Bitcoin Forum

Im looking to make a purchase in BTC and wanted to avoid mtgox for now. I saw this site:

www.localbitcoins.com


But not sure if thats the best method to find someone local to me to do an in person trade.


Secondly, what is the proper method to do the trade to ensure I don't hand someone my money and  I get no BTC out of the deal?

thanks

Read here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137272.0

And also more in the parent forum for that post.

Months ago I did a trade with someone, we met up in a cafe and he sent me the Bitcoin and I handed him the money and we waited together untill 6 confirmations on the block chain. Once we had 6 confirmations the coins can not be double spent so your safe. Also make sure it's in a public space and make sure they show they have the coins and you show you have the cash.

localbitcoins.com now offers a transaction service.  With this service, you don't have to wait for 6 confirmations as long as you trust the localbitcoins.com website.

The seller sends the bitcoins to the transaction service ahead of time.  You can see when the transaction is funded, so you know that they have the coins.

At the time of the transaction, the seller sends a text message with their phone to localbitcoins.com (or they log into their account at localbitcoins.com) to release the transaction.  localbitcoins.com immediately releases control of those coins to you in your localbitcoins.com wallet, and sends you a text message to your phone to let you know that you now have control.  In this way, the buyer doesn't need to have anything with them but the cash, and the seller doesn't need to have anything with them but a cell phone capable of sending a text message. The buyer can confirm before leaving to meet up that localbitcoins.com has the coins.

Beyond the transaction service, additional good advice is to meet up somewhere public, populated, and with decent security.  Personally, I like the idea of meeting in a casino if you have one nearby.  I've done several transactions at casinos and they've all gone smooth.  Basically, you want to make sure that someone doesn't steal the cash that you bring with, without releasing the bitcoins.  A thief will be less likely to pull out a gun, or otherwise threaten your life in a populated, secure, public place.

The next best option is to choose somewhere with more tempting targets.  Example a fast food restaurant.  Why pull out a gun and threaten you for the $200 or so that you might bring for a transaction, when they could threaten the employees and empty the cash registers instead.  Same exact risk for them, but a much bigger reward.

A casino sounds great, I don't have many near me so that wouldn't be that good for me. Also I don't have a car, so can't travel that far unless I pay for a cab but that would be expensive.

Perhaps a nearby bank lobby? Or the lobby of a courthouse?

How about a betting shop, here in the UK they have quite a few CCTV cameras installed.

Hmm, isn't there a bitcoin ATM now?

 Thanks for the link!

"a" bitcoin ATM doesn't do much good unless there are many of them :)

I think there is only one Bitcoin ATM at the moment, isn't very viable for a few years if they even decide to make more.

 Soon there will be many bitcoin atms.

this is really helpful if you live in a major city :)

Local Bitcoins? Sounds sketchy.

Not really, a scammer isn't going to scam someone in real life. Unless they are scum or a scam artist.

Its happend, I was reading last week about some guy who did a face to face deal. The guy put in his USB to deliver the bitcoins, the next day all the bitcoins were gone. Probably installed some keylogger on his machine.

Localbitcoins.com if your in a larger city might be a viable option.

Sorry if off topic, but does 6 confirmations mean 60 minutes? Or is there another way to tell?

Depends, sometimes it's slow sometimes it's fast can take 20 minutes. Make sure you have enough time to wait around, you're normally safe after the 1st confirmation but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Yes, confirm times do vary, For larger transfers you can expect a good hours wait.

its legit

Thanks guys! that was useful information! I actually live near NYC so nearest casino is about 1 hour away. I guess starbucks could work as that local site seemed to have local people in NYC/NJ that it may work in.

Good info as far as the confirmations as was not sure how many i should stick around for.


Thanks for all the info!

If possible try stay for 3, most sites who take Bitcoin wait for 3 but if you have a lot of time then you could stick around for 6.

You'll have to decide for yourself how many confirmations to wait for.

When the seller is willing to use the localbitcoins.com transaction service, there is no need to wait for any confirmations at all, but that service costs the seller 1% of the transaction amount. If the seller is in a hurry and doesn't want to wait for the number of confirmations you need to feel secure, suggest that they cover the cost and use the transaction service.  That allows them to buy the ability to leave quickly after the transaction.

For amounts less than $20, I'm almost always willing to accept with 0 confirmations.
For amounts less than $200, I'm almost always willing to accept with 1 confirmation.
For amounts less than $2000, I'm almost always willing to accept with 3 confirmations.
I don't think I'd personally be concerned about waiting for 6 confirmations in a face-to-face exchange unless the amount was over $10,000.

