Wired.com: Overstock.com now accepting bitcoin

[xDan]

On one hand:

1. I am skeptic about the business side of this - people don't generally buy stuff with bitcoins (unless they really need anonymity) - they invest in it.

The owner of Overstock has pretty much admitted there may not be a huge amount of business from it, and he is doing it for political reasons and its future potential.

But. For those who already have BTC, buying stuff is a far easier way of cashing out than trading it for a local currency. Especially when your little stash keeps increasing in value... Why not spend a little now and then?

The likelihood of people buying BTC specifically to spend is low I think, but there exists at least two other groups: Those who bought it earlier as an investment and now want to cash some out, and those who are actively doing business in it (receiving it as payment). The latter category is growing and I think/hope has most promise for the future. (And this latter category is made of people who are earning their bread and butter money and so actually must spend their BTC)

[T.Stuart]

The owner of Overstock has pretty much admitted there may not be a huge amount of business from it...

I get the feeling he might be pleasantly surprised.

[jamesc760]

On one hand:

1. I am skeptic about the business side of this - people don't generally buy stuff with bitcoins (unless they really need anonymity) - they invest in it.

The owner of Overstock has pretty much admitted there may not be a huge amount of business from it, and he is doing it for political reasons and its future potential.

But. For those who already have BTC, buying stuff is a far easier way of cashing out than trading it for a local currency. Especially when your little stash keeps increasing in value... Why not spend a little now and then?

The likelihood of people buying BTC specifically to spend is low I think, but there exists at least two other groups: Those who bought it earlier as an investment and now want to cash some out, and those who are actively doing business in it (receiving it as payment). The latter category is growing and I think/hope has most promise for the future. (And this latter category is made of people who are earning their bread and butter money and so actually must spend their BTC)

Why would early adopters with lots of bitcoins ever want to waste their bitcoins on Chinese junks being peddled on overstock.com? We know that by HODLING we can make tons of profit.

It makes sense only if the early adopter CONVERTED his bitcoin to fiat for profit-taking purpose and then bought the said junk on overstock.com using the fiat. Even then, he's getting hosed on future profitability.

The overstock CEO's a smart guy, he knows he won't get a whole lot of business from bitcoin hodlers.

[Kaiji]

This the best news I heard in while!!! Finally you can buy stuff you really want with any profits you made. No hassle, no need to go through bank, don't have to worry about identity theft. No need to worry about missing credit deadlines.

If most of the online businesses start accepting bitcoins, then there will be a strong need to have a lot of bitcoin atms that can deposit fiat into bitcoins making it easy for newcomers to start using bitcoins.

Everything good comes in steps. This is one of the first steps.

[xDan]

Why would early adopters with lots of bitcoins ever want to waste their bitcoins on Chinese junks being peddled on overstock.com? We know that by HODLING we can make tons of profit.

It makes sense only if the early adopter CONVERTED his bitcoin to fiat for profit-taking purpose and then bought the said junk on overstock.com using the fiat. Even then, he's getting hosed on future profitability.

The overstock CEO's a smart guy, he knows he won't get a whole lot of business from bitcoin hodlers.

well, I both HODL and I SPENDL. I have a cold wallet that remains untouched, and a hot one that I spend from occasionally.

and most people holding will take some gains now and then. I guess it depends how long you have been holding... If you only bought recently you may not be ready to spend yet. But if you've seen 100x or greater returns (as lots have)... These people have already been HODLING for the longest time, and are now ready to enjoy a little profit now and then. (and to pass the BTC on for a next generation of brave new bitwarriors to HODL for them)

Maybe if you have plenty of fiat this makes less sense. But for some, their BTC value far exceeds their fiat.

And there are others, small businesses and freelancers, who receive it as payment and won't HODL at all and don't believe in any more meteoric rises. Probably it will be a small fraction of their overall income, so it's easier to spend then bother converting to fiat. And spending it directly can also enable tax avoidance more easily, though I would not advocate that.

[tutkarz]

The owner of Overstock has pretty much admitted there may not be a huge amount of business from it...

