How to convince store/restaurant owners to use Bitcoin

[bearex]

What would you say to them? How will they benefit from accepting Bitcoin as a payment method?

[franky1]

What would you say to them? How will they benefit from accepting Bitcoin as a payment method?

i have done this a few times with success, learnt many things and here is my advice:

firstly you need to find out how many people that already know/have bitcoin would actually use the restaurant..
for instance if it is just 1 person a month, then its not really in the restaurants interest to waste time teaching all their staff..
as such dont tailor your salespitch to be something common that all the staff should know off by heart..

next is to think about how the restaurant will process the transaction.

again if its one customer a month then getting the restaurant to sign up to bitpay or coinbase will again NOT be something worthwhile.

for those small transactions per month the best success is to set up a bartab (pre-pay) the restaurant $50 and give them a leaflet to show how they can check
the value of the meal, and then request that value of bitcoin to a QR code owned by you. and check the funds were received.
with it being a leaflet it can easily explain it without training and also have the QR code printed on it ready to show customers

that way the bitcoins go to you and the restaurant can just take the cash out of the tab and put it into their cash register.

tell the manager that he loses nothing and you will do all you can to increase their customer base. and if he could put a 'we accept bitcoins' logo in the window.

..
now if there are more then a few customers a week then design the leaflet/salespitch to explain how to process a payment via bitpay /coinbase (if you cannot handle the bar-tab yourself)

you may even want to organise a bitcoin meetup, and use the time to have a live demonstration of processing a bitcoin transaction.

next you will have to think about the way you talk to the manager. so find out what payment methods they accept. find out if they are linked to those food ordering websites.
now that was things to think about before even talking to the manager.

now with all of the information about how popular bitcoin is in your area and how much the manager already wants to accept many different payment methods will help you work out how easy or hard it will to tell the manager about bitcoin.

the best way to talk to the manager is not to use techy speech. for instance watch a few apple pay adverts, watch a few amazon adverts and keep it as low-key as that. make the conversation about how easy it is to accept a transaction (handing the customer a leaflet with a QR code on it) and how easy the manager will receive the converted fiat afterwards. aswell as how little the manager has to implement it and how little training it will need to implement. aswell as no costs to the restaurant.

DO NOT USE THE WORDS: decentralized crytographically secured ledger..
shop owners do not care about the technology behind bank wire transfers, or applepay algorithms. all they care about is ease of use and getting paid.
so concentrate on that.

[Raimonn]

Its difficult if they don't know anything about bitcoins, if almost has interest in technology gadgets or similar... Its important that some of its customers asked before about the possibility of paying with bitcoins, if not he/she will not have interest. If you have a group of bitcoin users, a digital magazine that send to the group a blog or something similar, tell him/her about publicity that you can do about being one of the first restaurants that accept bitcoins on your city.
And show how easy can be a payment with mobile wallets.
Also having some promotion with fixed bitcoin prices for weeks, not converting every day the prices to bitcoin could be an incentive for costumers.

[JeromeL]

Don't try to convince shop / restaurant owners to accept bitcoin. It's the silliest use case and exposes them to fraud/double spends.

When Lightning Network is up & running that's another story.

[bearex]

Lmao, who would double spend on a 10$ meal?

Thank you for your big reply franky, i really like your idea behind the "bartab", although i dont think i would be able to pull it off:D

[Bitplumber]

It's ok to get businesses to accept bitcoin, but do people actually want to spend them?
If I spent 1 bitcoin on a night out in a restaurant I would be thinking this meal could be the price of a new car in 5 years.

[bearex]

It's ok to get businesses to accept bitcoin, but do people actually want to spend them?
If I spent 1 bitcoin on a night out in a restaurant I would be thinking this meal could be the price of a new car in 5 years.

I dont really know, but if you think like that, you are not considering them as payment unit but rather as some kind of stocks which you invest in.

Try to think that you will spend 1 bitcoin, but then you will transform your paycheck to 5 bitcoins

[franky1]

Lmao, who would double spend on a 10$ meal?

Thank you for your big reply franky, i really like your idea behind the "bartab", although i dont think i would be able to pull it off:D

the restaurant you are thinking of.. is it in an area of known bitcoin meetup's, is there much chatter in the neighbourhood, do you see many people on the forums telling the world that they live in your area.

is the restaurant a place normal people go to regularly. or is it a high class restaurant people would only go to once a year?

maybe best to not think about a restaurant. but maybe a concenience store/ gas station as your first attempt. you know somewhere that will be regularly used and in an area where there is many people who will want to use alot.

then when you get a nice customer base and some statistics of customer usage then you can use that as your bases to know if its worth going for the more specialist establishments where less people go regularly.

the bar-tab thing is not hard to achieve. you just need $50-$100 upfront which you can get paid when you sell the bitcoins you receive..

if you yourself cannot afford $100 upfront to get bitcoin noticed in your area, then maybe worth finding other bitcoiners in your area and start a group thing where you all work together to up the bitcoin usefulness in your area and as such all of you put in a smaller amount into the pot to get the ball rolling.

but the important part is to do your research first.. even talk to bitcoiners in your area and ask what are the top 5 stores they use on a regular bases and then go for the one with the most votes.

