[ANN] BitcoinStore.com (Beta) - Electronics super store with over 500K items!

[BitcoinStore]

We respect you by giving you as many choices as we can. That's one form of freedom right there. I think the point you make about selecting boutique quality products is a good one as well. Perhaps we can incorporate a heavily curated "featured" selection. If you have any suggestions about which products should go in that selection, please let us know!

... In other news, Linux thin client here: http://www.bitcoinstore.com/wyse-desktop-slimline-thin-client-amd-t52r-1-50-ghz.html - I couldn't find a Linux laptop unfortunately. We are currently restricted in selection by our suppliers. I'm sure in a couple months time we will include more suppliers and more varied products.

I apologize about the lack of "free" laptops. I'm assuming you're a FSF member?

Thanks,
-Jon

I have always wondered where to get those: I see them in use, but they are not sold at local retailers. They are used on the floor at local retailers, but not available for sale

I guess what promped my mini-rant is that as I said, I am tempted by the Dell printer, but don't know if it tries to impose conditions on the user after sale. Does Dell try to claim ownership of the print cartridges? Are the print cartridges region-coded? Does the printer explicitly support PCL5? I have to ask these questions because I failed to during previous printer purchases: which resulted in returns. From a bad experience with a Canadian online retailer I otherwise like, I learned that they are not able to correct misleading or vague copy from the manufacturer. I assume this is also the case with your store.

I don't think I am formally a FSF member, but I do share their ideals. I have a "Free" laptop (Lemote YeeLoong). I have not gotten around to implementing 2D video accelaration yet. The drivers bundled with X.org assume a VESA BIOS
I managed to break the keyboard connector trying to take the thing appart, but I doubt the SMT component can be purchased in lots of less than 10,000.

I would love to go through and fact check the copy we get sent. But that'd be 500,000 products to check, with an estimated researching time of 10 minutes per product; we're talking about 3472.22 days of researching/updating. Obviously impractical. Can you paste the link to the specific printer you have your eye on?

We're still a small operation, but I can assure you that we'll do our best to do right by our customers.

I'm not a FSF member either, but I have friends who believe strongly in their ideals. I think they, like Bitcoin, still have a long way to go both internally and externally. Both groups see a future which is more efficient and even idealistic. Change is always a struggle though.

Thanks,
-Jon

Jon, I appreciate you reaching out to this guy, but it sounds like as I suspected, this is not a bitcoin issue.  Perhaps the value you are providing this guy will keep him as a customer, but I'm guessing every Best Buy/Amazon deals this this same issue and doesn't offer that service to their clients of reviewing copy, etc. 

Feel free to knock out this one situation/customer, but I'd prefer if you get back to focusing on selling the same electronic goods as Amazon, etc. for cheaper for bitcoin.  Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but that's your business model and should be your priority number 1.  There's nothing wrong with you focusing on that. 

If for some reason I run into a second person in this world looking for that boutique level of service (even tho this guy said those units are setup, but not for sale), then, perhaps this can be added to your company's mission statement. 

At this time, I'd recommend a separate website/service that is a natural extension of another boutique store that offers this service so you can get back to being the cheapest provider of the exact same electronic goods as what everyone else is selling.

Just my two satoshis!

Happy bitcoin halving day! (depending on your country)

I reached the same conclusion! The end goal of this store is to provide a service to the Bitcoin community and, at the same time, a challenge to Amazon and NewEgg to beat our pricing. That is the priority. But if we don't fulfill our customer need, that goal will not be reached. We need to hit quarterly sales numbers. So while low pricing is high priority, retaining customers will be necessary to do so.

I was going to review the item this fellow mentioned and see how misleading the copy we provide is. I think that in general we don't provide too much copy so perhaps an informational page with links to assist customers in researching products could help.

Thank you both for continuing to help polish the store!

-Jon

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[damnek]

First of all, this is amazing. Exactly what bitcoin needed!

The main menu on the left is very buggy, though. Might want to fix that before beta period ends. For example, submenus will start popping in and out in an endless loop sometimes, even when the mouse has left the menu area.

I agree. Although the idea of the menu is kinda cool, I think it's better if it somehow flipped out to the right. Sometimes the menu doesn't fit on my screen, and then I have to scroll..
Another tiny issue I have is that the default quantity is set to 0, which is misleading because when I press add to cart it does add that item once.

[phillipsjk]

Jon, I appreciate you reaching out to this guy, but it sounds like as I suspected, this is not a bitcoin issue.  Perhaps the value you are providing this guy will keep him as a customer, but I'm guessing every Best Buy/Amazon deals this this same issue and doesn't offer that service to their clients of reviewing copy, etc.  