That's my personal choice though.  A zero confirmation transaction is pretty risky, but it would take some significant technical knowledge, to pull off a scam after 1 confirmation, especially if you verify that confirmation from multiple sources (your wallet, blockchain.info, and blockexplorer.com).

The only concern I've had so far in a face-to-face transaction was when someone tried to look over my shoulder as I typed in my wallet password.  I don't think they were trying to memorize the password (which would've been extremely difficult for them anyhow), I think they were just naturally curious about what I was doing on my computer, but as soon as they left, I changed the password anyhow, just in case.

I've had a similiar situation with some random person  looking over my shoulder just as I was entering my password. I asked him kindly to look away, and later changed my password just to make sure  ;D

When I bought some Bitcoins in a face to face trade months ago, the guy asked if we could go to the bank and get my notes checked out. He had already sent the Bitcoins to my address and I handed him the money and we finished out drinks in the cafe and then he was like do you mind if you come to the bank with me to see if they are real. In the end I suggested him give me the money back and I will get out a fresh set of notes from the ATM machine and he was happy with that.

Don't like the look of that, I wouldn't go on that site.

I think that Ripple will allow in person exchanges

Good idea for the ATM, bit far to wander/walk to the bank. You would think he would have looked up how to check the notes for fakes? Not sure about us notes, ones here are very hard to fake and easy to check.

I have used https://localbitcoins.com/ to ghttps://localbitcoins.com/et to a good seller then privately after that.
Try and find someone with at least 6 positives and no negatives that has an OTC.

Example:

OTC yoyoceramic (6; 100%)

Try localbitcoins, if you're in a smallish town you might not have much luck though.

Don't forget about Craigslist as an alternative source for finding people in person to trade for BitCoin. More people will turn to Craigslist until localbitcoins.com becomes more known. I checked a lot of cities, and there are ads up for buying and selling on CL.

www.localbitcoins.com

Face to face is safe and kinda fun. You get a chance to meet other peers near you and help build the community. If you are concerned about your own safety then bring your own gun. I have no problem meeting with someone who wants to bring a legal gun for protection. In fact I think we are both safer that way.

It's because 6 confirmations delay that the BitCoin never can go to streets.
Think about: When you pay for a soda, you need to wait several minutes before left the store.

That's just silly.

When you pay with a credit card, do you wait until midnight for the store to receive settlement from their card processor before you leave the store?  Do you wait months until the transaction can no longer be reversed before you leave the store?

When a business decides to accept electronic forms of payment, they accept a small risk of fraud in exchange for an increase in customer count, increased impulse purchases, and increased convenience.  With bitcoin, they'll know that the transaction in irreversible within minutes rather than withing months.  This sounds like an improvement over the current system to me.  In addition there are likely to be third party providers in the future who will insure and guarantee transactions for the merchant.

There could even be a whole new paradigm where you make a "deposit" to the merchant as you walk into the establishment, and when you check out, the merchant just sends you the change.  This means the entire time you are shopping, your transaction is gaining confirmations.

There are so many ways to deal with this that I can't believe how short-sighted people are when they say that bitcoin can't work for brick-and-mortar purchases.

can anyone suggest a good smartphone app for bitcoin transactions, especially to be used for face-to-face exchanges of money to bitcoin?

Depends on your smartphone.

Pretty much the only one useable for an iPhone is blockchain.info.

There are others for the other smartphones, but I'm not familiar with any of them.

wow thats weird. its really easy to tell if bank notes are legit by holding them up to a light source.

use the blockchain.info app

I wonder, do you guys think setting up a btc cash buy/sell stand at a weekly farmer's market would be a good idea?

A guy did something similar in the last week, in new york. A small voice call out exchange. If you think it there is a market for it give it a shot maybe even mention it on localbitcoins and bitcoin otc. Just remember to take some safety precautions. Maybe check your local regs and beware of AML stuff.

I understand your view. But don't forget that BitCoin is decentralized. On current electronic payments, there is always a central business that provides some warranty against fraud. With credit cards, the payment can be reversed, but much times the credit company takes over the loss.
It's like a escrow service with payment warranty instead of shipping warranty.

there was a service, but can not remember the name, search on google

whatever you do, dont let them plug a usb stick into your laptop or sit down at it!