share(s).

What web browser should I use to access this Platform?

The best experience will be provided by using the latest version of Firefox, Safari or Chrome on a desktop or a laptop computer. Firefox, Safari and Chrome have been tested and work well with the platform. It would be best for you not to use your mobile phone or iPad when using this platform at this time. There was a report from one test user on June 8th 2021 that he was unable to place bids on a trial auction when using his mobile phone or his iPad. Testing has been carried out on the platform using a variety of browsers and devices and Clarke is currently doing further tests using mobile devices and iPads but has so far not been unable to replicate the users experience in not being able to place a bid.

At this stage please use a desktop or a laptop computer when bidding and please use the latest version of Firefox, Safari or Chrome as your browser.

When placing bids

Important: Please do not enter a currency symbol like $. Just enter your bid without a currency symbol. If you do enter a currency symbol your bid will not be registered correctly.

If your bid is not registering

A report was made of being unable to place bids whilst using an Apple iPad. Try logging into the platform using your laptop or desktop computer instead. If you still cannot place a bid please contact the administrator of the platform Clarke Towson here

The bid history does not refresh correctly on iPad using Safari or Firefox

Try using a desktop or laptop computer instead. This is a known bug in the platform that may occur under some circumstances.

When I login where do I go to see if there are any shares for sale?

Please click on the HOME button in the top menu bar under the Pride logo which will take you to the page which features any current share sales.

Sometimes the bid history doesn't refresh correctly. What should I do?

Hold down the shift button and then click refresh in your browser. You should see the latest bid history. You can also do the same thing on another device whilst you're logged into that which should also display the latest bid history.

How do I leave feedback for an existing shareholder that I have purchased shares from or how do I leave feedback to a buyer as a seller of shares?

Under the Members Area menu on the left side of the screen go to the My Account section and click on Manage Account. Click on the Reputation icon and then click on the Leave Comments hyperlink. You should see the username of the person you sold the shares to or that you purchased shares from. Click the Proceed hyperlink then enter a star rating out of 5, enter your comments and click the Leave Comments button.

What payment methods are supported?

Payment methods supported include bank deposit express / direct payment (from investor A’s bank account to investor B’s bank account),Paypal and more. With Paypal integrated this means payment is also possible using credit cards. In Australia you can use Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express to make PayPal payments. Another fast and easy option is paying with your bank account using PayPal. Many PayPal users choose to pay with their bank accounts. Multiple additional payment options including Stripe, WorldPay, Authorize.Net, 2Checkout and more are possible but have not yet been enabled. Currently only bank deposit express, PayPal and Bitcoin payments have been enabled.

Bitcoin payment for shares has been added into the platform but at this stage we ask that any existing shareholders that accept direct payment for their shares with bitcoin please liaise directly with your buyer to facilitate this payment. In the future this platform will integrate BTCPay for Bitcoin payments. Enabling existing and prospective shareholders to use bitcoin to pay for shares is the ultimate in economic empowerment.

If you're a newbie to Bitcoin and you're interested in learning more about Bitcoin and paying for goods and services using Bitcoin INTJ Billing CEO Clarke Towson will get you set up and operating with Bitcoin fast. You can check out Clarke's website here: https://intjbilling.com/INTJBitcoinConsulting.html

How do I sell shares for Bitcoin?

Check out the help topics here

A seller has posted a share auction and accepts bitcoin but has only posted a Bitcoin QR code. My Bitcoin wallet is on my computer. How do I scan the QR code?

You can decode Bitcoin QR codes at this website. Simply upload the QR code to that website and then use the parsed result to send bitcoin to. The parsed result will be the sellers Bitcoin payment address in text form from the QR code and will look similar to this:

13FYhy4e77kXweNP5rK1B7x348mRjUKeuv

How do I check if the seller has received the bitcoin I sent?

Simply copy and paste the sellers bitcoin payment address into the bitcoin explorer website available at blockchain.com where you can search the blockchain for transactions. It will show you the number of transactions the seller has received to that payment address, the total amount of bitcoin that represents, the value in USD or AUD, whether the seller has sent bitcoin from that address and the current value of bitcoin at the address in BTC and USD/AUD terms.

Here is an example of a bitcoin payment address to which I sent 0.02506130 BTC or $1,563.24 AUD (dollar value current as at Sat 12th June 2021). You can see a screenshot of the transaction here.

How do I create an account on the platform?

Simply click here to register

I can't login to the platform what's going on?

Please ensure that you're logging into the platform using your username

Please note that your username is different to your email address.

Your browser may have cached your email addressand entered that automatically in the login field. Check to make sure the login field contains the username you signed up with. Check the registration email that you were sent when you first signed up. This email contains your username and a link to confirm your registration. Make sure that you have clicked the link first before attempting to sign in for the first time.If you still cannot sign in please contact Clarke on 0432 359 166 or email him clarketowson@intjbilling.com

Why do I have to sign up under my own name or a name that identifies me?

This helps to ensure that bidding is kept honest and there is accountability for each bid made that can be easily tied back to individuals or their businesses. This results in being able to more effectively spot dummy bidding and being able to administer users individual and/or their business accounts on the platform in a fair and equitable manner.

Are there any fees for using this platform?

No not at the moment. This may change in the future however with a small transaction fee introduced in order to cover hosting and other expenses that crop up in the running of this platform as a service. INTJ Billing Bitcoin Consulting Ads have been placed on the platform at the moment instead as an alternative to fees.

I really love this platform! How can I make a donation to help keep it running?

