All. I wanted. To do.

[pbhead]

Was buy some shinies (https://www.casascius.com/) for a coin collector for christmas.

the number of accounts, and bullcrap I have gone though... downloaded, whatever. and still have been unable to do anything.

someone give me a goddam box to put in a credit card number into that is all i ask!

how can you say this is easy. how can you say it is convenient. When i have spent literally hours trying to figure out how to spend my goddammed US dollars?!??!

do not. get it.

[odolvlobo]

Yep. Totally. Agree.

[DannyHamilton]

. . . When i have spent literally hours trying to figure out how to spend my goddammed US dollars?!??!

do not. get it.

Agreed, spending US dollars is truly a royal pain in the ass.  If only you happened to have some bitcoins the process would have been so much easier.

I suggest opening a blockchain.info wallet (it is easy and should take you less than 5 minutes).

Then use BitInstant to convert your lousy US dollars into bitcoins.  Should take less than 10 minutes on their website and a quick trip to a local shop to deposit your cash.

Not difficult, complicated, or excessively time-consuming, and if you get a bit extra you'll have some nice convenient bitcoins for future purchases.

[pbhead]

ya... as far from what i can gather from bitinstant... I put in US dollars, and get bitcoins... which means I have to guess about how many dollars I need to get the quantity of bitcoins I need to buy the coins.

It also means gas money, and getting cash in the first place.

[gabbergabe]

I thought it converts it for you?

[Jutarul]

Was buy some shinies (https://www.casascius.com/) for a coin collector for christmas.

the number of accounts, and bullcrap I have gone though... downloaded, whatever. and still have been unable to do anything.

someone give me a goddam box to put in a credit card number into that is all i ask!

how can you say this is easy. how can you say it is convenient. When i have spent literally hours trying to figure out how to spend my goddammed US dollars?!??!

do not. get it.

easiest way to get started: www.coinbase.com

[DannyHamilton]

ya... as far from what i can gather from bitinstant... I put in US dollars, and get bitcoins... which means I have to guess about how many dollars I need to get the quantity of bitcoins I need to buy the coins.

It also means gas money, and getting cash in the first place.

Yep. Those pesky US dollars sure are inconvenient aren't they?  Have to get them from an ATM or bank teller, then have to transport them by hand to the location where you spend them.  It would be so much more useful if there were some sort of currency that had the intrinsic properties of a currency (rarity, identifiably, difficult (impossible) to counterfeit) but without the need to handle a physical object.  Perhaps some sort of electronic/digital currency?  Then you could simply transfer the currency directly to any other individual without having to get banks involved.

Bitcoin isn't your problem.  The fact that you don't have them and are stuck with those US dollars that are difficult to exchange in a non-reversible way is where you are running into an issue.

[pbhead]

from coinbase:

"You will receive your bitcoin once the bank transfer completes.  Usually this is within four business days (note, not calendar days).  We’ll send you an email when your bitcoins arrive."

That is past christmas.

clearly i should have known that it would take ~2 weeks to get anything done.

[Jutarul]

from coinbase:

"You will receive your bitcoin once the bank transfer completes.  Usually this is within four business days (note, not calendar days).  We’ll send you an email when your bitcoins arrive."

That is past christmas.

clearly i should have known that it would take ~2 weeks to get anything done.

So you want to have "quick" bitcoins? Then the best way is to find a local person to trade with. (https://localbitcoins.com)
You may try https://www.bitinstant.com.

Expect to pay a premium for the speed/convenience.

As mentioned above, the issue is that the bitcoin community is plagued with scammers who abuse traditional payment methods to gather bitcoins. E.g. using paypal and credit cards leaves the bitcoin paying party at a huge counter-party risk.

[odolvlobo]

from coinbase:

"You will receive your bitcoin once the bank transfer completes.  Usually this is within four business days (note, not calendar days).  We’ll send you an email when your bitcoins arrive."

That is past christmas.

clearly i should have known that it would take ~2 weeks to get anything done.

This problem is all on the dollar/bank side. Try buying something online with a check or wiring money from one bank to another. It takes many days. Bitcoin transactions take hours, not days. Also, while credit card, debit card, and paypal transactions may be instantaneous, they also cost 3% or more.

[elux]

Pay with credit card. Ship with Fed-Ex. Shiny, but expensive.



http://memorydealers.com/10-casascius-bitcoin-1-troy-ounce-silver-round-w-gold-plated-bitcoin-logo.html

[Stephen Gornick]

how can you say this is easy. how can you say it is convenient.

Have you ever tried to buy Apple stock with credit card?  Or gold bullion? 

