Bitcoin Forum

I put an ad up to buy/sell BTC recently, and made one successful trade so far, for around $60 in BTC.  Now, someone has contacted me to meet in person for a 10 BTC trade, and I'm a little nerved up, since it dawned on me that counting ~$600 in public could be a bit awkward.

Any experience here (maybe gold-bugs or something)?  Is there an etiquette I should know about?  A good way not to be hit with a wrench and have smart-devices stolen?

I've thought about it a bunch.  My thoughts are to sit in a bank lobby.  Do part of the transfer, take the cash to the teller (to make sure it is real and to get it out of my hands so I don't get mugged) go back to the lobby and do more, rinse/repeat.  Anyone who would reject such a solution I would feel may not be a person I'd wish to meet elsewhere.

I think this would work well enough and there is nothing illegal or untoward about it.  There is nothing 'shameful' about buying or selling BTC in my opinion.  Either one could be pretty shrewd moves, and any one doing either is pretty obviously out in front of a wave at this point.

I second tvbcof's opinion.

I recently purchased a (nice) car for USD cash. Wish it was BTC, but hey.

The seller wanted to immediately deposit the cash, so we drove to a nearby bank where he deposited the money.

Then he handed over the keys and said, "have a nice day!"

It made me nervous after giving him the cash when he wouldn't close the deal. That's one thing I would be careful about: if he wants to change the terms at the last minute, walk away.

Its like basically selling a car, you sign over the title get the cash. goto the bank deposit it and then give them the keys.

This, and I might even go a step further and go to your bank and talk to the branch manager about assisting in the facilitation of the transaction. This may not be practical for most people, as I live in a small town and have a personal relationship with my branch manager. You would not only avoid the awkwardness of a 'large' cash transaction, but you would more than likely be introducing your bank to a cash BTC transaction. It is a long shot, but for security and to further Bitcoins legitimacy, I would try doing something along these lines.

For $600, your judgement is key. If you are worried that he'll hand you a wad of bills that only come to $590, don't even count it. Say "I trust you" and leave. Consider the probabilities and his actions. 10% chance he screwed you out of $40 on purpose? Thats only $4 worth of value, you'll be much better off with the "I trust you" route. 25% chance he will beat you with with a hammer in the parking lot? Might want to leave out the side door.

Thankfully he agreed to the bank meeting, but this advice is reassuring.  You must not be a scaredy-nerd.

Get a name and valid phone number before agreeing to anything. Use the phone number and verify it works. Take a buddy, meet in a well-lit public area during daytime hours, and count the money in front of him.

My friends and I have bought/sold pinball machines with strangers off of Web forums quite a few times. Standing in a Cracker Barrel parking lot off an Interstate ramp and counting out $5500 is an adrenaline rush.  :D

According to FINCen, what you are doing is now illegal unless you pay $1 million and jump through some hoops to become a licensed money exchanger.

Nah. I'll sell you a book or a baseball for $600 and give you 10 bitcoins too.

Just sayin...worry less about getting robbed and more about if the guy is a cop.

/SEC/DHS/FBI

Bitcoins aren't illegal.

But exchanging them without paying $1 million (and immediately going bankrupt because you can't possibly afford to pay that with casual BTC sales) apparently is, in FinCEN's interpretation.

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