Thank You we really appreciate the love! We will soon enable the Bitcoin Lightning Network to allow for cost effective small tips/donations in bitcoin. At the moment we accept $100 tips to Pride Bar & INTJ Billing in Bitcoin on chain via the BTCPay Bitcoin payment button at the top of this page. All bitcoin donations are reinvested back into the platform to make it even better!

Do I need to fill out the Stripe API key when registering?

No not at the moment.

I didn't receive an email when I signed up what's going on?

Please check your SPAM or Junk Email folder. If the registration sign up email is located there please configure your email software to ensure that all emails that you receive from the email address of this platform are white listed and go directly to your inbox. This will ensure that you never miss any opportunities for bidding. Bidders on the platform promptly receive emails if and when they're outbidded giving them another opportunity to place a higher bid so you want to make sure that emails are getting through to you and are not being marked as junk or SPAM. INTJ Billing has taken all steps necessary to configure the email server this platform uses to ensure emails get through to you including DKIM, DMARC, SPF and additional security controls with all emails using Email authentication with Transport Layer Security (TLS). The mail server has a business class static ip address and passes all tests on mxtoolbox

Do I need to fill out the PayPal address when registering?

You do not need to enter a PayPal email address when registering but please if you have a PayPal address enter it when registering because it will enable you to use PayPal when paying for shares should you be the successful bidder.

I'm a seller and I have sold shares. What happens after the sale?

Login to the platform and you will see in your Members Area the shares you have sold. This area can also be accessed using this link (please login to the platform first):

https://prideshares.intjbilling.com/members_area.php?page=selling&section=sold

You can manually access this area by clicking on the "Manage Account" link in the Members Area menu on the left hand side of the screen which is listed under "My Account" then click on "Selling" and then click on "Sold".

You can send an invoice to the buyer by clicking on the "Send Produce Invoice" hyperlink. Please note that sometimes these invoices get blocked as SPAM by your email provider. It is highly recommended that you also click on the "View Product Invoice" hyperlink and take a screenshot of the invoice and email the buyer that screenshot manually or send it as a text message to the buyer as well to ensure they have received it. INTJ Billing has taken all steps necessary to ensure emails are delivered but due to the nature of these invoices many SPAM filters will still mark the email as SPAM and if that happens it will be blocked.

After you have successfully sold your share(s) the buyer will pay you for your share(s) using PayPal, Bitcoin or bank deposit. Once that has been done Mat O'Keefe Pride Bar CEO will then update the share registry, remove the sellers name and add your name to the share(s) certificate(s) and will then email you your share(s).

I'm a buyer and have purchased share(s) from an existing shareholder. What happens after the sale?

Login to the platform and go to this hyperlink: https://prideshares.intjbilling.com/members_area.php?page=bidding&section=won_items

That will take you to the won items section of your account. You can manually access this area by clicking on the "Manage Account" link in the Members Area menu on the left hand side of the screen which is listed under "My Account" then click on "Bidding" and then click on "Won Items". Click on the "Pay with Direct Payment" hyperlink, scroll to the bottom of the page and then click on the button to the far right hand side of the PayPal icon called "CLICK HERE TO PROCEED". This will take you to PayPal where you can pay for the share(s) you have purchased.

What programming language is this platform coded in?

PHP. The platform is based on the most popular and robust platform available PHPMyAuction: https://www.myphpauction.com which has been modified to fit the requirements of buying and selling shares in Pride Bar.

It's fully developer supported, secure and has been branded in the Pride Bar and LGBTQ flag colour scheme.

The platform is online 24/7, backed up, has a battery UPS and is hosted right here in Melbourne on INTJ Billing owned and operated computing infrastructure. INTJ Billing is a 100% owned and operated LGBTQIA+ business.

INTJ Billing is owned and run by an existing shareholder Clarke Towson
The platform is SSL secure with all traffic encrypted https:// with a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate based on an RSA Algorithm, 2048 bit key size, SHA-256 with RSA Encryption. You can verify the connection between your computer and this platform is secure by hovering over the lock icon in the URL within your web browser. You can click on the resulting link to view the full details of the SSL certificate or alternatively click here to see additional details on SSLShopper.com

A Qualys SSL Labs report gives this platform an overall rating of A. You can download the report as a PDF here.

What operating system does the platform run on?

A CentOS 8 Linux operating system (virtual server) running on bare metal high powered server infrastructure. Oracle VirtualBox, Apache Webserver and an on premises Ubuntu based Postfix and Dovecot 24/7 email server for very fast emails to investors from the platform. The email server is online 24/7 and adheres to all of the latest and important things like DKIM, DMARC, SPF and additional security controls with all emails using Email authentication with Transport Layer Security (TLS).

What date & time settings does the server and this platform use?

Along with fast emails keeping extremely accurate time is extremely important for an auction platform. The system and platform time is correct to within 39 ms (milliseconds). There is a digital clock on the top right hand side of the platforms menu screen which you can use to help synchronize the time on your computer.

The server the platform runs on is located in Melbourne Australia which is GMT+10 (Greenwich Mean Time). The time zone is AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time). The auction platform uses GMT+10. The database is set to use the SYSTEM TIME of the server. The 'Time Left' countdown on each share auction is set to use GMT+10 which is the time in Melbourne Australia where the server infrastructure is located. The Time Left countdown for an auction will flash red when the auction End Time nears. This occurs at the 5 minute 20 second mark of time remaining on a share auction.

The system uses chronyd for NTP (Network Time Protocol) and is configured to obtain the current time from Aussie Broadband's NTP server. If you would like to ensure the time is the same on your computer as the time that is set on this server please use the Aussie Broadband NTP server as your time source.