Some of my followers let me know they'd want to know more about how they can use the internal market of Steemit.com for SBD / STEEM exchanges.

First of all, let's clarify some terms:

• SBD conversion is a way to exchange SBD for STEEM at a future rate, namely in 3.5 days since the moment of order. Once you start a conversion, the amount of SBD in that conversion is blocked, and won't be available again. After 3.5 days, you get the amount of STEEM for that SBD, at the current price of that specific day.
• SBD / STEEM buy or sell orders are instantaneous on the internal market (more or less, se below the liquidity caveats)

The TL/DR Version (Too Long, Didn't Read)

Suppose you have $4SBD. If you want to exchange them directly, and bypass conversion, you go to the Market menu entry from the drop down you get when you click on that number:

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After you click on that, you'll get straight into the Steemit internal market.

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As you can see, the SBD and STEEM balances in your wallet are automatically available (red circles). The latest price is shown on top (red arrow).

Now, you can either buy STEEM with SBD - left form - or buy SBD with STEEM - right form. It really isn't very complicated.

Suppose you want to sell your SBD directly. Then you add the amount of SBD you want to sell, in our case, $4 and something, then you click "Buy".

Here's what you get:

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After you confirm, the transaction should be broadcasted into the pool. Depending on the price you set and on the existent liquidity, your order my be filled in immediately, or after a while. If you pick the current price, there is enough liquidity (most of the time) for your order to be filled in immediately.

That's it.

When And Why Would You Use Conversion Instead Of Direct Buy / Sell Orders?

This depends on many factors. But you should take into account the fact that your rewards may not always be in SBD, and the price feed provided by witnesses can change based on various inputs. Also, be aware that using conversion may give you a better or a worse price than the current one, so it's basically a bet.

There are at least 2 beneficial consequences of using conversion:

• using conversion temporarily decreases the circulating supply of SBD (they are blocked during conversion)
• using conversion limits gaming attempts of the price

But you should always make your own decision based on how much you want to trade, for what reasons, for what period of time and so on and so forth.

There's no magic bullet.

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I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.

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You can also vote for me as witness here:
https://steemit.com/~witnesses

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If you're new to Steemit, you may find these articles relevant (that's also part of my witness activity to support new members of the platform):

• Rewards: Were Does The Money Come From?
• Netiquette: How To Avoid Being A Steem Douche?
• Witnesses: What Are They And Why Should You Care?
• How Can I Mine Steem And What CPU / GPU Power Do I Need For That?
• The Beginner Guide To Not Getting Hacked On Steemit