Good question. I've actually written up a complete guide for choosing the right payment method to get bitcoin: https://howtobuybitcoin.io/#Which_is_the_best_payment_method_to_get_bitcoins . It's very beginner-friendly so do take a look and let me know what your thoughts are.

In short, these are the advantages and inconveniences of each way to buy bitcoin:

• using a bank transfer - the is generally the cheapest way (lowest fees) to purchase large quantities. It can take slightly longer for the deposit to come through on the exchange (2-5 days sometimes). Beginner users tend to avoid this way as it may seem daunting, but I recommend trying it out - it's far easier than you may think.
• using a credit card - this is the preferred way to buy bitcoins for beginners. Fees are far higher than the above method but the advantage is that you can instantly purchase your cryptocurrency.
• using cash - here again fees may be far higher than when purchasing with a bank transfer. The advantage of buying bitcoin with cash is that you can stay anonymous and no ID verification is needed. The main disadvantage is that you may need to actually leave your room and meet someone or go deposit money to finalize the transaction
• using PayPal - this method can be very convenient for small purchases. However there are high commissions and caps on how much you can purchase. So it is definitely not a good idea to try get lots of bitcoin with a paypal account.
• using your skills/labor - you can actually work for bitcoin. Go to /r/Jobs4bitcoins to see what contract are available. There are also other bitcoin freelancing sites. This may be a slower method, but many professionals acquire the bitcoin stock by working for it.

Let me know if that helps!

Great questions raised here. Let me try give some insight:


I've written up a full explanation showing how it is possible to use a visa debit or mastercard to buy bitcoins: https://howtobuybitcoin.io/#Which_is_the_best_payment_method_to_get_bitcoins . You will aslo see that one can buy btc with cash, paypal, and banktransfer (the cheapest but slowest method).


Yes, totally. For small amounts, because it's convenient (but slightly more expensive than bank transfer purchases), most people just find a site to buy bitcoin with paypal: https://howtobuybitcoin.io/#Best_places_to_get_bitcoins_with_PayPal


You know, I get so many questions about why sites do all these verification procedures. Most places have it all done and verified within 48 hours (some faster - Bitstamp for example). There are also places to get bitcoins without ID verification: https://howtobuybitcoin.io/#Why_so_much_identity_verification8230_and_which_sites_don8217t_require_this

my username : setmefree
Thank you

I'm actually quite amazed by the amount of replies and positive comments here.


After announcing my site on reddit, some of the sites mentioned got in touch directly to explain their story. This helped fix and add some extra facts for a couple of entries. I think the images always help reassure and allow people to feel at ease when dealing with such an 'uneasy' matter (yet people first impressions on bitcoin usually come from the mainstream media). The colors are more a less matching in with the images to promote the same theme throughout. And yep it was difficult to keep it all in one page (since there are more and more ways to get bitcoin now), but I opted for the most popular payment methods for newbies (that being card, SEPA bank transfer, paypal, cash) and tried to keep these to the point without going into too much detail and scaring people off.


Why not yes! Though I would rather recommend this as a place to discuss/learn more rather than a place to buy and sell btc. As mentioned above, without the know-how it's easy to fall into a trap. My aim was to promote the best trustworthy services. Though I do eventually consider adding 'innovative' options as a recommendation for the curious / for further learning (eg bitsqure for p2p decentralization etc..).


True. While I know that Circle sell BTC to users, there is no mention of this on their front page. I've actually recommended Circle to people before and they've come back to me asking why since it does not say they can buy bitcoin. I guess I should include circle with a paragraph explaining this to users.


Thanks, really appreciated


Good point. I could make a section / page for this with recommended offline wallets and why each is best.

Thanks for the advice, feedback, and recommendations. I do agree that there are alternatives out there that are not so clearly structured with too many links. I do hope it's picked up by search engines. For now I'm spreading the word by sharing with people around me that actually need the assistance to know how to buy btc with a card or using a transfer. And yes - great idea about adding the PayPal chargebacks information. I'll stick that into the guide. 

Since I often get colleagues at work asking me how to buy bitcoin, I decided to elaborate a reference page with instructions for each payment method, including several trusted sites.

Here's the page:

http://howtobuybitcoin.io/

My aim was to:

• Provide guides for the simplest payment methods, being: credit/debit card, SEPA transfer, PayPal, wire transfer, cash payments
• Keep presentation simple, so as to help new users feel at ease when searching for how to get btc online
• Recommend exchanges/services having received a good acceptance within the overall bitcoin community
• Give priority to interesting related information (such as recommending looking into the price history of btc), with extra tips for users. 
• Include both high-volume bitcoin exchange sites and their smaller (generally more user-friendly) counterparts.

Could I get your feedback and your overall impression? Should I be adding any important information for newbie bitcoin users looking to buy easily? At this I point have received some reviews from friends and colleagues concerning my page, and I would be very interested to hear all available advice from the perspective of experienced users and newcomers in the bitcoin space.

Thanks.