Bitcoin Forum

Ok I am looking to buy £1000 of bit coins, Ideally i would prefer to do this face to face in the UK ideally in Liverpool, Merseyside however I am willing to travel. Can anyone help?

How would a transaction like this happen, by that I mean do i just give my money to someone and an address and then check with blockchain.info to confirm this has happened? how long does that take? how do I know this has 100% gone through? btw I use Bitcoin-Qt.

Thanks,

Try localbitcoins.com - use their Escrow service.
The buyer sends a text message or uses a laptop to release the funds to your localbitcoin wallet when you hand over the cash - you also get confirmation text.
This is probably the safest way.
I could help but I am significantly farther away than liverpool so I doubt you would travel for just £1000 worth of coins :)

Looked on that site and all of the sellers have multiple listings within multiple areas, my assumption is that they aren't local?

Alot of them arent but some are.

Hi,
this is how I do face to face:
1. Email your BTC receive address to the seller beforehand.
1.1 Make sure your BTC client (esp if its QT) is synchronized to the blockchain before you meet - especially if it hasn't been synched for 3/4 days (this can take ages).
2. Meet in a coffee shop with wifi. (e.g. Cos** / Star***** / Ne**).
3. Take a laptop with you.
4. Request the seller to bring a laptop or a mobile device from which you can see the coins being sent.
5. Count out the money to the seller (but don't hand over yet).
6. View your receive address in his/her BTC client app - make sure it is the same address that you emailed in 1.
7. The seller should now send the coins to your address.
8. Ask him/her to email you the full transaction id.
- at this point the coins have been sent - the transaction is irreversible, and it is generally safe to hand over the cash.
9. The coins will generally NOT appear in your wallet immediately, however, if you check blockchain.info with the transaction id on
either yours or sellers laptops then *normally* you will see the coins appear within 5-10 minutes.
10. The shortest time I've had to wait on blockchain is 4-5 seconds. The longest time is 5-6 hours. But they have never NOT arrived. If you have the transaction id then they will arrive.
11. If it is a first time trade then request the seller to wait for a while - at least until coins appear on blockchain.info. Its probably unreasonable to ask them to wait for a few confirms (although they might if you buy them a coffee hehe!).
12. If the seller checks your coins with a "security pen" or device - don't be alarmed or offended - this is normal.

I do face to face in London like this on a regular basis. Hope this helps. Any questions - let me know.

Yeah i have sent a couple of order requests through this morning with no response as yet.

If I were to buy via a bank transfer then I assume that I could use localbitcoins escrow service that also?

Are there ways to buy anonymously without meeting face to face?

Thanks

bigstevo - one other way I trade is by the buyer sending a trusted proxy to meet me in London.
If you know someone in London who can act on your behalf, you can ask them to meet me in London.
I trade with a number of people 'up north' in this manner.
Thanks.

thanks tenakha that is really helpful - do all wallets/clients provide a transaction id? is there a way to verify this isnt just a scam id? (forgive the stupid questions, you may guess this is new to me)

Also could you confirm your sell rates?

Hi,

I haven't used other wallets. But every single transaction in the bitcoin network has an id - so I'd imagine other wallets have a way providing the id.
So if the coins have been sent, you can search by your receive address on blockchain.info - and the transaction will appear against your address.

I would suggest - use a reputed seller. For a first time transaction go lower - £150-£200 for a face to face. Once you've done a few trades then ramp up to £1000+.
If the seller is reputed (on this forum + otc network) then you can trade with more confidence with more funds.
If you use irc - go to the #bitcoin-otc-uk channel and ask around about who is a trusted seller in your area.

My rates are mtgox 24 hour +5%. And as I mentioned before - if you know anyone in London we can trade like that.

Thanks.

Made this guide: www.bitcoinuk.blogspot.com

So far the cheapest way that I found to buy btc from UK..

Hope it helps.