Bitcoin Forum

Hello all. It has been a while since I made a topic regarding my hardware store which has started accepting Bitcoin as a payment in September of 2021. It has now been 6 months and the business is going very well, but sadly not a lot of people decide to pay using Bitcoin. I often get people saying things like: "Isn't Bitcoin a huge scam or something?" or "Couldn't Bitcoin just drop to 1 cent?"...

It's sad to see that people still have those stupid stereotypes about Bitcoin. This honesty sucks because it gives a negative reputation to Bitcoin and my business.

However, I have made sure to inform people who used BTC to make a purchase about the BitcoinTalk Forum and how it is a good place to learn and read on the topic of cryptocurrencies in general.

Well, your customers don't know much about Bitcoin that is why they treat BTC as an investment pyramid scheme or a scam.
I already experienced that thing in my friend of friends I don't have any referrals or referring them but those people told me that I'm promoting a pyramid scheme even I just told them about Bitcoin.

So for me, it's normal that we heard BTC as a scam investment they don't know actually what is Bitcoin there is no difference between accepting Paypal and accepting cryptocurrency. They are both the same but more people knows about Paypal than Bitcoin.

Such kind of statement tells you that there are lots of people still doesn't know what is bitcoin.
Anyone who says bitcoin is a scam is mostly oldies, or victims of fake news, just tell them paypal accepts bitcoin you know, so paypal is scam also?. And that 1 cent, lmao, ldk if its a joke or sarcasm, or just pure stupidity.

The last time someone asked me this question was about three years ago. I talked to the same person late last year and we spent probably close to an hour discussing the status of BTC and crypto market. So you see, it takes time before they change their mind. Just keep doing what you're doing and the numbers will grow eventually.

Do you have companies that regularly orders from you? Maybe it would help if you could send an email that you're accepting BTC with a simple guide how they could pay.

If they think bitcoin is a scam, how about our journey, which has long recognized bitcoin, even now, there is no evidence that we were cheated by bitcoin or bitcoin took our money away.
They think that digital money is all the same.
If they have doubts about bitcoin, why would they want to join your business from the start?
It's better for people like that to be given a clear understanding of the world of bitcoin, don't just comment without having proof.

I am seeing the silver lining with your hardware store not having a lot of people paying in Bitcoin but often people having wrong impressions of Bitcoin instead. Perhaps your store is making people aware of Bitcoin rather than earn more Bitcoin. People confused about Bitcoin coming over your store should go home a little bit enlightened. At the very least, they will leave your store knowing that Bitcoin is not a scam nor will it drop to 1 cent.

Incidentally, just days ago I went biking and passed by this bike shop. It's called CryptoBTCikes. I was biking early on a Sunday morning and the shop was still closed so I didn't know whether that shop is accepting Bitcoin payment like your store. Or, if it is, whether there are indeed customers paying in Bitcoin. But even if it doesn't accept Bitcoin payment, surely there will be people who will be curious and those who will be asking the real deal with Bitcoin. So it's still an opportunity to help raise awareness about Bitcoin.

https://i.imgur.com/XRIVG8D.jpg

Op have done a contribution to the bitcoin community. A small sapling turns out as a big tree. What OP have done is like the sapling, we need to have patience. Surely in the long run more people will start making payments in terms of bitcoin. Maybe for now there is no big awareness about bitcoin in your locality. Same as his contribution every small store owners should have positive opinion on bitcoin. Such a decision will make a big impact on the market.

I request OP to post a pic of his store mentioning bitcoin accepted.

Despite what you tell, today the average view on Bitcoin is better than it was 5 and 10 years ago and it will gradually improve. It is appreciated that you implement Bitcoin payment in your store but I think that, apart from people who do not pay in Bitcoin because they do not know what it is, not many people pay in Bitcoin because it is not very smart to pay in Bitcoin and save in fiat, it is much better the opposite.

