Bitcoin Forum

It  looks as if buying Bitcoin over the net is fraught with risks, and reputable traders seem to have wide spreads. The obvious solution would be to buy Bitcoin through a local face-to-face contact. Have any members of this forum done this?

Yes I have done it but it was my brother who sold his bitcoins to me :D I agree that buying face to face would be safe and instant for both parties

i was thinking about it though not a lot of people are interested in my town

I would be scared to actually place an ad on a site like Craigslist wanting to buy or sell btc--there are so many freaks running about in society these days.  But I agree with OP, it does seem like the best way to do it.  Meeting at a Starbucks or something like that would be a great idea and I think is probably the nicest and best way to build trust.  And you'd get to actually meet another human being who uses bitcoin.

It it still better and safer to buy bitcoin online from reputable exchange  than seeking direct p2p trade imo, my main concern are security reasons.
I know that there are honest traders out there, and reaching out to someone with hundreds of live trades done is probably safe but I still wouldn't do that for large number of coins.
In the future where we will have bitcoin wallet in every smartphone this won't be an issue.

it's hard to do it in my country because there is not many bitcoin users and the bitcoin sellers can be counted bye a hand

I wasn't going to advertise on craig's list. I thought an ad in the local newspaper shop window. :)

LocalBitcoin seems like a great exchange if you know the individual but it is illegal in the state I live in. I wouldn't risk it. I just use federally and financially legal Bitcoin Exchanges.

actually face to face is not exempt from risk, see burt story, i prefer to deal with exchange, because they do not put 5% more on their selling value

also it's arguably faster(if you do it in the morning) and more confortable

I've done several face2face meetings, even with peoples who revealed itself as nasty afterward.
Summary: Take care but don't fear a meeting if you aren't weak & naive and you don't tend to underestimate peoples. Even most freaks and sociopaths are looking for smooth bitcoin<->cash trades whilst doing their dirty work itself at home stealthy.

I have buyed locally two times and I think it's the best option!

what you told is perfectly correct, face to face meeting and selling or buying is not at all safe, it all depends on where you are dealing and how you are dealing, because i also have seen so many storys coming about face to face trading and then got scamed. it is much better to do with exchanges like i have done with localbitcoins.com site where they hold the bitcoins in escrow and after getting payment the seller have to release the bitcoin . so it is more safe.

Thats is the case with me also.I would prefer to buy it locally to meet the seller in person but unfortunately there are very few people involved in btc trade in my country and that few too are distance apart from me

This case with many users here on this forum because in developing countries not many users have these resources that they can sell or buy locally in my city I never met with any bitcoiner just because of this mostly I sell buy on this forum or local bitcoins with escrow service and never cheated

Buying and selling on localbitcoins.com is a great option as long as you are responding to an ad that someone else placed (you are the "customer").

If you place an ad that is a whole other ball game.  If you live in the US they can charge you with "operating a business without a licence".

See my story (search BurtW here on the forums or click on the links in my signature).  Placing an ad on localbitcoins.com cost me almost $300,000 in legal fees and federal forfeiture, 1 night in Denver county jail and 3 days and 2 nights in solitary confinement in a Federal facility.

The Federal jail had much better food than the County jail.

Face to face meetings often seem to attract truly vast premiums. As long as you're using an online service with a very good and lengthy track record it's going to be cheaper, faster and safer.

Not me. I heard doing that is extremely dangerous. Sometimes you get undercover cops.

You can buy them face to face as you can over the internet.  You are faces with more of a risk when you do it in person because you do not know who you are dealing with and you could be taken for all you have in your wallet.  Person to person is a physical risk, where internet is a risk to just be scammed.  Again, only my opinion.

So many people do local bitcoins transaction,they trust each others,and i also do it,local transaction make feel comfort and worry less.and i can get better fee and bitcoin price.

I agree with this if this is something you do locally with people you know.  Where I am from, I can not throw a stone and hit someone with it that knows what Bitcoin is let alone how to use it.  But I do have the question for you as to how you do this locally, Paper wallet, phone app or computer transfer?

Whether it can buy bitcoin with face-to-face?
As far as I could do with a face-to-face are transactions such as buying goods directly with bitcoin. If purchased online bitcoin should in my opinion can not be the face-to-face

In here (Indonesia), bitcoin users are rare, so I can only do transaction of buying and selling by internet.  :(

In Croatia, we still dont have lot of Bitcoin users, so i mostly buy or sell Bitcoins online or at BTM machine in place where i live. Hope that will change cause we are mostly touristic country so more adoptance would do good to us and Bitcoin it self.

It's not actualy a big deal, dealing with someone face to face, you just meetup and deal.
If you have a mobile wallet you can easily transfer the bitcoin there, if not maybe a laptop should be required.

I never had any problems or issues buying or selling Bitcoins for cash in face to face transactions at a public coffee shop unless they were undercover cooperating witnesses, confidential informants or agents for homeland "security".

As long as you make sure you are not dealing with LE or people under the thumb of LE you will be OK.

If you do the deal over a cup of coffee in a place like MacDonalds, the whole transaction would be recorded on video. I think that would be a good safe option, as I don't have anything to hide. I'd prefer to pay by instant bank transfer rther than cash, saves them thinking it's a drug deal. :)

I always use local bitcoin and meet up locally anytime I buy more than 1 bitcoin. I think its just safer to
meet someone in person at a public place and have never had a problem.

On the other hand I have been scammed just doing it online so its the safest imo. Just bring your phone/laptop
and do the transaction right there.

