Bitcoin Forum

Let's face it, crypto-currency is gaining too much momentum to be considered a "fad"...  With that in mind, the company that I work for is looking to be an innovator in our field and add Bitcoin as an acceptable payment method! 

Our primary customers are in the commercial restaurant/commercial kitchen industry, but I am curious to see how individuals "in the know" feel about using Bitcoin or other crypto-currencies to pay for kitchen appliances.  Our basic model is that all pricing would be in $USD and if refunds are required, the amount refunded would be in $USD or the market equivalent of Bitcoin on the day the refund is processed.

We would be the first company in our "space" to accept BTC and we will be watched under a microscope by our competitors.  We want to ensure that we have all of our ducks in a row before launching this initiative, but we feel that accepting BTC will open up unexplored territory for our business.  Our target audience will be forward thinking, early adopting entrepreneurs who are looking to strike while the BTC iron is glowing red-hot!  According to http://bitcoinrestaurants.net/, more and more restaurants are accepting BTC so it only makes sense that they would prefer to spend BTC directly from their "wallet" to save to hassle of converting to $USD.  Market research suggests that www.overstock.com accepts over 60 different types of crypto-currency which accounts for .2% (>$2 million) of their total revenue so this seems like a viable move for us.

Long story short, it isn't a matter of "if" we plan on accepting BTC, but a matter of "when".  Please feel free to offer any thoughts, suggestions, comments, feedback, etc. that may help us usurp any potential future pain points.  This is a very exciting time and I am anxious to see how you feel about this project and what your replies have to offer!     

Thank you in advance for your time and responses!

I have a bitcoin debit card, so I literally buy bitcoin with everything since it is a visa and millions of places accept it.

Thanks for the reply, Tim.  Precisely why we are looking to go this route.  More and more people are holding BTC and it is growing at a crazy pace...  If we overlook this trend we are letting $$$$ pass us by!

I think that if you gave me an incentive to use my crypto then i would use it..Maybe 10% off, or whatever you would have to pay in credit card transactions fees split that with me

Good point, I had some similar thoughts regarding incentivising use of bitcoin more. Ten percent may be unrealistic, but def consider cutting some slice. Like 3% for starters. Best of luck ;)

Just go with the flow and as you said you are for the innovation and bitcoin will be your instrument to make that $$$ in your company's stock. But make sure that this is something that isn't just for the profit but for the service. It's good to have some this type of service and I don't know if you'll be the pioneer on this type of industry. How are you going to adjust with the price movement of bitcoin and with the fees? Are you going to set the prices relatively to the value of bitcoin or it is as it is with it's pricing to bitcoin (i.e. 0.005 BTC for life).

Why not?

Excellent suggestion! Possibly figuring the % of adjusted savings due to no cc transaction fee or pesky chargebacks and, as you suggested, share that savings with the customer.

Thanks!

This is being looked at from a long term perspective with the risk of volatility being taken into consideration.  It also being looked at from the "Holy cow - what if we had started this last year!" point of view as well.  (BTC value January 2017 = approximately $1,000 USD....  October 2017 = approximately $6,000 USD)

This is a good idea buying appliances using crypto currency  i like to try this thing if i have business i surely try but on the second thought it mitght be risky because of the movements of the bitcoin now but i might try this because its like your gaining selling appliances then if you will accept bitcoin for payment its another investment.

It would be a good idea to have bitcoin as payment option in buying appliances since more businesses are getting involved in blockchain technology. We know that there are bitcoin debit cards but if someone can pay directly bitcoin from the wallet with lesser fees then that would be an advantage. I agree with the suggestion of having a discount or points perhaps when purchasing through bitcoin so that more people would be encourage to use it and those that are not aware of bitcoin yet would be curious as to what it is. Being the pioneer in your industry to make bitcoin as an option would be a big step towards bitcoin adoption because if you will be successful then others would follow suit as well.

Not only appliances but lots of varieties of items, goods and services that can be able to get through paying them with Bitcoin. Bitcoin is totally the same with cash but with a whole new level.
This is capable of replacing cash and other monetary that can be used as buying, trading, gambling, loans and other stuff.
Let's face it! Bitcoin is the revolution of monetary trade and exchange.

Of course I will. Anything to promote the adoption of crypto currencies with good use cases is fine by me.

This is a good move to target Bitcoin holders.

However I have a concern, how do you handle the risk of refunding Bitcoin in USD? The BTC/USD rate will surely move from the date of sale to date of refund.

Example
Date of sale 15 Oct 2017: 1 BTC = USD  6000
Date of refund 25 Oct 2017: 1 BTC = USD 6500

In the above example, you receive 1 BTC for a USD 6000 sale. But you are refunding USD 6500 for 1 BTC. On the other hand, if BTC weaken against USD, the customer will be suffering losses of USD 500.

Yeah I've already been using Bitcoin to buy pretty much everything you can think of since 2013.
I've bought many computer parts, smartphones and other consumer electronics with BTC over the years.