Feel free to knock out this one situation/customer, but I'd prefer if you get back to focusing on selling the same electronic goods as Amazon, etc. for cheaper for bitcoin.  Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but that's your business model and should be your priority number 1.  There's nothing wrong with you focusing on that.  

I came to the same conclusion as well. One of my reasons for my posts was to explain to the guy asking for Windows-free laptops why he is not likely to get them from an online superstore. I am also hinting that if this store is successfull, it may leave room for more specialzed boutique stores. My arguments apply to non-electronic goods like fair-trade coffee as well.

I was also cautioning Bitcoinstore staff that this new business venture is not the same as Memorydealers (in case they did not know that already). My posts are all over the map, so perhaps I did not make myself clear.

For specifics, discussion should be moved to PM. I was talking about the Printer featured in the Original post of this tread. The Dell website really does not have any additional information. For more information, I would probably have to contact Dell directly. Tangent: even that does not work sometimes; I asked HP about what protocol one of their wireless keyboards uses. They did not know. The rep told me "Verbatim." Verbatim could not answer the same question about their similar keyboard likely made by the same nameless manufacturer. The misleading copy was a $10 product I purchased from another online store. The vague copy was a simlar product, but that is all I know (I did not want to spend another $10 shipping a $10 product back).

[BitcoinStore]

Jon, I appreciate you reaching out to this guy, but it sounds like as I suspected, this is not a bitcoin issue.  Perhaps the value you are providing this guy will keep him as a customer, but I'm guessing every Best Buy/Amazon deals this this same issue and doesn't offer that service to their clients of reviewing copy, etc.  

Feel free to knock out this one situation/customer, but I'd prefer if you get back to focusing on selling the same electronic goods as Amazon, etc. for cheaper for bitcoin.  Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but that's your business model and should be your priority number 1.  There's nothing wrong with you focusing on that.  

I came to the same conclusion as well. One of my reasons for my posts was to explain to the guy asking for Windows-free laptops why he is not likely to get them from an online superstore. I am also hinting that if this store is successfull, it may leave room for more specialzed boutique stores. My arguments apply to non-electronic goods like fair-trade coffee as well.

I was also cautioning Bitcoinstore staff that this new business venture is not the same as Memorydealers (in case they did not know that already). My posts are all over the map, so perhaps I did not make myself clear.

For specifics, discussion should be moved to PM. I was talking about the Printer featured in the Original post of this tread. The Dell website really does not have any additional information. For more information, I would probably have to contact Dell directly. Tangent: even that does not work sometimes; I asked HP about what protocol one of their wireless keyboards uses. They did not know. The rep told me "Verbatim." Verbatim could not answer the same question about their similar keyboard likely made by the same nameless manufacturer. The misleading copy was a $10 product I purchased from another online store. The vague copy was a simlar product, but that is all I know (I did not want to spend another $10 shipping a $10 product back).

Here's the best information I can find on the product: http://www.dell.com/downloads/emea/products/printer/datasheets/2350d_dn%204pg%20emea%20broch_a4%20final%20hr.pdf

Cheers,
-Jon

[BitcoinStore]

First of all, this is amazing. Exactly what bitcoin needed!

The main menu on the left is very buggy, though. Might want to fix that before beta period ends. For example, submenus will start popping in and out in an endless loop sometimes, even when the mouse has left the menu area.

I agree. Although the idea of the menu is kinda cool, I think it's better if it somehow flipped out to the right. Sometimes the menu doesn't fit on my screen, and then I have to scroll..
Another tiny issue I have is that the default quantity is set to 0, which is misleading because when I press add to cart it does add that item once.

Thanks! I added both suggestions to our list of requested features.

Keep the suggestions coming!

-Jon

[Fjordbit]

It seems to only offer Flat Rate now. Is that right?

I think I don't understand how to select shipping. I put a laptop in my cart, and it gives me all of the below options. I'm pretty sure a laptop won't fit in a "Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope", but how am I to know on the other ones. And what's the deal with "Flat Rate"? IMO, this part needs to be more clear for a non-beta site.

[BitcoinStore]

It seems to only offer Flat Rate now. Is that right?

I think I don't understand how to select shipping. I put a laptop in my cart, and it gives me all of the below options. I'm pretty sure a laptop won't fit in a "Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope", but how am I to know on the other ones. And what's the deal with "Flat Rate"? IMO, this part needs to be more clear for a non-beta site.

We're currently fixing the shipping module. We'll be offering as many shipping options that make feasible sense for the dimensions of products you are purchasing.

