Bitcoin Forum

As we all are aware that many big companies are accepting crypto payments. However, small online businesses do want to accept crypto payments but they are getting concerned over many things. I have seen merchants discussing this on a forum about these things. So what's your take on this guys? And if any merchant is here do share your thoughts.

only the bold shop owner who accepts the volatility of BTC.  even investors are fearful of in investing BTC because the volatility turns a profit into a loss.  what they could do is use the platform they could convert the BTC into USD.

i'm not a shop owner but if i have a popular e-commerce site, i would probably try a few selected items to sell for BTC if i'm one. just to test and slowly attract the crypto community.

E-commerce? it's really easy to accept Bitcoin payment because you can rent virtual office where the country is accept Bitcoin, so you don't have any problem about it. I don't think they're scared, they just don't want to spend more time and they don't consider people are prefer to use Bitcoin than their local fiat. There are many Bitcoin payment processor which can easily convert Bitcoin to USD.

You can check in this site where a lot small e-commerce are accepting Bitcoin payment https://spendabit.co/

I guess it might be because of regulations they can't afford to do like other big companies have started accepting crypto payments. As small online business merchants feel they should play it safe, maybe that's why they haven't started accepting crypto payments yet. Or maybe some small online business merchants have started accepting crypto payments but haven't made it known to all their customers. That's probably what I would do too, if I were a small online business owner.

One easy way to battle against volatility is to use a medium, services which exchange your Bitcoin, I know that you'd need to pay some extra fees, but you'll gain more over time as Bitcoin users will start buying from you.

Small traders with very limited capital actually don't need to implement payments via crypto if they only focus on profits on a very small scale. Though it wouldn't be any problem if a small merchant wanted to implement this as long as he was very capable of managing it well.

Because basically crypto has begun to be suitable for all people and is no longer limited to using it as long as it can be mutually beneficial. So don't equate small traders with big companies that have accepted crypto for payment, because it's like you are comparing a chicken with an elephant.

The goal is to accept bitcoin as a payment and swap some part back to Fiat, I did this whenever I get paid in bitcoin, my customers are also bitcoin investors and that's the difference, people who are ready to pay others in Bitcoin are those that understand what bitcoin is and also know about it's volatility, it is very easy to avoid the volatility side. For example you can swap instantly to USDT after a transaction or hold.

They complain about volatility but not the upside advantage of adding more value?

Let me reply like a businessman, especially in a small capacity, it won't be easy to accept crypto payment due to its fluctuation in price. This is business, you will accept payment and pays others too to restock and keep the business running.

What if you accepted crypto payment at a high price, and when the time comes for you to pay others, you are paying them at a reduced price? That's an automatic loss on the part of the businessman. Unless the person knows how to reach the chart very well to know when to collect it at lower prices or at a price that is reasonable enough. Yet, this is not always how business works.

Basically, the nonreliability of crypto prices will always shy direct businesses away from it.

Bigger businesses have more wiggle room than MSMEs, this allows them more freedom to take risks with certain options like accepting bitcoin as a means of payment. They also do it, cause they are big enterprises and the bitcoins community would report if Walmart or Amazon started accepting bitcoin as a means of payment.
Free publicity for limited risk.

Small businesses do not have much margin for errors and tend to turn over cash far more frequently and hence do not have the liberty to save up in bitcoin. Also, the little bakery down the street would not get on the news for accepting bitcoin, so does not get much publicity.
Another important important point is that they may not have the expertise to set the payment gateway themselves or be able to pay someone else to do that for them.

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That being said, lots of small businesses are accepting Bitcoin, we just do not hear enough of it and only judge with our local area.

- Jay -

Why they are scared? Can you elaborate more ? But most I've noticed about those merchants accepting bitcoin is that they are scared of volatility meaning they are scared of losing money which is why they needed to convert it immediately to their own fiat so that they can minimize the losses in case the price drops but again it prevents you gaining profit. Also the most famous is restricting using the crypto in their country which is they are confused if they stop accepting it or they just hide it as it can also attract new customers when they accept it though it is an illegal transaction so it would be bad in your business.

Most of the small businesses I have spoken to has a problem with the price fluctuation, because they need a point-of-sale (POS) system that can deal with that. Many of these small businesses are using 3rd party payment processors to deal with price fluctuations, because they convert the Crypto to Fiat almost immediately.

The other concern are the "legality" of using Bitcoin as a payment option, because many countries do not accept Bitcoin as legal tender and that pose problems for these businesses, if they accept it as payment.

