Bitcoin Forum

How many of you are actually asking stores/restaurants if they'll accept bitcoin?

These stores won't add it if you don't ask.

I'm talking about the local/small ones.

I can see asking stores that you really really want to accept BTC.   But going and being a spokesperson for BTC adoption is going to be pretty time consuming, given the whole speech you will have to give business owners.  If you are retired and this is something that you enjoy doing, then I get it...but otherwise, I think your time would be better spent doing something else...

I think Bitpay and Coinbase and other companies like this are already marketing to businesses and trying to do this, because it means more profits for them.   

I just routinely ask places before I buy.  That way, somebody will eventually mention that people have been asking for it.

Why bother? It's not like BTC is even that useful in retail. Let it first prove itself by conquering the international remittances market and e-commerce.

This is a great idea. Keyword: ask. That's it. That's all you have to do. If they are interested, they will ask more. If not, move on. Do not force it upon them. That gives bitcoiners the wrong image.

Yes. The strength in bitcoin is in the international remittances market and service. Not local payment gateway.

I talked about bitcoin when on vacation and a bit drunk with guy who owns couple of bigger food stores. He was very interested when i mentioned that there wont be any actual handling costs etc. He said banks can charge like 5 percent of the value of purchase (especially if using rarer card, like amex in here finland (here its rare on smaller towns and countryside)). Whole profit goes to the bank in these cases, but he still needs to offer this kind of service because of the reputation.

I told him about the public ledger, decentralization and global network doing this stuff.

I told him how these payments are made by phone scanning qr code etc.

He said that if central government issues a ban on this kind of thing, then "the normal person" will let go off bitcoin.

I told him about finnish bitcoin site bittiraha.fi and said that from there he would get more info.

After this conversation turned on more ordinary subjects.

Best part of it was that he didnt reject the idea at all.

Although there are advantages with bitcion for international remittances, the market really does not match what bitcoin can really offer. Most international payments are done by large corporations in sizes that are much higher then the market cap of bitcoin.

Why is it not useful in retail? I love the idea of not having to depend on a credit card company to buy simple, cheap items. If I can just scan a QR code and pay directly that sounds so much easier and convenient.

Price volatility is the main reason.

Volatility and it's kind of awkward having to pull out QR codes.

Also, in many places there are barely any cost savings as a lot of people do not even use credit cards but cheap chip and pin systems.

Retail outlets should love bitcoin. It saves money, offers them zero risk (using bitpay et al) and is basically a one time set up.

Problem is reputation and experience. The media narrative has been car crash themed (blood and guts ie negative, sells). And they already know how to use POS and Cc. For small businesses they often dont want to take the time to learn the basics.

It'll be a slow uptake until we cross that tipping point, then it'll be normal!

As Iron Man guy said: "Sometimes, you have to run, before you can walk"

Bitcoin needs to be taken more seriously than now, really big bussines getting into it, then those small merchants should be piece of cake...

What exactly is a remittance and why does bitcoin stand to help the remittance market? I've heard remittances described as the act of immigrant workers sending money back to their homelands. Are these all remittances are, or is there a broader definition?

I think the beauty in it is that it is perfect for both small and big businesses. We even have newegg on board. THAT'S HUGE. And we also have small coffee shops and such. It works equally amazingly for both types of businesses.

I think it needs to be more widely accepted online (Amazon.com, Ebay, etc, etc).  Once that happens, it will then become more common/adopted at "normal" retail places.  :)

I think Bitcoin is best used for retail but for things that aren't local  The lower fees help with cost of shipping etc.  People don't appreciate how many options for global business this opens on the person to person level.  Thanks to the internet and Bitcoin the world doesn't seem so big and more things I didn't have access to are now in my withing my reach hypothetically speaking.

i've asked several, and explained how easy/cheap it is to do through bitpay. they all look at me like im some sort of crazy trying to pay with monopoly money.

since entering your debit pin takes too much effort?   haha just kidding..

i asked a couple small businesses in my neighborhood. they didn't seem too interested. actually, both of them seemed to think i was shady....

