Newbie with a business idea

[crl826]

I actually don't consider myself a newbie to BTC but I am definitely new to this forum. I am trying to spread the word on my idea to convince Amazon to accept Bitcoin. I apologize if this is too spammy and I understand if this has to be deleted. 

The very short version is I want to process orders for no transaction fee with Amazon and publicize the amount of orders I process.  I hope to show a large number will convince Amazon that accepting Bitcoins is a good business decision.

The current sign up form is here  http://www.paybit.co/

I have also been answering questions on the BTC subreddit here.  http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1a9a07/buy_anything_on_amazon_with_bitcoin_no/

And I will of course answer any questions here as well.

[Benson Samuel]

I had signed up earlier today. Good Stuff!

Wish you all the best in making this work.

Would be great if you could upload a favico for your page as well.

[remotemass]

Do you want to do a bitspend.net without fees, is that it?

[greyhawk]

Do you want to do a bitspend.net without fees, is that it?

Its bitspend copycat scams all around this week.

[remotemass]

What about the extra postage costs you will have to handle. Do you pay for them?

[crl826]

Do you want to do a bitspend.net without fees, is that it?

Basically.  Our hope is that eventually our services as a middleman will not be needed because Bitcoin will just be accepted everywhere.  

We are hoping our efforts to increase Bitcoin spending for Amazon and publishing the amount of spending will cause Amazon to see that accepting Bitcoin is a good business decision.

We have no problem with anyone making an honest dollar but we believe that transaction fees give businesses an incentive to not push for widespread acceptance of Bitcoin, since they would lose their income.  We are setting up to avoid that trap.

[crl826]

What about the extra postage costs you will have to handle. Do you pay for them?

Not sure what you mean.  We would expect the customer to include the price of shipping when they send us Bitcoin.

[crl826]

Its bitspend copycat scams all around this week.

I understand the skepticism.  Hopefully we can change your mind in the next couple of weeks.

[BitCoinLoft]

Its bitspend copycat scams all around this week.

I understand the skepticism.  Hopefully we can change your mind in the next couple of weeks.

I can imagine for a company like Amazon it could be not so easy to adopt BitCoin, at least not now. If BitCoin reaches critical mass of users, then of course Amazon and any other company will accept BTC. Though for them there are also other legal implications. I would really love to see BTC on Amazon. 

[biodieselchris]

I would use amazon/ebay more if they offered BTC payment. Especially ebay. Paypal is a nightmare.

[knives]

Hello everybody,

It's good for Amazon to accept BTC. However, BTCs are considered by the market an investment (asset) and not "cash". So as of today:

1. Converting any currency to BTC is expensive (bank fees, conversion interests, etc).
2. The currency is fluctuating a lot.
3. Hard to cash-out

So there's no immediate gains except from the illegal market or for banned countries (IRAN) which use BTC + private banks to "hide" money from USA (in this case) and other authorities.

We need to find ways to make BTC readily available at very cheap (costs) price to the masses.

Good call though.

[elitegoodguy]

Sounds good, but we will see how it all pans out

[DannyHamilton]

- snip -
BTCs are considered by the market an investment (asset) and not "cash".
- snip -

Why do you say this?  Are you saying that Wordpress, TvTorrents, Archive.org, Reddit, 4chan, BitcoinStore, etc. are all accepting an investment vehicle as payment?

1. Converting any currency to BTC is expensive (bank fees, conversion interests, etc).

It can be, but it doesn't have to be.  I have acquired BTC while paying far less than I would have paid to acquire US Dollars. I even have a listing on localbitcoins to exchange my BTC at the current exchange rate with no fee at all.

2. The currency is fluctuating a lot.

Yes, the currency is still quite young and going through a growth phase.  This is to be expected until it reaches more mainstream use.

3. Hard to cash-out

Define "hard".  I have found it extremely easy to spend bitcoins anywhere that it is accepted.  I've also found it easy to exchange bitcoins for other currencies (such as US Dollars).

So there's no immediate gains except from the illegal market or for banned countries (IRAN) which use BTC + private banks to "hide" money from USA (in this case) and other authorities.

I believe you are mistaken here.  Do you have any proof of this?

