Right now, non-miners still have to pay at the very least 2%+ to middlemen to use B to shop, which is mighty close to cc overhead OR MORE, depending on what the merchant does with the payment.
In the U.S. is the ACH bank network in which most transactions have no fee. The problem is that the transactions can be reversed simply by claiming the transfer was not authorized.
Dwolla is a payment network that uses ACH. Mt. Gox and Camp BX are two exchanges that accept Dwolla account transfers to fund an exchange account. The total cost by Dwolla is $0.25 per transaction. Then the coins can be bought at the market rate. With Camp BX if you are patient you might even be able to buy below spot as an aggressive seller may come down to your price.
Coinbase is another ACH-based exchange available in the U.S. They charge a 1% fee and their price is at or real near (fraction of a percent of) current market price.
On the #bitcoin-otc marketplace I can often find a trade to buy or sell bitcoins at the current market rate.
The promise of cheaper transaction costs is still an empty advertising gimmick...)
Well, that's here in limited areas but we will be seeing more.
Here's an example today:
$300 voucher for airfare, you pay $281 worth of bitcoins:
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http://www.bitmit.net/en/trade/i/8634-300-american-airlines-e-gift-cards/seller_info$100 AT&T prepaid wireless, you pay $95 worth of bitcoins:
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http://www.bitmit.net/en/trade/i/2846-100-at-t-gophone-prepaid-wireless-refill-cardThe reason they can offer this is because the vouchers are available wholesale. Most retailers have to charge face value because of the payment network fees and the risk of subsequent chargeback. When accepting bitcoins for payment, neither of these are a factor.
Bitcoin Store sells electronics ... I've checked the prices on several couple items, they were competitive with Amazon and Newegg and cheaper in a couple instances, especially after factoring in the shipping which is free for orders $100 and up.
Now as a person who earned bitcoins (e.g., provided goods and services and got paid in bicoins, or won big at SatoshiDICE), then cashing out to fiat incurs costs and delays. For that person, even if the bitcoin merchant sets prices with no discount for bitcoin, that merchant still can earn the business as it then becomes the most convenient method for that person to spend the coins.
So the logic is sound -- merchants receive an economic benefit when accepting bitcoins (ranging from 3% on up depending on their situation -- specifically regarding chargebacks) and these merchants can use that benefit to increase their market share by being able to offer lower prices.
I drive past a corner with two gas stations. One is cash only and charges fifteen cents a gallon less than the one across the street where credit and debit cards are accepted. One station is busy all the time and the other is busy only during the morning and afternoon rush hours. That fifteen cents is about 4% of the purchase price. People will patronize one business over the other to save a couple percent.
Bitcoin gives an edge. For some period of time, the merchants that start taking advantage of this will have a competitive advantage over their peers. It starts out slowly but it scan spread quickly once it catches on.
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