I think this is just a matter of education. I think, some people say that in your shop because they don't understand bitcoin yet, and only heard it from other people who also think negatively about bitcoin.
well, the best thing to do is to educate them that bitcoin is not a scam, or what they fear. This can also be an opportunity for you to teach them. however, I'm sure that when someone using bitcoin comes to your shop, they will be happy.
however, bitcoin is quite familiar in the community, but they still don't know about bitcoin and give bad comments about it. to be honest, this happens in my neighborhood too. many people who know about crypto, especially bitcoin but say that it is a scam and other negative things. i think that they are just less educated about crypto or bitcoin. I hope you don't give up on this.

It does not mean, about how many people that are using bitcoin, at least some people are using it, and with no or few people using it, you are not losing any money, your coins are secure and safe as long as you make it safe on cold wallet and still avoiding malware and other attacks. Best to continue to convince them if they are asking you questions about bitcoin.

For people to avoid misconceptions about bitcoin, this forum can really educate them if they are ready to learn more about bitcoin, it is an excellent recommendation.

One misconception is that Bitcoin is known and understood by a majority of the people. The world is not bitcointalk. The world tends to believe what they see on TV - and they've seen for too long the "bitcoin is scam" narrative. After they'll understand it's not a scam they'll believe the "environmental disaster" narrative.
It also depends on the age and background and age of the potential customers. The younger and more educated they are, the more open they may be to Bitcoin (at least I expect so).
But the vast majority not believing in bitcoin (or hating it because they think that they've missed the train, or because they think it's a Ponzi) is basically just normal.

If you didn't expect all this, then you had unrealistic expectations imho.

It's okay, still many people don't know what bitcoin is. What they've overheard are just all about the negative things about it because they don't dig deeper to gain knowledge what bitcoin is.

I feel bad that it's giving the bad impression of your business to what they're saying. But you can decide for what's better for your business, eventually these people will comeback to you and tell that they've known bitcoin and admit that they are wrong about what they've said to you.

When we don't want to learn something new, our brains tend to the easy solution, which is either to underestimate that thing or describe it as dangerous, fraud, immoral, etc. and then we find the appropriate motif for not learning.

Most of the reasons are laziness and taking positions from social media or television channels without checking what can be said.

I also do not think that people in the region have faced financial problems such as inflation, difficulty in money transfers, and stock trading.

Can you find and print out (or put it on a visible place on your website if it's online) some good infographic material about Bitcoin? So that people can see and read stuff before asking questions like this. If you google 'bitcoin infographic' you can find plenty of options. What I also think can be helpful is an image with names of big companies that accept Bitcoin or famous people who endorse Bitcoin because things like that matter to people when they're not sure. Also, if you want to encourage people to use Bitcoin, perhaps you could make a small discount for those paying in Bitcoin? I'm sorry people are being negative about Bitcoin in your store.

It's quite unfortunate that people still don't understand what cryptocurrency is, in general. But that's what every government wants! Every month, I receive at least one email from my bank which states the risk of cryptocurrency and also states that it is not a legal tender in my country. These are the big forces who are running this propaganda.

But I would request you to keep faith in the current situation. Things are changing slowly but surely. Once people understands what crypto is, you will have the first mover advantage.

Yes, the one stumbling block for most people are the misconceptions that are being spread by mass media about Bitcoin and the message they get from these platforms. People cannot comprehend that something digital can have value and that it can be used as a payment option.

They also think the extreme price fluctuations are indicative of a very risky investment like Ponzi Schemes. Also... spending something that might double or triple in value in a very short time period... does not incentivize people to use it as a currency.  ::)

Happy to see that you are accepting bitcoin as a payment method for your shop however you don't need to worry so much about the value of the bitcoin, many companies are accepting bitcoin payments and you are not the only one besides that if you have any doubts you can exchange your bitcoins into fiat daily, but again, storing and saving bitcoins in long term can be profitable for you and you may get even more profits from your investment in bitcoin than what you get from selling hardware, in the other hand since most of the hardware clients know about new technologies and interested in bitcoin, accepting bitcoin as a payment system can be profitable for you.