If you plan on accepting Bitcoin, you should also try and keep part of your revenue in Bitcoin.
Overstock is doing the same and they are profiting big time because of that strategy, they are keeping 50% of their Bitcoin payments in Bitcoin.

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/ostk-hodl-overstock-keep-50-bitcoin-payments-investments/

Currently this is very serious concern for many and they are not taking risk with bitcoins otherwise its going to be rock around the world very quickly hope we have some good solution for this also in near future and then we can use this without any serious trouble around the world for any thing

This is a very interesting problem that I haven't considered.  In fact there could be legal implications of not refunding an appropriate amount.

We plan to negate this argument by CLEARLY stating that any refunds will be processed based on $USD value of the item.  Refunds can be issued as BTC based on the market value when the returned item is received by us. 

For sake of argument: 

Assume 1BTC = $6,000 on 11/1/2017.  You purchase an item an item on 11/1/2017 that costs $6,000 for exactly 1BTC.  The item arrives to you on 11/5/2017 (with the value of 1BTC jumping to $7,000) and you decide to return the item for a full refund....  Obviously, refunding 1BTC would cost our company an extra $1,000 and we would be opening ourselves up for abuse. HOWEVER - if we refund the $6,000 USD value in BTC you would receive 0.###### BTC (current market equivalent).  The same would occur if the price of BTC dropped and the value was $5,000 USD - you would receive 1.#### BTC as a refund. We feel this is fair for all parties involved and eliminates risk for both parties.  Anyone that is versed in BTC (should) understand the fluctuation and volatility involved, but we want to make this verbiage clear and concise to eliminate any confusion.

What are your thoughts?

Ok this will attract people to use their bitcoin to buy those appliances, people nowadays are too lazy to use bitcoin as payment method due to the price movement, the fee, confirmation time etc people prefer holding bitcoin to spending them, the problem is also not all countries in this world where you can transaction with bitcoin freely, bitcoin has been banned as payment method in some countries.

Buying stuff with crypto is always nice!

The Idea is very good but their are some issues which have to be cleared like, you told that refund will be in USD or equivalent on that value of bitcoins so it means that if the buyer buy with you when the price of bitcoin was $6000 and when he is returning the material due to some problem so you will give him refund in USD or equivalent to it and the price of bitcoin that time is only $4000 so then automatically the buyer is in loss, so whether the buyer accept it or not. but i think it will create a bad image to the project. Next is what about the delivery charges like are you going to support whole world or particular to your location only.

Yes, but for now I would like to keep my btc until I hit my price target. Btc is very valuable so maybe I would consider buying an appliance if it is a high-tech or state of the art television or refrigerator.

Not true.  If BTC drops to $4,000 USD the customer would still get $6,000 USD in return or 1.(###whatever###) the BTC equivalent of $6,000 USD is at the time of the return so there is no loss for the customer.  We will ship internationally, but 98% of our business is done in the US.

It will be the best day in my life, when crypto will be an additional payment option in any POS with no matter to location. But this day is definetly far from today...

Yes if  I have a lot of crypto-currency, I buy appliance using my crypto.. Not only appliance but everything that will accept crypto.. That's why crypto iso important now and a days..  :) thats all and God Bless

Why do you think only about appliances and not other goods and services?

Why not? That would really be a convenient thing for me on where i do able to spend already my bitcoins directly without the need of converting on fiat but on this situation it would really still vary because wasting up your bitcoins on this common transactions which you can actually be done on using fiat which is more wiser.It would depend if you would make use of btc but for me its much better to save up for longer runs.As long we can still use up our fiat on common or traditional stuffs then its still a good option.

How you folks estimate "The best"?

Yeah definitely have and would again.

Im using a debit card for bitcoin and i can buy everything on internet that accept debit card. Aside from appliance we can also buy stuffs and services online. Soon the whole word will become a cashless society. All we need is a phone and internet to pay for everything we wanted.

This is another progress that bitcoin has made as the coins was not created in the first place as assets to be trade in Stock Exchange market but to be used as money.your company accepting bitcoin for goods or appliance is to affirmed that bitcoin was made to be used as money for the purpose of buying goods and payment for services and not to hold as investment but a medium of exchange for goods and services. Hope more companies adopt bitcoin in future including big shops and companies.

very good idea,
i believe this idea will be come true, tomorow or next year.
because, future technological developments are still very long, and you are right as a leader

I think people will go with buying the appliances with cypto money because of its easy use and ordering internationally as well becomes easy because payment can be done with very low fees with btc or any other coin. Only thing is that international shipping delivery should exits with the company so that it can easily scale up its business.

I think in your cases there should not be even a question "when". Because it had to be done yesterday! The statistics given by you speaks for itself. Good luck ;)

Yes., Ofcourse using cryptocurrency to buy appliances and any other thing that can be bought in malls,restaurant shops etc is a good idea. It is one way of introducing our Bitcoin externally.