I think it's always good to talk to people who show interest in bitcoin. But I don't think it's a good idea to do aggressive marketing for bitcoin, because those that accept bitcoin have to feel comfortable and in control with it.

I also don't think we need faster adoption. What we need first is the software infrastructure to support easy and secure usage of bitcoin.

It talk about it with friends and family but haven't really approached anyone about it because it is a pretty complex topic and not everyone is willing to commit a small amount of time to stranger who may or may not be trying to pitch them the "next best thing".


My point exactly..  People have slowly degenerated and even having a normal conversation is becoming a task.

Asking some stores and businesses to use bitcoin is very hard (I already asked two eateries in our place, they don't seem to be convinced by the idea). The common problem merchants might face if they accept bitcoin is that they can't control their budget on certain expenses because of bitcoin's high volatility. And another thing is that they can't pay all of their expenses with bitcoin, knowing that not all businesses accept it. To pay for some expenses, they need first to convert their btc to fiat, which is another task for them to do. And some exchanges implement high fees, which is already a deduction to their profit. :(

Not to mention having to train all workers on how to accept payment in BTC, what they would do about returns, getting receipts to print properly, how not to get scammed, etc.

I'm sure most business owners have enough on their plate to deal with learning a new payment system and then implementing it.  Unless they are into tech and have studied BTC, it probably going to be an uphill battle getting new businesses interested in accepting btc.

Because the media is portraying bitcoin that way.

I'm surprised that someone on this forum would regurgitate an incorrect statement like this. 
Bitpay and coinbase remove the risk of volatility completely. Period.

This is correct, however as you may or may not know, consumers tend to complain a lot. It would be possible for a customer to say that they paid $700 per bitcoin and the restaurant should accept their bitcoin at a conversion rate of $700 even though the actual price on the major exchanges (and on coinbase) is only $630.

It is a crazy complaint but these kind of complaints do happen often in the retail business.

This is horribly wrong. Payment processors can take away the price risk for businesses so the business only needs to pay the 1% processing fee for accepting bitcoin.

This only remove the risk on the merchant side. What about consumer side?

If consumer only buy bitcoin on demand before paying, why not stick to fiat or credit card?

Because right now bit coin consumers are also the main advocates for it. It is well worth it for me to use bitcoin at expedia for my travel and pay the exchange rate to replenish my supply. I get to help the bit coin economy and keep my stake where it is. In time this will be less of an issue because there will be a natural discount passed on to customers from businesses because they no longer have to build fraud and fees into their price structure.

Asking all internet companies to accept bitcoin is probably the best use of time.  I have occasionally mentioned bitcoin to small businesses in UK but who we need to target is ebay, amazon etc.  Once they are on board the rest falls into place.

I've asked a couple restaurants near me. They didn't sound too interested. I think some bigger names need to get in first, and we need more general exposure for bitcoin.

I personaly use bitcoin mainly for trading, very rarely to purchase something.
I dont realy see the point in adoption of bitcoin to small stores, would make much sence if the bigger players adopted it, then smaller ones will follow anyway.

Now we have even Dell who is accepting btc, but did that affect the price, ofc not. But it may , however increase interest for bitcoin over time, slowly increasing uptrend.

in order for bitcoin to survive over the long term it must be used as a form of payment

Well....for that to happen, you need a lot of consumers to be aware of that.

it should be easier to buy and hold bitcoins for an average consumer

The most important factor when small businesses consider accepting bitcoin is whether they will get more business, or reduce cost, if they adopt bitcoin as a form of payment.

For local small businesses, the answer is often no. So, there is no incentive for them to setup an internet connection and train employees to deal with bitcoin. Bitcoin would be far more attractive to online mail orders retailers who uses paypal and credit card because there are no fees and no chargebacks.