Lots of factors like device or system needed for the acceptance of crypto payment. Well thats understandable on the part of big firms are they can shoulder and handle such situation but for smaller merchants, this could be tough. Maybe few or common crypto such as bitcoin might work but if a lot, maybe need more funds. Plus they pretty concern probably with the standing of crypto, regarding rules and regulations which in some countries arent clear yet.

From what you knew, what are their concerns about it? Could you share it, please, then we can discuss more.

I can not talk on behalf of small businesses but from my view, there are some concerns.

• Volatility of cryptocurrency in general that can impact the value of their company income from initial income to the day they cash it out to fiat currency.
• Trading volume of cryptocurrency especially altcoins. If they accept altcoins with too low trading volume, they will be impacted seriously with slippage, trading tax on DEX or price change on CEX.
• Above are most common and biggest concerns but they are problems for altcoins, not for Bitcoin especially the second issue. Other reasons can be legal issues with local governments.

Where have you seen small merchants being afraid to accept bitcoin payments? And where have you seen many big companies accepting crypto payments? Some major companies accept but it's a drop in the ocean while I would confidently say that small businesses are the ones who accept not only bitcoin payments but variety of choices to their customers.
So, small e-commerce businesses aren't scared and if some don't accept it's because they don't really see an addition of it to bring them extra users or some kind of benefits.
If you open small online shop where you'll sell kid toys or shampoos and hair care products, believe me, rarely will someone pay with crypto, especially if your audience is small.

My experience is quite different from yours. I've seen many small businesses merchant asking which payment processor to use if they want to accept BTC, how to set up their payment processor on their own, and so on. Instead of looking scared, I think they are eager to accept crypto as their payment option. Most of the time the issue is about selecting a payment processor that accepts multiple cryptos, not only Bitcoin. I don't think they are afraid of crypto if they are asking for a solution on crypto payment processor integration.

Other than regulatory reasons, I don't see any real reason why they would be afraid to integrate crypto into their service. Volatility is easily solvable by liquidating their crypto to fiat directly after a buyer makes a purchase. Even BTCPay support that with its plugin. Setting up the process might take a while but it is more like an annoyance instead of a fear factor IMO. If you find them being afraid of volatility, you can tell them that. Not to mention accepting crypto doesn't mean ditching your fiat channel directly. They can use both and buyers have more options, so I'd say that is a win.

Till date bitcoin payment remains as a choice and it should be kept that way since that is the whole point of it. Bitcoin isn’t forced asset into the system. Those who understand the bitcoins true power has already started accepting it and those who are deep inside the crypto sphere has already made grand acceptance of the same.

I think it’s not about who is big or small, it’s all about who makes best use of the crypto currency for their own benefit in the long run.

Also, e-commerce businesses can simply accept fiat to keep the accounting easier and profits at highest.

There are many smalll businesses that accept crypto payment, it's not not a question of fear but rather if it's worth while or not. Why would a business accept crypto if no one (or not many) people are going to be using it anyways

Small business are always concerned about their growth. As they are small they are always more concerned about various aspects. The main reason for which they don’t accept cryptos are due to it’s regulation. As you are aware that many countries haven’t accepted Bitcoins as legal tender, or infact in many countries Bitcoins are illegal. So yes for this they don’t want to mess up with the government and hence they stay away from these. Actually they should implement payment methods according to the countries they are operating.

It completely depends on the legal status of the bitcoin in the respective country. If the government has provided a nice and favorable legal framework, why would a small business be worried about accepting bitcoin payment? They should be worried if there is no or unfavorable legal framework available.

Otherwise, I don't see a big challenge for the small businesses that would discourage them effectively from not accepting bitcoin for their business.

I think in this case maybe some of them are reluctant to use it because of existing regulatory constraints or indeed as you say only a few of the customers really like to pay in crypto, but apart from that actually small businesses should be able to add payment options with bitcoin because at least consumers can have many options in making payments, apart from that I think maybe small businesses still have problems applying payment options in applications which are partly managed by third parties at this time like shopee and other sites which tend to be more used by small businesses or beginners today.

I also think lack of legal protection (regulation by the government) is main reason why small scale businesses aren’t accepting it as a means of payment. Also the stereotypes spread about cryptocurrency been too volatile and also its wallets prone to hack can be another reason. Irreversibility of transactions is one aspect that scares small scale businesses owners. Some of the business owners are also to careless to safeguard their keys and will rather trust other institutions keeping it for them.

