A proven way would be to give away some satoshis like many sites are already doing.
Ask people to register with their email address to earn 100 satoshis, and you'll get many customers soon.

No! Those sites are not useless. They introduced me to bitcoins, and they helped me understand how the software and the whole thing works. Then I got lucky since one faucet (now discontinued) gave me enough to be able to make my first transaction. I earned less than a dollar, but I become familiar with bitcoins with faucets, and I don't know how I would have done it without them.

Don't forget what the taxman would says. A physical store selling physical goods means respecting all the regulations that the Silk Road ignores. Is it only legal in your country to sell goods in a currency which is not the legal tender?

Normally, you can't deactivate an account. But you should be able to change your email address, and the open a second account with your first email address.

Excuse-me, but why should everybody have bitcoins?

There are Ferrari cars, there are houses with a swimming-pool, but most people don't have one. There are hundreds of millions people who don't have enough food each day. In Africa and India, there are millions who don't have shoes.

So forget the question, it's totally irrelevant.

I'm having this problem too, and it's a big one because Sofort Banking asks you to give your full banking credentials and passwords which I refuse, so you have to use an exchange like MtGox.

But I don't know why Sofort Banking is the only service offered.

I'm still a newbie but from my experience, you don't choose the transaction fee, the software sets it for you.

It's an idea but I think it's much better to keep bitcoins outside the regulated world. It's precisely what makes it so appealing.

Thank you for those quick answers.

So there's FastCash4Bitcoins, and besides any other service which can turn BTCs to Paypal in, say, one hour?

So maybe it would be smart to open accounts in several exchanges, just to be ready. Best would be BTC to Paypal. Or is there some "clearance time" necessary to process the transaction?

Bitcoins cannot be considered as foreign currency because that would mean there is a country somewhere that views it as legal currency. You could see many tax advisors and accountants but as we're still waiting for official regulations regarding it, they just won't be able to give you a correct answer, and neither can I.

But logic says capital gains regulations should apply.

Make no mistakes, I love bitcoins but I've seen their value going up so much and so fast without me understanding why, that I can't be sure it couldn't go the other way around.

If bitcoins suddenly go down fast, I want to know what to do. Where's the way out? I guess most people would hold to their bitcoins believing it's only temporary, but if you have to sell bitcoins quickly, what exchange (or other service) do you recommend? Which is the fastest?

It could be bitcoins to Paypal, to Liberty Reserve or to a regular bank account. My only requirement is that it has to be online. I don't live in a big city, so arranging to meet a potential buyer would take too much time.

Thank you for your answers.