Tips for local transactions

[williamj2543]

Awesome guide! I would "Bring a friend" because the other person may actually be a scammer or something, but they will feel outnumbered.

[eximo]

Has anyone done any transaction in NYC face to face recently.  Since the price has shot up I have found it harder to find people willing to do face to face. 

[GnB]

I highly discourage public WiFi...despite what most of these so called security expert clowns would have you believe the simple fact that a website uses HTTPS alone is not enough to shield yourself from someone capturing packets (assuming they know what their doing).

[hostmaster]

I highly discourage public WiFi...despite what most of these so called security expert clowns would have you believe the simple fact that a website uses HTTPS alone is not enough to shield yourself from someone capturing packets (assuming they know what their doing).

I agreed. There is hac.king tools which can break wifi passwords so easy.

[TippingPoint]

There is the option to do a local transaction, but phone a remote assistant to initiate the Bitcoin transfer.  This avoids untrusted WiFi.

[TrustedPartner]

Has anyone done any transaction in NYC face to face recently.  Since the price has shot up I have found it harder to find people willing to do face to face. 

I have started to do more blind transactions.  Using my bank for deposits (anyone buying)  and deposits to buyers' bank (anyone selling).  This is usually done with counter-parties I have done at least two complete orders with in person or using escrow service.

Basically, I offer trusted trading partners 10k sell limits and wholesale buy orders if they can complete 2 buy or sell orders with me.  Sometimes I have met before, other times I have never met at all.

Becoming a Trusted Trading Partner requires a level of trust on the buyers or sellers part.  Since transaction history is established and fraud reduced buy using the banks, blind transactions require the buyer or seller to send me the btc or usd to me first.  Cash, wire, checks, money orders, cashiers check, etc.  As long as the banks clear payments the btc will be released.  Sending btc is quick and verified via blockchain.  Sending usd is simple as making a deposit to any US bank (since I am in the US).  Although, international wire is also a possibility.

Saves time driving around and it's winter time, so I don't really want to meet anybody at all.  This is great if you want to go statewide, national, or international.

[williamj2543]

I'd say just do some cold storage transferring. Put the money on a paper wallet with the private code on it, verify that the money is on it by letting them scan it, and when they get home they just transfer it to their own personal wallet.

[ryanAC]

I'd say just do some cold storage transferring. Put the money on a paper wallet with the private code on it, verify that the money is on it by letting them scan it, and when they get home they just transfer it to their own personal wallet.

Not a good idea. A paper wallet that you didn't create yourself means the private key could be somewhere else as well.  The only way I would suggest using this idea is if the funds were swept to a new address that the buyer controls at the time of exchange.

[williamj2543]

That was my point I think

[First.Bitcoins]

Are there any other sites like localbitcoins.com that offer escrow services for local transactions?

[cfjhvxcxcwbtxx]

good

[salsamoves]

thank you for this great post. Lots of good advice

[epplercharles]

i am using localbitcoin for selling/buying bitcoins. And i use bitcoin to purchase other coins in cryptsy.

[jessica222]

Has anyone done any transaction in NYC face to face recently.  Since the price has shot up I have found it harder to find people willing to do face to face. 

Will few people, most won't like face to face,like me

[tlincoln]

Good tips. Exchanges are safer.

[TippingPoint]

Good tips. Exchanges are safer.

My prediction is that more Bitcoins will be lost on the Exchanges than will be lost during face-to-face transactions.

There is much useful information in this thread, but for me, the general rules include:

• agree on price and procedures in advance
• meet in a neutral place with video surveillance and secure wifi
• verify that both parties have all the required Bitcoins and cash
• perform incremental transactions, exchange small amounts first
• if the other party wants to change the procedure, walk away
• never do a transaction with anyone who tells you that it will be used for something illegal

[nanobtc]

I saw a post here some time ago, about a guy doing a face-to-face meeting for about USD $20k. He met in a casino. Plenty of cameras, obvious and plainclothes security people around, easy access to pro counterfeit testing (just change them for something else). People with a lot of cash there would not stand out like they would at a Starbucks.

[netbin]

Here's a report of a face-to-face transaction gone bad.

In this instance, a person selling headphones through Craigslist was contacted and a face-to-face trade (at a McDonalds) was arranged.  Except it didn't go according to the buyer's plan and the seller left with both the headphones and the bitcoins:

I just got robbed blind of bitcoins - in person. I'm feeling like I've lost trust in the usability of the currency and looking for advice.
 - http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1b89wm

How did the seller get a hold of the BTC before the transaction was completed. Couldn't that kind of situation have been easily avoided ?

By the buyer sitting down with the seller in a safe open public area with lots of other people around such as inside the McDonalds restaurant.

And then releasing the payment of BTC to the seller through a laptop computer right then and there only after the transaction was completed.

[netbin]

My prediction is that more Bitcoins will be lost on the Exchanges than will be lost during face-to-face transactions.

If I have some Bitcoins just sitting in my Coinbase account are they 100% safe from being hacked into ?

If I have some Devcoins just sitting in my Cryptsy or Vicurex account are they 100% safe from being hacked into ?

Are there any simple and-or min-level-strategies-guidelines to follow-employ to ensure optimal BTC-DVC-LTC security for the alt-coin-exchanges, such as proper choice of passwords and any other high-security enhancing account profile measures-methods-choices ?

[BitOnyx]

Local trading for bitcoin doesn't make sense. Even though it is possible i would rather expect to use normal ways and just use your smartphone for it.