I have to admit that you sound like you know a whole lot more about the arbitrage process than I do. Note, I say you "sound" like you do because I can't verify whether your assertions are accurate. I would imagine that volume of funds available, timing, and the mechanisms of moving fiat are vital to the success of this type of operation, but I flatly just don't know. I do know that SecondMarket has an 11-person trading team dedicated to Bitcoin. I doubt they would incur this expense if there were not some profit in arbitrage trading. And I've acknowledged that btc-arbs could be a total scam and I will lose all of my funds tomorrow...

...But... You've given us your assessment of their business model, and since you're not interested to participate in their operation, that's really all you have to contribute here. That's why I suggested that you move along. I'm going to periodically update the thread with my experiences because I'm invested in this operation, but you've said your peace and really don't have a reason to continue to participate in the thread.