Tips for local transactions

[TheButterZone]

Generate paper wallet and fund it. Let them check the public address, get their item in your posession, give them the private key, let them sweep it out in front of you, then leave.

[lophie]

Permission to translate the OP and post it on another site? (Not claiming to be my original work of course.)

[camosoul]

In places where the populace hasn't been disarmed and made into slaves; bring your gun. I'm in rural Florida and I encourage all I do business with to bring their guns, too. Never had to worry about any funny business. Gun People are generally the most honest and cool you'll ever find. I take a personal check from a guy with a gun cooler than mine any time. No problems. Ever.

WiFi? Where's your cellular data?

An armed society is a polite society.

[bezzeb]

In places where the populace hasn't been disarmed and made into slaves; bring your gun. I'm in rural Florida and I encourage all I do business with to bring their guns, too. Never had to worry about any funny business. Gun People are generally the most honest and cool you'll ever find. I take a personal check from a guy with a gun cooler than mine any time. No problems. Ever.

WiFi? Where's your cellular data?

An armed society is a polite society.

You clearly didn't grow up in a well armed urban center full of disadvantaged and angry youth like I did.  I grew up with the sound of gunshots on the street and all manner of bad things happening on various corners and I tell you this:

Guns are NOT keeping you safe.  A generous childhood with loving parents, access to good food, decent schools and opportunities in life:  these are the things that are keeping you safe wherever you are.  Guns are a red-herring and to think they are the cause of civil society is delusional - sorry.  The neighborhoods you describe are instead safe -despite- the guns.  I'm pretty sure the guy with the gun cooler would be a great guy even if you weren't armed.

Pick any nasty neighborhood on earth, and bring a gun to a BTC exchange:  result will be an increased chance of a shootout if big money is involved and someone intends to take what isn't theirs. 

Anyway, just a word of caution to ensure that people are reminded that guns escalate conflicts under many conditions and are not a fix-all solution.  Disclaimer:  I own a few guns and enjoy a firing range as much as anyone, and am ready for the end of the world.  But I wouldn't want to have one with me if I was strolling down the street and about to get robbed because someone might need to die in that case and there's no way to guarantee that it wouldn't be me with the bullet in the brain.  I'm not willing to die for a few bucks - principles be damned.  ;-)

[TheButterZone]

I don't carry money, and I'm not willing to die for anything because I was defenseless. If someone tries to kill me, I'm going to try to kill them right back.

[tobobit]

thanks for compiling and writing this. good stuff

[bighecks]

Good tips and I would just meet in a police department.

[raze]

I've been considering doing some local trades lately. Since I'm generally a trusting person, this post gave me some tips that I didn't think of before. Thanks for the post.

[Welsh]

Always meet in public, don't meet at a house or anything.

[TheButterZone]

Unless it's illegal to defend yourself in public and there are no armed police or security officers around.

[testor1988]

There should be safer ways to make bulk trading

[TippingPoint]

I received about $1200 USD worth of Bitcoins while engaged in internet commerce.  I needed some cash to pay a bulldozer operator.  I had never purchased any Bitcoins, so I did not have an online account to cash them out.  So I looked around for some options.  I found some local Bitcoin dealers on Craigslist http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites , and then noticed some of the same ones on LocalBitcoins.com https://localbitcoins.com/

I ended up emailing and then phoning a dealer who was only about two miles away from me.  He sounded knowledgeable, confident, and was not "tricky" or evasive.  We arranged to meet in a "safe location" that had security cams and free WiFi.  I first transferred my Bitcoins to an Electrum wallet on my laptop, and drove to meet him.  We met.  I booted up my laptop, I connected to the WiFi, I showed him the Electrum balance on my computer screen, he counted out the hundred dollar bills on the table (which I politely did not touch), he emailed me his Bitcoin wallet address, I transferred the Bitcoins to his wallet from my Electrum wallet while he was monitoring the block chain, the transfer was instantaneous, and I picked up the money and left.

I felt like agent 007

[abednego]

Thanks for the post.  I am holding onto just a few BTC for novelty now.  If I want to cash them out or buy more I know a few people in Atlanta to do it through.

[b!z]

The iOS Blockchain app no longer supports sending / receiving Bitcoins because of Apple rules. You can only use it to look at graphs etc.

