Bitcoin Forum

I was looking at this great little tool to convert BTC addresses into 2D Barcodes:

http://qr.ma.eatgold.com/ (http://qr.ma.eatgold.com/)

It then occurred to me that this could be a great way to help new physical businesses accept bitcoins.

The idea is to make a website that lets a Bitcoin user to upload their:
1. Bitcoin address
2. optional company logo and text

Then the website would output a page similar to the attached photo I made:

http://i56.tinypic.com/kakz69.jpg

The new Bitcoin merchant could then print out this page, and tape it next to their cash register so any customer with a smartphone can use it to pay with bitcoins.

Making this webpage is beyond my skill set,  but I am sure someone here can make this easily.

I know several businesses that would likely start using bitcoins right away  if they could do it this easily.

Once this tool is created,  we should also have a link to it from the "Retail Business" section of https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_accept_Bitcoin,_for_small_businesses (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_accept_Bitcoin,_for_small_businesses)

Any thoughts?

--------Edit-------
Bounty List:
www.memorydealers.com (http://www.memorydealers.com)  1BTC
V4Vendettas   1BTC

(2 BTC Total)


-------7-16-2011 Edit------
1.5 BTC paid by myself.

Now that a pretty decent tool is online at:  http://ma.eatgold.com/accept/

I posted a link to it from the Wiki here:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_accept_Bitcoin,_for_small_businesses#Retail_businesses
Where else can we post this tool that people who need it can easily find it?

Please post it online, and then post the link back here for us all to see.

Sorry, I dont get it. What is the difference between the page you linked and the page you are proposing?

Its basically a good idea for a business that is a huge city were someone would actually know about bitcoins they could put in a lamination and then paste it to their cash register table where customers usuallly write checks

Make that a 2 bitcoin reward.
Just PM me with the working URL when/if you get this going and let me know who to send it too.

V4V

It's not so different than the site that is online now,  except that we want the final page to look as clean and professional as possible so merchants would be proud to laminate it and have it next to their register.

Does anyone else think it's ridiculous to introduce errors into the QR-Code, just because you can?
All you are doing is making the QR-Code less likely to be able to be read successfully.


Remember, these QR-Code scanners are trying to adjust for size, angle, lighting, distance, color, reflection, smudges, etc.  Why intentionally introduce errors with a giant Bitcoin logo in the center of the QR-Code?    Silly if you ask me!

Doesn't it hurt anonymity if you have a constant receiving address in that everyone could look up how much money you've been receiving?

Half-baked, but might serve the purpose:

http://leetcoin.appspot.com/merch/ (http://leetcoin.appspot.com/merch/)

Bounty can be sent to this merchant:

http://leetcoin.appspot.com/merch/15oLjwC1cnz24RnztrBupTG4FUe5KFCZLL (http://leetcoin.appspot.com/merch/15oLjwC1cnz24RnztrBupTG4FUe5KFCZLL)

Roger, I want to do much more than this. I think that Bitcoin should be completely integrated into the cash register and back office equipment.

@codemojo:

i actually think it is morally wrong to build a php-script, which pulls _my server for the qrcode_, adds a few words and then claim the bounty for you (and by not mentioning it, implying you did the qr-part yourself).

those who set out the bounty might decide otherwise, but i find that highly inappropriate.

Shouldn't be too hard to implement at all.
I currently own http://bit-bank.org. I could probably create exactly what you described - user registers account, user can input their own BitCoin address, site creates QR code and custom page (which it basically already does - see http://bit-bank.org/user/seeARMS) and lets the user print it off.

I agree!
Please let me know if you have any ideas on how I can help with that.
I know Magicaltux is also interested in developing this.

Yes,  but for merchants who care about this, they can easily print up a new sheet with a new address each day.
This isn't meant to be a long term solution for large merchants.  It is just a way for mom and pop shops to easily accept bitcoin.

@ Codemojo,

Thanks for getting it up so quick!
http://leetcoin.appspot.com/merch/ (http://leetcoin.appspot.com/merch/)

Can we add a bit better instructions for the input page?
I want to make it easy enough for my mother to use.