Cheers,
-Jon

[Technomage]

The menu on the site is outright unusable. Worst menu on any store I've used recently. It flickers all over the place and is extremely difficult to navigate with any kind of precision.

I'm using the newest Opera browser by the way. When you fix the menu and take the $1000 limit off, I'll be happy. The site is extremely promising but certain things can really be a problem if not addressed.

[MemoryDealers]

The menu on the site is outright unusable. Worst menu on any store I've used recently.

This will be fixed shortly,  and the $1,000 minimum will be removed soon too.

One of the issues causing the delay is properly calculating the sales tax for the various states, and counties within each state.
Just one more example of politicians making the world a poorer place than it otherwise would be.

 

[irritant]

do you have http://www.bitcoinstore.com/belkin-gigabit-powerline-hd-starter-kit.html with EU plug?   

[kjlimo]

Paypal just sent me this:

Good tidings come in threes.
Mr. ABC,

This holiday season, check out with PayPal to receive:

•   Price Matching

•   Return Shipping on Us*

•   Give Now, Pay Later

I'm curious if we can use BitcoinStore as a credible source for price matching...

I know you want the business, but perhaps this is another way to work bitcoinstore.com into conversations with people.

In case it doesn't go without saying, feel free to explain (give ammunition) why bitcoinstore.com is better than any site accepting Paypal.

[BitcoinStore]

Paypal just sent me this:

Good tidings come in threes.
Mr. ABC,

This holiday season, check out with PayPal to receive:

•   Price Matching

•   Return Shipping on Us*

•   Give Now, Pay Later

I'm curious if we can use BitcoinStore as a credible source for price matching...

I know you want the business, but perhaps this is another way to work bitcoinstore.com into conversations with people.

In case it doesn't go without saying, feel free to explain (give ammunition) why bitcoinstore.com is better than any site accepting Paypal.

Try it out and report back!

[MemoryDealers]

One of the main goals of Bitcoinstore.com is to put pressure on existing merchants to accept Bitcoin in order to be able to match our prices.

By using Bitcoinstore.com as a reference for this paypal offer,  it will help put additional pressure.
We will do whatever we can to assist in the claim process with paypal as well.

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

One of the main goals of Bitcoinstore.com is to put pressure on existing merchants to accept Bitcoin in order to be able to match our prices.

By using Bitcoinstore.com as a reference for this paypal offer,  it will help put additional pressure.
We will do whatever we can to assist in the claim process with paypal as well.

Has it reaped success? I would hate to see a good site like that get closed cause no one used it.

[MemoryDealers]

Has it reaped success? I would hate to see a good site like that get closed cause no one used it.

Don't worry.
It won't be closed.   There are basically 3 full time people working on it each day to improve it.
The $1,000 minimum order should be removed very very soon as well.

[kjlimo]

Rock on.  Is there anything else we can be doing to support you?

Other than recommending people check you out.

Using you for a price guarantee.

If I had a personal need, I'd try shopping there, but right now I don't really need anything.

I'm certainly spreading the good word though.

Anything else?

[kjlimo]

My father-in-law just bought this:


http://www.bitcoinstore.com/netgear-r6200-wireless-router-ieee-802-11ac.html

$196.42

Netgear R6200 11AC DUAL BAND WIFI

Sorry, he didn't ask me before buying it at Best Buy, so I'll see if I can convince him to try the price matching...

Will report back, but he may not do it for 2-3 dollars.  We'll see how much we're talking about.

Quick question:

Subtotal    $196.42
Shipping & Handling (Flat Rate - Fixed)   $4.99
Grand Total    $201.41

This is what I get when I add shipping & tax estimate... is there no tax b/c you're shipping across state lines?

I suppose that's the online loophole where any online site isn't paying sales taxes for out of state sales?

Thanks in advance for any confirmation!

[MemoryDealers]

This is what I get when I add shipping & tax estimate... is there no tax b/c you're shipping across state lines?

Until the law changes,  we are only required to charge tax in CA, TN, and MA.

I may be able to move the business outside of CA at some point and eliminate the need for Sales tax in CA as well.

[Grix]

Is the website loading very slowly for anyone else? It takes like 5-10 seconds to load for me.

[kjlimo]

This is what I get when I add shipping & tax estimate... is there no tax b/c you're shipping across state lines?

Until the law changes,  we are only required to charge tax in CA, TN, and MA.

I may be able to move the business outside of CA at some point and eliminate the need for Sales tax in CA as well.

Rock on, I'll pass that info along to my Father-in-Law