[crl826]

It's good for Amazon to accept BTC. However, BTCs are considered by the market an investment (asset) and not "cash".

That perception is exactly what we are trying to change with this project.

We need to find ways to make BTC readily available at very cheap (costs) price to the masses.

I disagree a little.  I think at this point there are enough people with BTC, before it can go much further people need to have more places to spend BTC.  Doesn't matter how cheap it is if you can't spend it anywhere   

[knives]

- snip -
BTCs are considered by the market an investment (asset) and not "cash".
- snip -

Why do you say this?  Are you saying that Wordpress, TvTorrents, Archive.org, Reddit, 4chan, BitcoinStore, etc. are all accepting an investment vehicle as payment?

1. Converting any currency to BTC is expensive (bank fees, conversion interests, etc).

It can be, but it doesn't have to be.  I have acquired BTC while paying far less than I would have paid to acquire US Dollars. I even have a listing on localbitcoins to exchange my BTC at the current exchange rate with no fee at all.

So are you proposing Amazon uses local BTC sellers who would be able to exchange amounts like … how much? 10 BTC or 100 BTC? I don't think it's a viable solution. You need a sort of "bank" like Nordic Bitcoin (for Europe) etc, and even that, I'm not sure it can cope with big quantities on a weekly/monthly basis. You may accept BTC but you still have to pay in local currencies your expenses.

2. The currency is fluctuating a lot.

Yes, the currency is still quite young and going through a growth phase.  This is to be expected until it reaches more mainstream use.

Sure, but that's not a *positive* think for a merchant. As said before he has to pay in a (probably) much less fluctuating currency. Why take unnecessary risks? Especially when the amounts are *big enough*.

3. Hard to cash-out

Define "hard".  I have found it extremely easy to spend bitcoins anywhere that it is accepted.  I've also found it easy to exchange bitcoins for other currencies (such as US Dollars).

Hard = not easily done by your computer at home. Again, there's a problem of quantity and transaction speed here. Same as above.

So there's no immediate gains except from the illegal market or for banned countries (IRAN) which use BTC + private banks to "hide" money from USA (in this case) and other authorities.

I believe you are mistaken here.  Do you have any proof of this?

Proof? No, how could I? It's not pure speculation though. It makes perfect sense, it's a virtual crypto-currency. Fits perfectly the scenario. Silk-road accepts BTC for the very same reason so… I don't think we need to elaborate much on this.

regards,

knives

[aquarius]

hmm

[DannyHamilton]

So are you proposing Amazon uses local BTC sellers who would be able to exchange amounts like … how much? 10 BTC or 100 BTC?

No, I am proposing that Amazon wither use a payment processor such as BitPay, or encourage their employee, and/or suppliers to accept bitcoins as payment.

Sure, but that's not a *positive* think for a merchant.

I never said it was, but as more mainstream merchants (such as Amazon) begin to accept bitcoin as a form of payment, more customers will choose to use it for payment, this seems likely to lead to more widespread mainstream use, which will eventually bring about stabilization. 

Hard = not easily done by your computer at home. Again, there's a problem of quantity and transaction speed here. Same as above.

It doesn't seem any more difficult than exchanging any other form of currency.

Proof? No, how could I? It's not pure speculation though. It makes perfect sense, it's a virtual crypto-currency. Fits perfectly the scenario. Silk-road accepts BTC for the very same reason so… I don't think we need to elaborate much on this.

I won't deny that it is likely that some small portion of the bitcoin economy involves such uses as "the illegal market or for banned countries (IRAN) which use BTC + private banks to hide money from USA (in this case) and other authorities".  Due to the fact that all currencies tend to be relatively anonymous and difficult to trace, they all tend to be used for such purposes.  The more widespread the use and acceptance of a currency, the more likely it is to be used in transactions that are meant to be hidden from governments.  As you've already pointed out, the use and acceptance of bitcoin is not yet very widespread.  As such, while it may be occasionally used in such ways, it is far more likely that other currencies would be used instead.

[shibaji]

Bright idea and cool website, but bitcoin and fiat link is very broken now. Until that gets fixed, it would be hard to get this successful.