I imagine that the text could read:

This website will easily allow anyone to accept bitcoins at their store.

All you need to do is:
1. Upload your company logo and text. (optional)
2. Enter the Bitcoin address that you would like to RECEIVE payments to.
3. Print the resulting form, and display it prominently in your checkout area.



If anyone else has additional ideas or comments,  please let us know!

I would also like to add foreign language support for this.

Here is the same text needed but in Japanese:


実際の店舗でも以下の方法を利用することにより、簡単にビットコインで支払いを受けることができます。
(PCにビットコインソフトをインストールし、ビットコイン口座を作っておく必要があります。ビットコインソフトはhttp://www.bitcoin.co.jpよりダウンロードできます。インストールするだけでかんたんに口座開設可能。)

1.   任意で会社のロゴのアップロードおよびロゴの下に表示したいお好みの文章を入力します(任意)
2.   使用するビットコイン口座アドレスを入力する(必須)
3.   送信ボタンを押しQRコードを表示する
4.   ページを印刷後店舗のレジ横などに張ってください
5.   お客様にQRコードを携帯などで読み取ってもらい支払いを行ってもらう

Is it possible to put links to each different language for this form?
Can some other forum users translate it into other languages?

Since I am in Japan,  I know 3 stores that will accept bitcoin right away with this easy to use page.
I'm sure I can find more!

Here you go: http://ma.eatgold.com/accept

Agreed, I was in a hurry, just put the working version up and let it go. Would you consider making your qr-code genarator available via a public API (possibly with a fee)?

I'll update the page so it gives proper credits.

@MemoryDealers

Always new feature requests huh? I thought in bitcoinland things would be different...

Just wanted to bump this thread to say:

You can produce QR codes of your bitcoin addresses and then drag and drop them into your artwork using MultiBit.
This is a new desktop bitcoin client - see its thread in the 'Alternative Clients' forum:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=43616.0

For people who are interested in a site that lets them embed their own logo into the QR code:

http://uqr.me/nhodges

Been working on something for my wife's Boutique.

Initial setup has stickers for her price tags:

http://i53.tinypic.com/2pry6hw.jpg

More to come soon...

What about a thing where the merchant phones in with a telephone, logs into their accout (userid/pin number, like telephone banking) and then they can press 5 and "wait for bitcoin" where it enters a loop telling them "checking for recent transactions - no recent transactions" until a transaction actually comes in, then it says "you have received 0.15 bitcoins from transaction id starting 123 ending ABC" or something like that?

I like this idea so much anyway, for merchants who might not have internet in their storefront, for people with only voice+sms phones, and for my own personal use .... So I made it a reality :)

If interested pls see my post in this forum "IVR interface to Bitcoin".

Contributing to the "We accept bitcoins" poster idea...

http://cryto.net/projects/bitcoin-poster/

It's a bit hackish because a background image is normally not printed by a browser (so I worked with overlayed divs), but it should do the job.
If you have any ideas for additional templates, do share them :)

Thanks for the added effort joepie91.

I just tried testing it out with a 3072 × 2304 image.

After the upload completed it came back with the error message of:  An error occurred during upload.


Could that be because the image is too big?
Is there a way to make it automatically resize images that are too big?

You should also put your Bitcoin donation address at the bottom of that page.

Thanks!

There's a limit of 2MB per image right now, and no resizing is in place yet... I'll fix that later today :)

I would recommend adding at least the sum to the possible "standart" bitcoin QR code. And better is to include both the sum and a field for comments (like item name).
I think that including the sum is very important.

With those fields a customer just has to point his smartphone at the bill / price tag / invoice, check the value and press the "Pay" button.

I know both MultiBit and the Android Bitcoin Wallet are using the format:

bitcoin:14381U2dpm3uprqRJG7VPxanCRyzJDtmEE?amount=0.1&label=three

i.e 'amount' for the Bitcoin amount i.e. your sum field
and
'label' for a general labeling field which could be your item description. (It is also used for the addressee)

This is about as standard as anything is in the 'bitcoin universe'.