[bearex]

Lmao, who would double spend on a 10$ meal?

Thank you for your big reply franky, i really like your idea behind the "bartab", although i dont think i would be able to pull it off:D

the restaurant you are thinking of.. is it in an area of known bitcoin meetup's, is there much chatter in the neighbourhood, do you see many people on the forums telling the world that they live in your area.

is the restaurant a place normal people go to regularly. or is it a high class restaurant people would only go to once a year?

maybe best to not think about a restaurant. but maybe a concenience store/ gas station as your first attempt. you know somewhere that will be regularly used and in an area where there is many people who will want to use alot.

then when you get a nice customer base and some statistics of customer usage then you can use that as your bases to know if its worth going for the more specialist establishments where less people go regularly.

the bar-tab thing is not hard to achieve. you just need $50-$100 upfront which you can get paid when you sell the bitcoins you receive..

if you yourself cannot afford $100 upfront to get bitcoin noticed in your area, then maybe worth finding other bitcoiners in your area and start a group thing where you all work together to up the bitcoin usefulness in your area and as such all of you put in a smaller amount into the pot to get the ball rolling.

but the important part is to do your research first.. even talk to bitcoiners in your area and ask what are the top 5 stores they use on a regular bases and then go for the one with the most votes.

Allright, i kind of get the principles now. So i basically give the store $100 and fliers with my Bitcoin adress (or bitcoin adress in QR code) and then they use them to recieve payments? What if the customer doesnt pay, but just makes it seem like he paid?

[RodeoX]

I have done this many times. The best method is to show them the money on the table that they are missing. I let them know that I would love to be a customer, but since they only take unsafe credit cards and antiquated checks there is no way for me to buy. I recommend they use a payment processor like bitpay. Doing so they will make more money on each purchase compared to credit cards. It is also safer and faster for them.

Not taking bitcoin is really a foolish choice at this point. There is no cost and the only tech you need is a cell phone.

[bearex]

I have done this many times. The best method is to show them the money on the table that they are missing. I let them know that I would love to be a customer, but since they only take unsafe credit cards and antiquated checks there is no way for me to buy. I recommend they use a payment processor like bitpay. Doing so they will make more money on each purchase compared to credit cards. It is also safer and faster for them.

Not taking bitcoin is really a foolish choice at this point. There is no cost and the only tech you need is a cell phone.

Quite nice.

Say, do you have any idea how to monetize their Bitcoin acceptance? (like would you offer to set everything up for XX$ or something)

[franky1]

I have done this many times. The best method is to show them the money on the table that they are missing. I let them know that I would love to be a customer, but since they only take unsafe credit cards and antiquated checks there is no way for me to buy. I recommend they use a payment processor like bitpay. Doing so they will make more money on each purchase compared to credit cards. It is also safer and faster for them.

Not taking bitcoin is really a foolish choice at this point. There is no cost and the only tech you need is a cell phone.

Quite nice.

Say, do you have any idea how to monetize their Bitcoin acceptance? (like would you offer to set everything up for XX$ or something)

lol.... and now you have lost a shops interest.. you mentioned set up costs..

bitcoin's purpose is suppose to be a better payment option compared to creditcards or cash.. and your one sentance has just obliterated that.

now then
if you want to make money out of it, then know the little secret..
there is a 2-5% spread between different exchanges..
so lets say:
bitstamp=$260/btc
coinbase=$270/btc

you set up a price checker at bitstamp rate
EG
$26 for couple pizza's, your price checker will show that as 0.1btc payment.

the shop shows the customer your QR code and you receive 0.1btc..
the shop takes out $26 outof the bartab..

now.. you use coinbase and you withdraw $27 and know you just made a $1 profit..

then when the bartab is getting low you refill it with the $26 and keep the $1.

everyone is happy.
no upfront costs, no contracts, no expensive gadgets or maintenance contracts. just a leaflet, a bartab and a employee balance checking on thier smartphone.

keep it simple and as free from cost, stress, time as possible. because once you start going down the path of upfront costs you then start having to talk about contracts, equipment, support, maintenance, etc..

so start small and simple, treat it as a free trial. and if successful then you can upgrade it to a proper commitment and service. just try not to go overboard with techy speek and upfront costs before the manager even knows what a bitcoin is or does or even knows how many customers will use it

[bearex]

I have done this many times. The best method is to show them the money on the table that they are missing. I let them know that I would love to be a customer, but since they only take unsafe credit cards and antiquated checks there is no way for me to buy. I recommend they use a payment processor like bitpay. Doing so they will make more money on each purchase compared to credit cards. It is also safer and faster for them.

Not taking bitcoin is really a foolish choice at this point. There is no cost and the only tech you need is a cell phone.

Quite nice.