Apart from this I think bitcoin been as accepted as means of payment favours the small scale businesses more because of its advantages like low transaction fee and hedge against inflations

I'd say businesses in general are still not ready for adoption yet simply because prices are still fiat based and doing so will just yield to loss. Most of the people here in this industry are using Bitcoin more of an asset to maximize its characteristic of being volatile. Only few people are probably using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment and they are more likely huge businesses or individuals having huge transactions while trying to avoid taxes cross countries. It is not a bad thing if small and big businesses are still in doubt of this technology. Someday as development occurs,  hopefully, more places would recognize the potential of this industry.

As it is already becoming an undeniable fact that bitcoin is here to stay, every business that wants to stay ahead should do their best to incorporate bitcoin as a payment option. They must do this, especially in countries where Bitcoin is allowed. Why large organizations have no qualms in accepting bitcoin as a payment option Small e-commerce businesses may consider a lot of other factors. For example, having the technical know-how to accept bitcoin as a payment option is not just enough; you also need someone who has the know-how to set up and program the application software that would enable a seamless transaction between the business and the client. There is actually more to it than meets the eye, because with one wrong move, you will see your revenue dwindling because you did not put in place the mechanism to prevent a loss when there is a market downturn.

The reason why many fear to invest in bitcoin is the reason why many merchants fear to accept bitcoin payments.
Legalization and regulation is the key reason why many people fear to get into bitcoin.
Price volatility, less number of customers using bitcoin payment, time delay for confirmations, knowledge required in beginning to use bitcoin etc... are few other reasons why merchants don't prefer to use bitcoin payments.

There are not matter about small or bigger companies want to adopt and make Bitcoin as legal payment transaction for e commerce business, based on how costumers respond when accepting Bitcoin will they are happy or not. No doubt with bigger business have good impact when accepting Bitcoin as legal payment transaction because they get advantage how faster and lower fees needed when sending or receiving payment from their costumer.

But small e commerce business have advantage too but with the same network use for sending or accepting Bitcoin, I worried have bigger impact with transaction under $10 and have to pay fees above $5 and costumer will not happy with this situation.

Most of the people who have small e-commerce need a cash flow, you know buy the merchant then announce it and then sell it to buy more and keep a small % as profit, that's how it works. And that's why a lot of people don't like the idea to use bitcoin as a payment system, because bitcoin doesn't feel yet like a cash flow tool, it's more like an investment tool to become rich over a long period of time, but if we want to use as our day by day coin the fees will take more money than the taxes does.

Just today when dealing with a small business online to order some replacement parts for a hobby of mine, I reached out to the owner of the business asking him if he was willing to accept crypto for payment.  The amount was small, only around $50, but the business owner responded that they don't accept crypto and aren't willing to look into it.  I think this is a pretty common reaction and one I'm quite familiar with.  I recall offering payment in crypto to all sorts of people in the past and it's rare they are willing to accept Bitcoin.  I should be thankful, as I remember one time in particular I offered someone dozens of BTC for a $300 payment and they refused.  I wonder if they have nightmares about that now.

There is a point but dear in my view if you are selling digital services then bitcoin might change your whole business let me explain one of my friends was working for Puppy ads in the USA from Pakistan and they were accepting Western Union payments or Money Gram maximum of times after work clients face the payment difficulties and it consumes time as well, Note this was before 2017 timeline then some of the clients directly recommended him the BTC on that time and he really enjoyed the Bull rally of 2017 as well you can say easily he got 5x of the base payment from clients due to holding Bitcoin just for international transfers. He realized after that he should book profit there and get a safe exit.

Payments were not much big as 50$ to 100$ weekly but due to the Bull run he got a base 250$ to 500$ per payment this is how he admired BTC and now he is a full-time crypto man.    

Many small businesses are hesitant to accept payments in Bitcoin because they know that the cryptocurrencies are more volatile and if the capital is small there will be high probability if it decreases and will be very difficult to conduct his business. A small trader cannot afford to hold BTC for long time. For this reason, there is also high possibility of big losses in his business. Those who are big traders have enough ability to take the risk and hold a part of their capital in crypto. Finally they are the ones who get success rapidly. So a business starter need to be well aware of their business situation before accepting payment in crypto.

