What's the best documentation to convince a merchant to start taking Bitcoin?

[StevenS]

I occasionally shop at a local Taiwanese-style milk tea and snack shop. I've done small talk with the owner before, and I'm thinking he may be willing to accept Bitcoin, if I sell the concept well.

I was thinking of starting by printing out a "We Accept Bitcoin" sign, and telling him that there are a number of Bitcoin enthusiasts in the area, who would be more likely to visit his shop when the word gets out that he accepts Bitcoin.

If that makes him interested, I would then show him some documentation from a Bitcoin merchant service provider that shows how easy it is, and how low the fees are. Before I start the presentation, I need to have some answers ready, such as:

• How would the word get out? usebitcoins.info? Are there others?
• Who's the best merchant processor? BitPay?
• Can you think of anything else he might ask?

[achow101]

You can get them added to various maps of places that accept bitcoin like coinmap.org

The biggest processors are BitPay and Coinbase, but I don't know if they have in store stuff. They should have decent documentation.

Also, where is this shop? If it's near me I might stop by and buy with bitcoin.

[ikydesu]

This explained how Bitcoin compared with Fiat: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1153062.0

I think BitPay is the best.

Just explain exactly like in my link Maybe i think he will ask you for technical, like how to set up Bitcoin wallet, how to use it for received the payment and sent the payment.

[Beefcake]

This explained how Bitcoin compared with Fiat: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1153062.0

I think BitPay is the best.

Just explain exactly like in my link Maybe i think he will ask you for technical, like how to set up Bitcoin wallet, how to use it for received the payment and sent the payment.

That is actually a good point.  It is not easy to set up bitcoin payments I imagine, so if you volunteer to help him out with this then he may be more likely to accept them.

[Kazimir]

Simply list the advantages and disadvantages of accepting Bitcoin to them:

Advantages:

• zero cost
• zero investment (you don't need new devices or administrative adjustments)
• incredibly easy
• very fast
• 100% risk free (no chargebacks)
• if you use a payment processor like coinbase or bitpay, you receive local currency (free of charge), so no volatility risk either
• free publicity
• attracting tourists and foreign customers, as they don't have to change their money to local currency
• a warm glowing feeling of doing something against the monopoly that banks have over our current money system (with all the ridiculous costs and restrictions that come with that)

In fact it's easier, faster, safer, and cheaper than ANY other payment method (including cash).

Disadvantages:

• .... well, none really

And before someone brings up the "but it's inconvenient if customers have to wait 10+ minutes for a confirmation before they can leave the store" - NO, THEY DON'T. First of all, the possibility of actually double spending is way, WAY smaller than chargebacks with credit cards, false cheques, counterfeit cash, and other risks that merchants are typically willing to accept. Really, the chance of actually doing this is astronomically small, they'd have to make thousands of actual purposes before maybe pulling off a successful double spend. Furthermore, simply use a payment processor. They take the double spend risk. So, no waiting, no risk, no problem.

Seriously, there is NO single reason for any merchant (online or offline) to not accept Bitcoin.

[StevenS]

Simply list the advantages and disadvantages of accepting Bitcoin to them:

I'm going to give this a try, but I have to be prepared to answer some minor objections:

• zero investment (you don't need new devices or administrative adjustments)

He'll probably need to get a small tablet device. While he may be able to integrate into his current cash register POS system, it would be awkward to turn the screen around so the customer can scan the QR code.

• incredibly easy
• very fast

But not quite as fast as cash, at least until the employees are trained. They will have to put the amount into the tablet running the Bitpay app, tell the customer to scan the QR code with his wallet app, then wait while the customer unlocks his wallet app, then wait until the Bitpay app acknowledges the receipt. Agreed, this could be faster than a credit card, but there will be some new procedures that have to be taught to his minimum-wage employees.

I will definitely make those points, and I'll see how it goes.

[Meuh6879]

Bitcoin is cash.


nothing more to add ... for a merchand explanations. 