You should update the OP.

[malevolent]

The iOS Blockchain app no longer supports sending / receiving Bitcoins because of Apple rules. You can only use it to look at graphs etc.

You should update the OP.

Is it because of this?

http://venturebeat.com/2013/06/06/apple-files-imoney-patent-for-virtual-currency-digital-wallet-and-free-stuff/

I hope this patent won't affect the growth of bitcoin businesses involved in making bitcoin easier to use.

[bernard75]

http://venturebeat.com/2013/06/06/apple-files-imoney-patent-for-virtual-currency-digital-wallet-and-free-stuff/

This is crazy. Next they will patent air.

[bezzeb]

I received about $1200 USD worth of Bitcoins while engaged in internet commerce.  I needed some cash to pay a bulldozer operator.  I had never purchased any Bitcoins, so I did not have an online account to cash them out.  So I looked around for some options.  I found some local Bitcoin dealers on Craigslist http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites , and then noticed some of the same ones on LocalBitcoins.com https://localbitcoins.com/

I ended up emailing and then phoning a dealer who was only about two miles away from me.  He sounded knowledgeable, confident, and was not "tricky" or evasive.  We arranged to meet in a "safe location" that had security cams and free WiFi.  I first transferred my Bitcoins to an Electrum wallet on my laptop, and drove to meet him.  We met.  I booted up my laptop, I connected to the WiFi, I showed him the Electrum balance on my computer screen, he counted out the hundred dollar bills on the table (which I politely did not touch), he emailed me his Bitcoin wallet address, I transferred the Bitcoins to his wallet from my Electrum wallet while he was monitoring the block chain, the transfer was instantaneous, and I picked up the money and left.

I felt like agent 007

Exactly how I do it, but the awesome feeling of the first trade wears off.    Becomes routine.

Localbitcoins.com is cool, and so far, the people I've traded with are very nice.  One repeat client is actually becoming a friend of sorts, we sometimes just get together for beer and chatting without bitcoin wallets.

None of the dudes I've met are involved in drugs or any shady stuff, and I tell them all to not bother me if that's their angle.  They're just software developers, ex liberty reserve customers or what not, and almost always a bit on the geeky side.  (lol)

[Book]

Also be careful of maniacs. Virtual currency attracts a lot of people like that, not so long ago a kid failed at scamming runescape gold with his fake money so he pulled out a replica BB gun and started demanding he pay over the runescape gold, in the middle of a university or library. When he left he didn't even take the real $100 bill LOL:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Runescape-Robber-Jail-Time-crime,16844.html

[Stephen Gornick]

Just a heads-up, ... it might be getting easier for a scammer to succeed at double spending on 0/unconfirmed.    Here's an example:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=196990.0

So those buying bitcoins with cash or other non-reversible payment method from an untrusted party might want to consider some escrow method (e.g., LocalBitcoins "transactions"), or a more instant-transfer method (e.g., account-to-account transfer, like on Camp BX, or maybe via Ripple gateway, etc.), or waiting on getting a confirmation or two before completing the trade by handing over the cash.

[bezzeb]

Just a heads-up, ... it might be getting easier for a scammer to succeed at double spending on 0/unconfirmed.    Here's an example:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=196990.0

So those buying bitcoins with cash or other non-reversible payment method from an untrusted party might want to consider some escrow method (e.g., LocalBitcoins "transactions"), or a more instant-transfer method (e.g., account-to-account transfer, like on Camp BX, or maybe via Ripple gateway, etc.), or waiting on getting a confirmation or two before completing the trade by handing over the cash.

An attack such as what is described in your linked post would be essentially impossible for all but a few uber-leet dudes in the world to even attempt IMHO, and it isn't 'new', it's the same vuln, and the existing safeguards resist the effort which succeeds at making such attacks cost more than they're generally worth.  The people I meet with aren't hackers and the amounts I trade are too small for anyone to care about. 

That said, I always make my face to face trades over a beer or coffee and explain before the meet that fiat cash moves only after 1 conf.  Not always practical for everyone, but i wont trade with a stranger otherwise.
But the beer / coffee is mostly social as I find it fun to meet strangers and chat for as long as one drink takes. 

Be smart and keep your eyes open.  Take responsibility for your own safety.