I was for the idea that the very small e-commerce businesses you mentioned here are the ones that are bold enough to jump on board with crypto, unlike the big companies as they are eager to expand their customer reach, and besides the small business guys don't need to seat for board meetings for such decision making which makes implementation of such super fast.
Btw big companies have risk management departments which make them highly unlikely to get onto crypto unlike small business owners who will be happy to take the risk.

It's all about having the right information, if somebody is feeding these guys information and his main selling point is based on volatility.. any business will have cold feet, but if you sell the idea with the possibility that the crypto could be saved up in stablecoins to cushion the business against a volatile market, then they will be happy to go the crypto way! So basically it's all about the right information.

Small merchants are fearful and doubtful about the regulations on their countries. They don't know the possible consequences of adopting btc as payment method regards fines and punishments which can be applied to them. Bitcoin is still seem as shady and illegal currency by many people in many countries. It doesn't help spreading bitcoin adoption fastly among retailers.

But I believe with the positive feedbacks from businessmen on this forum and on the internet in general can help encouraging other potential adopters to finally make their decisions in favour of bitcoin as well.

Even big corporate firms stopped bitcoin acceptance over time soon after the launch. When they expect something out of it and people weren't much interested in spending on terms of bitcoin this happens. One such example is the Bitcoin acceptance from travel support platform Expedia.

According to me, it is the small scale businesses that are much into cryptocurrency acceptance than large scale companies. This is all because of the trust they have over bitcoin's growth. Only thing these small scale businesses accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are accumulated in specific countries and the same mentality need to widespread all around.

Only if directly processing cryptocurrencies.

If using a payment processor to accept the crypto for them, then these platforms are supposed to automatically handle refunds (in an ideal world; in practice, that responsibility gets offloaded to the merchant sadly).

I would say there are software that you can use which adjust bitcoin price according to whatever fiat price it was. If you are selling something for 99 dollars, then the software will make sure it charges people whatever 99 dollar worths in bitcoin, whenever price of bitcoin changes, the price people will pay changes.

On top of that, you could ask for usdt or busd, which means that you are going to get paid in bitcoin, or hundreds of any other coin and that's great, but at the end of the day we are going to end up stable coin in our account automatically, that is what these software are capable of doing and if you are in e-commerce then you could use them.

Since you said you heard some small merchants discussing in a forum about the limitation on cryptocurrency payments, you can as well point out what their objection is to cryptocurrency payments.

That way we can know what area to contribute to thos discussions, and try to make things more clearer and understandable going forward.

But if you ask me, I will say that most small merchants will be more concerned about the fee changes in cryptocurrency payments and since there can afford a personal cryptocurrency payment processor there may decide to remain with their faint payments.

Their fears aren't really baseless. There's a huge discussion to be made regarding the profitability and financial security of employing crypto payments especially in the case of small-time businesses. Large businesses of course could weather the storm even if bitcoin or any other crypto they use for payments go to zero but micro-businesses and e-commerce? Not so much. There's a huge margin of risk that they simply couldn't take lightly, that's why it's still not a ubiquitous feature.

I think it was the opposite actually. It's easy for a small business to accept a crypto because they can just accept it easily without any legalization process whatsoever. It's just that small companies are too small to not be noticed by us but if the number of them continues to grow then you will now notice them because there are now small businesses which are close to you that will accept crypto payments.

The merchants that you saw in the forum have already accepted crypto in their business but they only want the people here to know about it because you know they want some recognitions and it can also help them get some merits to rank up fast ;).

Accepting payments in Bitcoin is very easy for e-commerce sites.  Because wordpress offers various plugins to accept crypto payments. Accepting payments in Bitcoin is a sign of a better world and advanced technology so accepting fiat as well as a payment system in Bitcoin is a smart idea. I support and appreciate it.  And I think that people who are more bullish on Bitcoin at the moment will be in a better place in the future. Because Bitcoin is a potential electronic payment system that will be used globally in the future just like the USD

Im not sure that scared is the right word. The majority of them just don't think that a lot of people will use it. Or even don't know anything about crypto

Small businesses and ecommerce sites today can easily accept BTC in Lightning. Even when they are using Shopify because the STRIKE can be used with it in receiving payments.  Lightning Network will take over small businesses when more people are going to be using Bitcoin.

Merchants somehow are scared of the BTC volatility but they can use the Clover credit card processor that partnered with STRIKE already. Over time the fear of onlineshops will decline and starts accepting BTC.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220407005830/en/Strike-Launches-Shopify-Integration-Bringing-Bitcoin-Lightning-Payments-to-Merchants