I have never used my Bitcoins for any transaction l. I just trade it into fiat currencies which serves as an investment similar with forex. But I think today, companies are now starting to accept Bitcoins in exchange of services rendered and consumer products being bought. This is because they are now adapting the idea that Bitcoin is really something for future and development. It is a good way also for the company to have an additional means of payment, an option for their costumers and clients.

If the mall supports
I will
New way

the currency issue will be the biggest issue for you.  are you planning keeping most of the BTC you receive or will you have to convert it to pay your employees, vendors, etc..  I saw earlier you mentioned you were thinking about the potential for refund abuse, but if you have to peg to the USD you will be staring at BTC price charts alot!

Yes because by doing it I am promoting the use of bitcoin and make people aware that using bitcoin to buy things in a mall or supermarkets are hassle-free. I will start  the trend until every store owners in that mall will accept btc because they will see that there is a huge demand.

It depends if it cost me more money than paying with cash or credit then most likely not. Although I do want to promoto crypto so if it was not to much more than I would do it.. I tried to pay at a store with BTC not to long ago at a B%M sotre and the fee was 17% that is the problem with paying with crypto sometimes. For small purchases I don't mind paying a few dollars extra to help create awareness and support crypto but when you are talking over 500-1000 that 17% adds up fast with the sales tax.

I believe that it would be a great idea when we can spend cryptocurrency for the purchase of an appliance. when it will get involved in the Blockchain technology then this market will be more spread out around the world.
when someone can be able to use his or her crypto-currency for spending on the appliance then this system would be more popular, it is a simple case, when you give facility then people will come to you. so It crypto-currency should be used for any purposes in our life.

Thank you all for your valuable input!  At this point we are definitely moving forward with our Bitcoin initiative so it isn't a matter of "if" we will accept Bitcoin, but "WHEN"!!!   :D  Please take a moment and answer the poll I posted so that we can begin collecting some hard numbers.  Everyone's input and feedback, up to this point, has helped solidify our decision and has helped point us in the right direction.  I will follow up with additional info as it becomes available. 

Thank you all, again!

Once again, thank you to everyone for your feedback and input.  As of today, 11.15.2017, we are OFFICIALLY accepting BTC!!!  Stop by and check us out!

https://www.consolidatedfoodservice.com/ (https://www.consolidatedfoodservice.com/)

https://www.consolidatedfoodservice.com/blog/cfs-now-accepting-bitcoin/ (https://www.consolidatedfoodservice.com/blog/cfs-now-accepting-bitcoin/)

NOW ACCEPTING BITCOIN!
LOUISVILLE, KY - 11-15-2017 -- Press Release -- Consolidated Foodservice launches Bitcoin payment integration. 

Bitcoin’s (BTC) spectacular rise in a few short years means it is now the world’s leading crypto-currency.  A leader in innovation, Consolidated Foodservice (CFS) is excited to announce a new initiative to become the first company in the kitchen and restaurant supply industry to offer commercial grade restaurant and kitchen equipment for purchase with the crypto-currency, Bitcoin. 

Consolidated Foodservice customers will be able to use Bitcoin to purchase a wide variety of commercial grade kitchen accessories and appliances from water filtration systems and refrigerators to walk-in freezers and much more.

At Consolidated Foodservice we feel that you either stay ahead of technology or you fall behind.  Since January 1, 2017 Bitcoins performance has grown a staggering 550% to a value of $6,500 USD!  As Bitcoin gains even more mainstream momentum and continues to grow exponentially, there are sure to be late adopters scrambling to play catch up as they believe Bitcoin is merely a “trend”.  CFS believes that Bitcoin is not only a viable form of currency, but the future of world-wide ecommerce - and a very exciting future at that!

Industry-leading Bitcoin payment platform Stripe will be processing the Bitcoin transactions. Stripe handles billions of dollars every year for businesses around the world and offers a significant leap forward in processing ecommerce payments.  Stripe's investors include PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, and Elon Musk. 
 
For additional information and to learn how Consolidated Foodservice can cater to your forward-thinking business, visit us at: www.consolidatedfoodservice.com, email us: admin@consolidatedfoodservice.com or call us at: 1-800-550-0706.

I'm going to pick the third choice which is - ABSOLUTELY NOT!  I'm hording all of my Bitcoins. Why use bitcoin when you can use fiat instead? Bitcoin is too expensive so using it too buy anything just basically means that you are cutting all of your profits in the next years.

I know you posted this 2017 but you need a change of mind Bitcoin is not all about hoarding, we should use it as what the developer intended us to use and that is peer to peer transactions if everybody is going to hoard and, it defeats its purpose, and Cryptocurrency will go standstill without development, we should promote usage and adoption for merchants.

Why not, tbh, if I had a lot of BTC, I would probably use it to buy just about everything (provided I had a constant stream of BTC income)