Newbie Qn re start times and bid amounts on live auction.

Agree and that why we need the SM to remain as fluid as it is.

At the moment they do not need convincing all the short dated loans move. 

I guess everyone has there own game plan.

And how many lenders on SS actually read this 

I couldnt agree more. There are a number of loans i wont / wouldnt buy.

Yep, I've also noticed that after the Bedfordshire loan, the less appealing loans have hung around for longer. Last night I also saw the superyacht and (from memory) PBL4a hang around for at least an hour.  We're not talking days though so the proverbial muck has certainly not hit the fan..... yet.

With the larger pre-funding loans coming soon, I can see some dangerous times ahead for people that were all too willing to invest in riskier loans. One default is all it will take, and that one default could see millions of pounds worth of risky loans dumped on the SM. 

I'm sorry to say I feel little sympathy for those who get their hands bitten by the above scenario; you can't do no DD (on the loans and the platform) & expect a 12% return for just for having quick fingers.

Good point.  So we can relax until June, then.

Unless, of course, SS 'convert' any older loans to the new Ts&Cs.  Which would open a can of worms if one subsequently defaulted since, AFAIK, investors never were asked if they accepted the changed terms after they invested.

Ah, so people are now worried that the older loans could be hard to shift if there was a default somewhere along the line.

Well for a fact, with the LTV's of 70% or less, the chances are you are going to get most if not all your money back.

If you can't sell your loans then you will have to sit tight until they come to their natural end and they are repaid. No big deal, you are still earning interest.

Of course it might be squeaky bum time, but there is a reason we are getting 12% interest on our cash, he who dares etc.....

My experience with other platforms suggests it isn't that easy to dispose of security if it becomes necessary, and having a 70% LTV can turn out to be too high after the fact.  I suppose it depends on whether people are prepared for a 40% loss on occasion.  (Getting back 60% of your investment fits within the definition of getting 'most' of your money back.) 

Suggesting that it's no big deal because you still are earning interest is, IMHO, a bit misleading.  In most cases of defaults, while interest may continue to accrue, that means nothing if the interest never is paid because the recovery is insufficient to return 100% of investors' capital.  I have some overdue investments accruing interest at 18%, but I've come to the conclusion that I'm unlikely to see any of it, much less all of my invested capital.

As long as people understand the risks and are prepared to take some losses, there's no problem.  But I suspect that a lot of P2P investors are not that prepared, and that there will be a rush for the exit at the first sign of bad news.  And that could be enough to cripple the SM.