[medUSA]

Simply list the advantages and disadvantages of accepting Bitcoin to them:
Advantages:
<snip>
In fact it's easier, faster, safer, and cheaper than ANY other payment method (including cash).
Disadvantages:
.... well, none really

You can't trick merchants into accepting bitcoin by saying there is no disadvantage  

I believe the best way is to be honest. There is a learning curve for accepting bitcoin in the shop and he might need to provide free wifi for customers to use (probably already has free wifi). He will need to invest in some sort of device to receive notification from BitPay and staff would need simple training. The marketing effect will bring in new customers and will outweigh the costs involved.

I was thinking of starting by printing out a "We Accept Bitcoin" sign, and telling him that there are a number of Bitcoin enthusiasts in the area, who would be more likely to visit his shop when the word gets out that he accepts Bitcoin.

That is the way to do it. Also mention that the owner can send money to family and friend in Taiwan too.

Can you think of anything else he might ask?

Taxes, most probably  

[cjrosero]

Simply list the advantages and disadvantages of accepting Bitcoin to them:

Advantages:

• zero cost
• zero investment (you don't need new devices or administrative adjustments)
• incredibly easy
• very fast
• 100% risk free (no chargebacks)
• if you use a payment processor like coinbase or bitpay, you receive local currency (free of charge), so no volatility risk either
• free publicity
• attracting tourists and foreign customers, as they don't have to change their money to local currency
• a warm glowing feeling of doing something against the monopoly that banks have over our current money system (with all the ridiculous costs and restrictions that come with that)

In fact it's easier, faster, safer, and cheaper than ANY other payment method (including cash).

Disadvantages:

• .... well, none really

And before someone brings up the "but it's inconvenient if customers have to wait 10+ minutes for a confirmation before they can leave the store" - NO, THEY DON'T. First of all, the possibility of actually double spending is way, WAY smaller than chargebacks with credit cards, false cheques, counterfeit cash, and other risks that merchants are typically willing to accept. Really, the chance of actually doing this is astronomically small, they'd have to make thousands of actual purposes before maybe pulling off a successful double spend. Furthermore, simply use a payment processor. They take the double spend risk. So, no waiting, no risk, no problem.

Seriously, there is NO single reason for any merchant (online or offline) to not accept Bitcoin.

i disagree on your disadvantage there is a lot if disadvantage of using bitcoin. bitcoin is not that stable yet unlike any currency bitcoin can go up and down almost 20% in just an hour. what if the price goes down not knowing your purchase the product much higher than current value you bought.

[randy8777]

the main advantages are very low fees and no chargebacks. most of the merchants do get their sales directly converted into fiat, which means no worries about volatility.

[brianddk]

• How would the word get out? usebitcoins.info? Are there others?
• Who's the best merchant processor? BitPay?
• Can you think of anything else he might ask?

Great idea.  I think it would be awesome to have a "Why you should take Bitcoin" flyer we could all print out and hand to merchants.

i disagree on your disadvantage there is a lot if disadvantage of using bitcoin. bitcoin is not that stable yet unlike any currency bitcoin can go up and down almost 20% in just an hour. what if the price goes down not knowing your purchase the product much higher than current value you bought.

Between the various payment processors (bitpay, coindesk, other...) there are options to mitigate risk.  Some payment processors will "back" or "insure" 0-confirmation transactions.  This isn't an overt risk since there are ways to sweep 0-conf transactions to ensure eventual confirmation.  Also, some payment processors will offer an instant-to-fiat capability too.  Then the risk is only in the price volatility for the 10 seconds between initial POS and BTC-to-Fiat transition.

Of course all these payment processors are going to charge.  So it is more expensive than cash, but less expensive than plastic.  It would also be worth pointing out that accepting cash does come with built in cost.  Loss to counterfeits is a non-zero number, also, cost for making cash deposits is non-zero (gas, pickup service, risk).