Thanks for mentioning LocalBitcoin... Found that there's a btc atm in Lexington Ky! I'll have to go see it in person tomorrow if I have the time!

Unfortunately, where I am live localbitcoin selling is noncompliant and illegally. Would I sell and buy bitcoins locally? Yes! Absolutely with trusted sellers.  ;D

Buying online from a reputable trading site isn' t really any more risky than face-to-face. There are many things that can go sour in a face-to-face deal that don't make it perfect.

You need to develop some tactics to avoid being scammed. Like never trust exchanges, once done the trades, withdraw money to the wallet under your control! Face to face trading, you need to go to public places and will be safe.

in my local exchanger (online) more than 1000+ people know and trade bitcoin (some of that not active people) , bitcoin in my country is very popular but the big problem is bitcoin regulation, also very little merchand who accept bitcoin as payment, i hope in future more bitcoin merchand accept bitcoin

Yes it was done already on this forum specifically on the currency exchange section. I saw some thread there buying bitcoins and is willing to transact face to face. I also have my own experience of trading in real life with a Facebook friend. I sold him some bitcoins and we decided to do a meet up for a much secure transaction as a quite big amount of bitcoin was involved. I'm glad it was a successful deal.

yes, I like to trade face to face as well! So We can make friends and share the same interest , which make me feel comfortable .

I would say there is a easiest way Localbitcoins.com you can buy from some buyers with a bank of america account. doesn't have to be local purchase and if you need them quickly. Coinbase is very convenient, but it also takes a week for BTC purchases to clear for me. If you can find people in your immediate area.

i have done transactions with LocalBitcoins.com and it is very safe and secure , as the bitcoins will be with escrow of site and when you buy or sell you can verify the transaction and then clear the bitcoins. face to face is good but it is very risky of coming to know about identity and scam.

I am very confident that sooner or later there will be a lot if bitcoin bitcoin users often introduced to people who are not familiar with bitcoin.
People would be interested in bitcoin if introduced properly

I can't told this.Because very little people are involved with this.My country people are not much interested about this.

Yes i always advice my friends to have face 2 face deals..
BeacusBecause online local deals with any peoples there are many scams and frauds are happening ...
And strictly no to bank transfers.. and PayPal..
Both user can reverse their transactions, and stolen account can scam you..
So i always prefer face 2 face deals.
And i think 90% of my friends has aqured my suggestion in my locality resulting in building a good comunication  ;)

It's good for advice. To think practically it's not easy meet every time and do trading. Even I have one my friend like that. He knows one guy near to my city. Who is doing local trading. And he giving good rate for my friend. May 1 or 2$ lesser than Google and preev value

I have only few friends who do deal with bitcoin and other payment processor. Regarding bitcoin i am the only one who is constantly selling it to my friend circle but in relatively small scale. Face to face is quite easy and most secure way to deal.

Selling to friends and family is not a problem for me as long as the amounts are valued under $100.

I would never deal with strangers when it comes to buying or selling Bitcoins. There is too much risk involved.

yeah you are right but the thing is its quiet hard to find a local seller for everyone but online sellers can b approached easily so its a 50-50thing both have its merits and demerits and by the now days market is down so most of the people are earning bitcoins and savings them and trusting someonw with your bitcoins are risky too . But i like the localbitcoin escrow system

There are face to face buyers and sellers of bitcoin with good reputation all over the world. It is hard initially to meet those people. Once you're very accurate in finding the right person to have a deal, then it will be very easy all the time. There are several people in bitcointalk since the beginning are really good dealers.

I agree that would be much less risky, but quite uncomfortable and limiting. The beauty of Bitcoin is that you can send it from one corner of the world to another with low fees. To meet in person in order to make a transaction is a little awkward in that sense...

However, once Bitcoin is widely adopted perhaps we will see it in everyday life.

It depends on which country/state you live because in most of the countries bitcoin is free to use and trade, i have sold too.

I agree that F-2-F deals are very secure compared to online trades and it's good to only deal with known friends. I was initially afraid of dealing personally with a person as these deals are usually over 2-3 BTC and plus I don't know the person who I will be trading with.
It went well the first time but the person was making excuses while giving me cash. However, it went fine then but I don't prefer dealing this way as with regards to money, known people also try to dodge.

I've been mining Bitcoin and selling it since 2013. I sell around 2-4BTC a month.

I would never sell or buy bitcoins through a local face-to-face contact.

Here in germany are to many freaks that will come to the place and rob you, take your money.

For example i read 3 days ago in the newspaper that they rob again someone and steal a few thousand euros at a bitcoin deal.
http://www.tagblatt.de/Nachrichten/Bei-Kryptogeld-Handel-Bargeld-erbeutet-272531.html

i dont sell btc locally it bcause in my country there is too less people know about bitcoin...
even when im alrdy expalin what is bitcoin to my best friend...they still wondering and confusing about bitcoin...
im sure they will use btc soon whenever they understand what is that...
the main thing is hard to made them understand...

isn't the point of bitcoin that it is a global, virtual currency - a money for the internet age ?

why would you be afraid to use one of the exchanges ?
what else could exchanges do to make you less afraid ?

I have done it. I didn't read the whole thread but I would be happy to answer questions or provide advice.

I do but it's hard here in my country to buy sell bitcoins locally , majority of peoples don't know about butcoin only few people know about it. I have some friends from this forum to whom i sell bitcoins and buy from them too.