Bitcoin Forum

Hello,
I'd like to buy for up to 1000€ (~120 BTC) worth of Casascius Bitcoins of various denominations. The problem is that I don't live in the US but in Europe, France.

- Has anyone here bought Casascius BitCoins for a similar amount delivered to an European country?
- Shipping options available are USPS First Class Mail and USPS Express Mail. How safe are those for overseas shipping? What kind of insurance do they provide?
- If for any reason the coins are lost in transit, is it still possible to get the BTC that would be sent "on them"?
- How are they considered for customs? Am I right when I'm thinking they are considered medals (coins need to have been circulated to be called like this) made of various precious (or not) metals? So I'm guessing for such a low amount there should be no need to pay any precious metals import taxes? What about VAT? If there's any tax, does it need to be paid considering the overall price paid (minus shipping) or the price minus bitcoin value embedded (minus shipping)? And if I'm paying in BTC, do I have to pay the tax in BTC too ( ;D ), or convert it to the equivalent in €?

So many questions...

Thank you in advance for your answer!

I can imagine that you could ask him to not put the bitcoins on them until you confirm arrival. That way if the physical coins are lost the bitcoins are not.

Me not putting the bitcoins on them for large/international orders is already the default.  I would definitely send 120 BTC unfunded.

If you use Express shipping, you'll have the least hassle if anything goes wrong.  If I can see objective evidence that the package didn't arrive, I'm willing to not put the bitcoins on.  Using Express shipping offers tracking all the way to most countries and allows for international delivery confirmation.

Lost orders are rare.  My experience of lost orders is about 500:1.  If I were to spend money in insurance, more money would be spent insuring the packages than the losses are even worth, and that's without considering the claim hassle.  There have been several occasions where an order thought to be "lost" was eventually returned by the post office four or five months later.

Also, I am planning on raising my price for the 1 BTC coin for small orders (less than 6 coins).  The intent is to make it profitable for others to resell my coin in local markets to the vast majority of potential buyers who ordinarily just want one coin.

It's working.

I've received 100 1 BTC coins from casascius just fine. There was a problem at customs (had to pay import VAT, luckily only on the brass value).

I suggest you don't use express mail, but the normal usps priority... it might be less likely to "wake the dogs" at customs.

i would like to order directly from casascius a large amount of coins. what would be the minimum amount in dollar to be able to buy directly?