I get the feeling he might be pleasantly surprised.

They would do better if they offer discount for using bitcoin and share they profit instead of taking it all for themselves. Because it's not easy to buy bitcoin just to use it to buy something for average person.

[Mikcik]

Well, if both users use coinbase..

Bank -> Coinbase (user) -> Coinbase (merchant) -> Bank

if user already holds bitcoin

Bitcoin -> Coinbase -> Bank

And now explain the average joe why he should pay for clothes with bitcoin?
He could just go the "normal" way with a simple bank transfer. No risks involved.
With Coinbase he has to trust another entity. It's just more risks without ANY advantages for this specific task.

And now explain the average joe why he should pay for clothes with paypal?
He could just go the "normal" way with a simple bank transfer. No risks involved.
With paypal he has to trust another entity. It's just more risks without ANY advantages for this specific task.

And now explain the average joe why he should pay for clothes with visa?
He could just go the "normal" way with a simple bank transfer. No risks involved.
With visa he has to trust another entity. It's just more risks without ANY advantages for this specific task.

etc

Thats just so so so so so so so so much stupid...

"He has to trust" another entity... OMG! How many people had problems with paypasl or visa buying some stupid clothes... and now... how many people had real problem just obtaining bitcoin...? The pros are heavily on the side of paypal and mastercard here...

The more i am here on this forum, the more i think a lot of bitcoin people are just out-of-reality :-(.

[T.Stuart]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/01/09/overstock-bitcoin/

CEO says:

“Our first purchase with Bitcoin was a $2700 patio set,” says Byrne from Salt Lake City, where the company is based. In the first 90 minutes of Bitcoin sales, the site had received about 150 orders. Byrne says the company’s rough estimate is that 1% of its sales in 2014, or approximately $13 million, will come in the form of Bitcoin. “It’s a wild guess,” he says.

Let's show Byrne how to choo choo, mfs!!! 

[Richard Branson]

Thats just so so so so so so so so much stupid...

"He has to trust" another entity... OMG! How many people had problems with paypasl or visa buying some stupid clothes... and now... how many people had real problem just obtaining bitcoin...? The pros are heavily on the side of paypal and mastercard here...

The more i am here on this forum, the more i think a lot of bitcoin people are just out-of-reality :-(.

I have to agree with you. Most bitcoin users here are out-of-reality. They live in their world.  
They should leave their basement more often and talk to people outside of the tech world.

The simple question is:
Why use bitcoin at the moment as payment method?
Can someone please list a few real pros compared to paypal, master/visa or bank transfer?


Bitcoin as store of wealth or speculation asset is something completly different.

[WompRat]

I have not been following the latest US tax advice in relation to Bitcoin, but I would suspect that a single large retailer like this would yield some valuable data for the IRS in relation to who has large amounts of bitcoin and what capital gains they are or are not paying.  I would be thinking about auditing patio chair guy if I was them.

[runam0k]

The simple question is:
Why use bitcoin at the moment as payment method?
Can someone please list a few real pros compared to paypal, master/visa or bank transfer?

The simple answer is to encourage the use of Bitcoin as a payment method going forward.

Sure, PayPal, Mastercard and VISA are easy to use and great for maintaining the status quo, but there are real long term gains to be made - for both merchants and consumers - if Bitcoin adoption succeeds.

[Rygon]

This news would be great if Overstock actually had anything close to the inventory that Amazon has. I went through my past 20 or 30 amazon orders (variety of totally random things), and Overstock only had one thing in stock. And it was priced 25% higher than Amazon. I'll definitely check Overstock whenever I'm ordering something online, I just don't think they'll have something I want to buy very often and at a competitive price. :/

[Ducky1]

The simple question is:
Why use bitcoin at the moment as payment method?
Can someone please list a few real pros compared to paypal, master/visa or bank transfer?

The simple answer is to encourage the use of Bitcoin as a payment method going forward.

Sure, PayPal, Mastercard and VISA are easy to use and great for maintaining the status quo, but there are real long term gains to be made - for both merchants and consumers - if Bitcoin adoption succeeds.

+1