That's a good start, but considering that there are a lot of ongoing scams in some parts of our forum and the fact that scams aren't moderated in here, I'd suggest doing something along the lines of what @kryptqnick (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5389039.msg59480773#msg59480773) posted, but instead of those, put a BTCitcoin signage at the checkout counter with a QR code that goes to the "whitepaper (https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf)" or one of its "local versions (https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-paper)".

I kinda feeling your geo location must be with less bitcoiners and more cash loving peeps. You should do that survey so that you can execute this payment processor in proper ways.

If you really wanna push them to accept the bitcoin then you must go find some exclusive offers for the same. For example, create promos for bitcoin payments and keep the prices non discounted for the cash payment or credit cards.

Show them how you do not need to lay extra surcharges on the bitcoin as compared to the CC payments. Keep some free giveaways for the bitcoins.

This could form your private promo ecosystem to make them think about it and go for that option.

If they are anyways not interested then they won’t try it.

Back in september 2021, you mentioned that you implemented the option to receive payments through Lightning Network, but not directly in Bitcoin. Nevertheless, after a seemingly prompt period of time from inquiries to implementation, you mentioned that you received payments from four different people in the same day, through LN I presume.

To contextualize a bit more the case:

Q1) To what do you attribute that initial rapid response to LN?

Q2) Are you now accepting both direct BTC and LN payments?

Q3) In rough terms, how many customers are using each of these two payment modes per month?

We really encountered that one, but let's just pass it. Still, I was shocked about saying Bitcoin is a scam, because at that time, I would say here in our country, only the old ones really know Bitcoin. Usually, almost all of them heard about it and know what it is because it was already discussed on television. I think they really have a lack of awareness and knowledge of it. Just keep your payment method open in case someone wants to pay you for fun.

This means one thing and that is those people you are talking with are not knowledgeable about Bitcoin and has no trust in this so they are not the one you are targeting to use bitcoin as payments.
no one can blame them because they are still has no good knowledge about this market.
that is a good initiative telling them where is the best place to learn and understand cryptocurrency specially bitcoin.

This should be expected. The vast majority of people don’t understand what bitcoin, cryptocurrency, or what the blockchain is. That includes people who own bitcoin. It’s still working it’s way in to mainstream, and it’s going to take more time. But the cool thing is you accept bitcoin but it’s not like it’s the only thing you accept, so I don’t know why anyone would care or how it would look bad for your business.

Oh you'd be surprised... I get the "1 cent" nonsense very often and it drives me crazy. People are ignorant.

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To be fully honest, accepting Bitcoin in my store is mostly an experiment. I didn't implemented BTC payments with the goal of profiting from it.

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

Not only in your locality, there are also still many places that do not fully understand bitcoin and are sceptical about it. But I think you don't need to worry, bitcoin is now more recognized and popular. those people will soon have a different view, they will have to start learning about bitcoin when the government realizes the importance of bitcoin.
To encourage people to pay with bitcoins at your store, I think you should have offers, discounts, or gifts when paying with bitcoin in-store. This will pique people's curiosity and they will start to learn bitcoin for their benefit.

As you said, there cannot be any profit until these guys know about bitcoin, and considering your patience and dedication to help them understand it by directing them here is absolutely right because in here the knowledge on how to start investing and avoid some malicious investment platform using the cryptocurrencies has been clarified. There will be nothing left for them because if they wanted to ask, they can get honest answers from multiple users here.

In 2017-2018 many airline companies began to accept Bitcoin for air ticket payments, even some companies that are dedicated to tourist passes in some countries also began to accept BTC, but somehow in some of these businesses they stopped accepting at the time that BTC fell in price, that is to say when it was about to reach $2k, they did not know how to withstand the bearish onslaught that happened at that time, people did not believe anymore, however those who have remained until now must have registered a great profit, especially when the btc was close to $70k, this is something that cannot be denied or covered with the finger, then those small businesses that accept BTC at this time will be the best investment of their lives.