Say, do you have any idea how to monetize their Bitcoin acceptance? (like would you offer to set everything up for XX$ or something)

lol.... and now you have lost a shops interest.. you mentioned set up costs..

bitcoin's purpose is suppose to be a better payment option compared to creditcards or cash.. and your one sentance has just obliterated that.

now then
if you want to make money out of it, then know the little secret..
there is a 2-5% spread between different exchanges..
so lets say:
bitstamp=$260/btc
coinbase=$270/btc

you set up a price checker at bitstamp rate
EG
$26 for couple pizza's, your price checker will show that as 0.1btc payment.

the shop shows the customer your QR code and you receive 0.1btc..
the shop takes out $26 outof the bartab..

now.. you use coinbase and you withdraw $27 and know you just made a $1 profit..

then when the bartab is getting low you refill it with the $26 and keep the $1.

everyone is happy.
no upfront costs, no contracts, no expensive gadgets or maintenance contracts. just a leaflet, a bartab and a employee balance checking on thier smartphone.

keep it simple and as free from cost, stress, time as possible. because once you start going down the path of upfront costs you then start having to talk about contracts, equipment, support, maintenance, etc..

so start small and simple, treat it as a free trial. and if successful then you can upgrade it to a proper commitment and service. just try not to go overboard with techy speek and upfront costs before the manager even knows what a bitcoin is or does or even knows how many customers will use it

Ah, i see, very nice indeed. I thought of that exactly after i posted my post about making money why would they even accept it if it would involve massive fees for me to make profit oh well. Thanks for your help, i will read some more and might take action

[brg444]

You don't.

95% of the time you'll scare them away

[bearex]

I have done this many times. The best method is to show them the money on the table that they are missing. I let them know that I would love to be a customer, but since they only take unsafe credit cards and antiquated checks there is no way for me to buy. I recommend they use a payment processor like bitpay. Doing so they will make more money on each purchase compared to credit cards. It is also safer and faster for them.

Not taking bitcoin is really a foolish choice at this point. There is no cost and the only tech you need is a cell phone.

Quite nice.

Say, do you have any idea how to monetize their Bitcoin acceptance? (like would you offer to set everything up for XX$ or something)

lol.... and now you have lost a shops interest.. you mentioned set up costs..

bitcoin's purpose is suppose to be a better payment option compared to creditcards or cash.. and your one sentance has just obliterated that.

now then
if you want to make money out of it, then know the little secret..
there is a 2-5% spread between different exchanges..
so lets say:
bitstamp=$260/btc
coinbase=$270/btc

you set up a price checker at bitstamp rate
EG
$26 for couple pizza's, your price checker will show that as 0.1btc payment.

the shop shows the customer your QR code and you receive 0.1btc..
the shop takes out $26 outof the bartab..

now.. you use coinbase and you withdraw $27 and know you just made a $1 profit..

then when the bartab is getting low you refill it with the $26 and keep the $1.

everyone is happy.
no upfront costs, no contracts, no expensive gadgets or maintenance contracts. just a leaflet, a bartab and a employee balance checking on thier smartphone.

keep it simple and as free from cost, stress, time as possible. because once you start going down the path of upfront costs you then start having to talk about contracts, equipment, support, maintenance, etc..

so start small and simple, treat it as a free trial. and if successful then you can upgrade it to a proper commitment and service. just try not to go overboard with techy speek and upfront costs before the manager even knows what a bitcoin is or does or even knows how many customers will use it

But how would the shop owner know, how much Bitcoins the buyer needs to send? It seems like quite a hassle.

[SFR10]

It depends on each store as they vary depending on what their selling as if its digital stuff , then that would be really easier compared to physical stuff and as for the restaurant owners , that is the challenge in my opinion as not all restaurants have wifi on them so it might not yet be ideal for them plus the customers upon the payment confirmation , have to wait before it gets confirmed and that might be frustrating in case someone is in harry but to cut the story short, one of the points I always make when I try to make them try bitcoin services is that they get to be anonymous and the fee is really a lot lesser than the other online payments and at the same time, they get to use the earned bitcoin in more ways online ( applicable for people on restricted countries ).

[franky1]

But how would the shop owner know, how much Bitcoins the buyer needs to send? It seems like quite a hassle.

a leaflet..



if you can understand it.. then anyone can

excuse the lamness, it was a 2 second job to show how easy it is to process and let customers pay

[tom555]

tell them that bitcoin make payment more simple and fast. and people not to have bring realm money ow wallet to the restaurant.

[TheGr33k]

What would you say to them? How will they benefit from accepting Bitcoin as a payment method?

Currently there are not too many tremendous benefits for physical shop owners to accept bitcoin. However it is an extremely inexpensive implementation for them to make.
Beginning to accept bitcoin is extremely easy and it does attract quite a nice niche of potential customers.
Anyone who has bitcoin would love to regularly visit any local restaurant/store that actively accepts BTC.

It's more secure than credit card payments, so they could accept that as a payment without the potential of charge-back or having Fraud as a "Cost of business"

[Amph]

tell them that bitcoin make payment more simple and fast. and people not to have bring realm money ow wallet to the restaurant.

well they would to have to bring money in form of bitcoin with their smartphone anyway, making their smartphone more valuable

they would, however, tell you about security in general, it's the big why, they are not embracing bitcoin at 100%