It's the same thing.   Either there are laws against it (Apple stock) or the fraud costs make it prohibitive to do so (in the gold bullion example).

Cash works.

Are you in the U.S.?  Do you have a Chase bank location nearby?

You can deposit cash at Chase into the account for exchange BitMe.com   That cash is credited to your BitMe account and you then buy coins.  Simple.

Or there is perhaps someone nearby who will trade, face-to-face:
 - http://www.LocalBitcoins.com

If you must use a credit card, VirWoX is about the best (if not only) option.   You buy Second Life Lindens (SLLs), then trade them for Bitcoins (BTC). 
 - http://www.VirWoX.com

If you just need a couple, you might be able to catch BTCQuick with stock available:
 - http://www.BTCQuick.com

[Lethn]

It sucks this will just mean the death of conventional currencies though if they refuse to adapt, that's my line of thought on this.

[TangibleCryptography]

It sucks this will just mean the death of conventional currencies though if they refuse to adapt, that's my line of thought on this.

The issue isn't conventional currency.  No problems exchanging $10K USD cash for BTC or even $200K BankWire for BTC.  We do it everyday.   However credit cards are pathetically easy to scam with and Bitcoins are incredibly difficult to recover so they are like water and oil.   

If Visa came out with "Visa Cash" tomorrow which worked exactly like a PIN debit card (maybe also has a OTP built right into the card) except it couldn't be reversed what so ever under any possible circumstances well it would be very easy to enter your Visa Cash number and get some BTC at a low premium.   Until then ... we will stick with proven methods.

[kamizie]

how can you say this is easy. how can you say it is convenient.

Have you ever tried to buy Apple stock with credit card?  Or gold bullion? 

It's the same thing.   Either there are laws against it (Apple stock) or the fraud costs make it prohibitive to do so (in the gold bullion example).

Cash works.

Are you in the U.S.?  Do you have a Chase bank location nearby?

You can deposit cash at Chase into the account for exchange BitMe.com   That cash is credited to your BitMe account and you then buy coins.  Simple.

Or there is perhaps someone nearby who will trade, face-to-face:
 - http://www.LocalBitcoins.com

If you must use a credit card, VirWoX is about the best (if not only) option.   You buy Second Life Lindens (SLLs), then trade them for Bitcoins (BTC). 
 - http://www.VirWoX.com

If you just need a couple, you might be able to catch BTCQuick with stock available:
 - http://www.BTCQuick.com

when I use credit card, i often get high risk API, or fraud from moneybookers. but

[casascius]

User Camolist is willing to accept PayPal/CC... talk to him.

Ordinarily I would accept CC for small orders, but I am trying to get away from small orders and go wholesale so I can allocate more time to making coins for smaller local sellers to resell.

[johnvolta]

very much agree with below point:

[credit cards are pathetically easy to scam with and Bitcoins are incredibly difficult to recover so they are like water and oil. ]

[evoorhees]

clearly i should have known that it would take ~2 weeks to get anything done.

Doesn't take two weeks. It takes one hour:

1) Go to BitInstant.com
2) Select Cash Deposit as source, and Bitcoin to Email as destination
3) Fill out the form, and take cash to the location near you.

Within an hour you'll have Bitcoins in your email inbox.

Easy peasy.

[DannyHamilton]

clearly i should have known that it would take ~2 weeks to get anything done.

Doesn't take two weeks. It takes one hour:
1) Go to BitInstant.com . . .

Already explained:

. . . use BitInstant to convert your lousy US dollars into bitcoins.  Should take less than 10 minutes on their website and a quick trip to a local shop to deposit your cash . . .

However, apparently, leaving the house to acquire actual physical cash, along with the inconvienience and costs of transporting that cash to the nearby location are a significant hindrance to the use of bitcoin:

. . . I have to guess about how many dollars I need to get the quantity of bitcoins I need to buy the coins.

It also means gas money, and getting cash in the first place.

Is that a Billy Goat I see crossing a bridge in the distance?

[mjc]

Anyone who has told you making the exchange between BTC and currency was easy is not telling the entire story.  

The dealer here could increase their sales if they chose to accept credit cards, but they want to deal only in BTC.  

So that does means you need to acquire BTC and accept all the hassles that come with that.  

Getting set up does include some study and effort.  I wrote a book to help people out with that.  See my signature.  

However, once you are involved and using the BTC infrastructure it becomes as easy to use as regular currency, until you find yourself with only BTC and need to make a purchase in USD, grrrr.  Then the reverse occurs.

BTC and currency markets are separate market places and difficult to move between.  It can be done, and has been done, by many people on a regular basis.