Misfired transaction

[The real Donnie Love]

I ordered a gift card online, but the seller claims that my payment wasn't received, even though the amount has already been deducted from my balance. So what then? Can I get my money back or am I just out the money?

[The real Donnie Love]

Actually, it finally went through today. Only took a week. I was beginning to panic. I was under the impression that it would be instantaneous.

[wa4hsh]

Did you include a fee in the transaction?

[The real Donnie Love]

Like, what kind of fee? There was no fee of which I was aware.

[Severian]

SA is missing an idiot.

[The real Donnie Love]

Please explain.

[wa4hsh]

In the preferences section of your wallet there should be a place to designate a transaction fee to accompany your transaction. I currently use .001 bitcoins, I've seen the suggestion that .01 is more appropriate, I don't know. What I do know is that transactions appear to be picked up quicker if they include a fee. I sent one thru one time without it just to see and it took over 8 hours.

[The real Donnie Love]

Mine took almost 8 days. What is the purpose of this fee, and to whom does it go?

Thanks for your reply.

[DannyHamilton]

The purpose of the fee is to provide an incentive to a miner (or mining pool) to include your transaction in a block (confirm your transaction) instead of someone else's transaction who paid less of a fee than you.

It goes to the miner (or mining pool) that confirms your transaction (includes it in a block).

[Hiver]

I typically pay .0001 for something that's time sensitive, and it typically gets a confirmation within three blocks (under 30 minutes). If I go with no fee, it usually goes through within an hour or two. Consider moving your 'spending money' to a better connected node, like www.blockchain.info. I'm not sure why else it'd take a week, unless the seller failed.

[The real Donnie Love]

Thanks for the information. :0>

[freebeer2go]

what's the seller's address, you can prove you sent coins to it.