Noobs Safest Way To Buy Coins?

[kapolani]

Not sure if this is allowable in the noob section so I'm going to post this as a discussion on how noobs just trying to get in the game should go about their business.

So far I've read that Paypal isn't the best way to do BTC selling and buying because of the possibility of charge back scam. People have been using this type of scam for a while now so it's a no-brainer not to use Paypal UNLESS you trust the person on the other end.

Haven't used Dwolla yet (still waiting for funds to transfer) but it seems like a better alternative. Although, trust still is important here.

How are you other noobs going to make your first purchase?

[lan787]

I made a wire transfer to mtgox. Can't say it went completely smooth.
It took 3 weeks and price rose from during that period $12 to $30.
But I believe it is the safest and cheapest method.
The drawback is that it is slow and requires pretty large sum for the starters ($1000+).
I think Bitinstant.com is an easy and safe option for small and fast exchange.

[kapolani]

The lengthy wait for wire transfer is the turn off for me.

I may even try to find someone that is kind of local to me for a F2F meet and transfer.

Waiting to get posting privs so that I can find someone to make a buy.

[Rub3n]

I have bought my first coin with a Dutch (local) website called bitonic.nl.
The payment and delivery is instant. Note that u can only pay with a dutch online payment system called iDeal (used by all the dutch banks) And the price is about 10% higher then when u would buy via gox bank transfer.

[jim13x]

I used https://localbitcoins.com/ to find someone in my area and it was a great experience. He turned out to be the head of a local Bitcoin user group! I would consider bitinstant as well, despite their mixed reviews it seems like a good product for small transfers.

[Diskman]

Thanks Rub3n, I mined a nice Dutch address to buy coins 

[mateo]

How are you other noobs going to make your first purchase?

Ahm, the same way most sensible people would go about: by buying through an exchange, paying with a fast money service with no chargebacks and where transfers are instant (like Liberty Reserve, Webmoney etc.).

[kapolani]

How are you other noobs going to make your first purchase?

Ahm, the same way most sensible people would go about: by buying through an exchange, paying with a fast money service with no chargebacks and where transfers are instant (like Liberty Reserve, Webmoney etc.).

I'm not sure that's the most sensible way.

I think I would much rather make a private buy. No middle man. You funds and/or BTC aren't subject to middle man lag etc.

[mjc]

I cover many of the different ways to buy Bitcoins in my book

• BitInstant
• Wire Transfers
• BitcoinLocal
• Bitcoin Over The Counter

If you want step by step instructions pick up a copy of my book, see my signature for the link.

[diamanddog]

Thanks

[Bitformance.com]

@kapolani: what country are you from? there are a lot of regional exchanges where you buy from some other private guy- the BTCs is in escrow and you have to transre money to his bank account. That way the transaction should be done in 1-2 days within EU.

I bought my coins with MtGox but that was 2 years ago.. BitInstant also seems to be very popular. Other than that, there is still the possibility to buy and sell some stuff for bitcoins (for example, sell your old laptop or something ).

[kapolani]

@kapolani: what country are you from? there are a lot of regional exchanges where you buy from some other private guy- the BTCs is in escrow and you have to transre money to his bank account. That way the transaction should be done in 1-2 days within EU.

I bought my coins with MtGox but that was 2 years ago.. BitInstant also seems to be very popular. Other than that, there is still the possibility to buy and sell some stuff for bitcoins (for example, sell your old laptop or something ).

Thanks for the info!

Looking into some local sellers that I can do a face to face meet with.

If someone could come up with a foolproof way that people can exchange currencies without getting ripped off AND instant - they would make a killing.

[zacharycebu]

I'm struggling to buy coins. Coinbase went so smooth over a month ago, until their probs with transactions.

gox never verified me in 3 months of trying.

waiting on bitfloor and bitstamp

Really having a hard time, been trying to throw money into BTC since Dec2012

HELP!

[kapolani]

I'm struggling to buy coins. Coinbase went so smooth over a month ago, until their probs with transactions.

gox never verified me in 3 months of trying.

waiting on bitfloor and bitstamp

Really having a hard time, been trying to throw money into BTC since Dec2012

HELP!

Zach -

I'm planing on becoming a contributing member here.

Find good sellers. Build trust.

Then, buy from a private seller. Dwolla, cash whatever.

I think it will be much better than doing the MtGox thing. You are exposed to their lag/crashes/hacks etc.

[jim13x]

I agree 100% about private sellers.

FYI - regarding bitinstant.com, I just used them to buy BTC. I filled out the form on the website, walked over to my local CVS, spent 10 minutes going through the process of calling Moneygram and paying at the cashier. By the time I walked home (30 min) I had my Bitcoin.  Still in 'pending' status, but I think that's normal. 

It cost me $103.95 for about $83 worth of BTC.  About $4 went to Zip Zap, $4 went to Bitinstant, and I lost $13 in the conversion to BTC (which was not obviously disclosed, probably in the fine print).  25% overhead is not a good deal IMHO.

I hope that helps someone.

Jim

[BTCVirgin]

Many people posting about personal purchases has raised a question in my mind.

If purchases of BTC are done 'on the street' so to speak, does that mean that a large purchase isn't recorded in the exchanges and that the price variable will not be affected?

Imagine I buy $1,000,000 in an exchange - this will affect the trading price.
Imagine I buy £1,000,000 in a face to face purchase. The exchanges will never know of it, other traders will never know so the value is not really affected.

maybe I have the wrong end of the stick 

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

[jim13x]

That's a good question.  AFAIK (and I'm a newbie too) it would not affect trading prices.  But it is possible to look up transactions on http://blockchain.info/, and I would think active traders would monitor the volume of large, anonymous transactions just to get an idea of how 'liquid' the market is. 

[SystemDisc]

Anyone have any experience with coinbase for selling BTC (for future reference)? I've already made a purchase from someone on freenode @ #bitcoin-otc . Also, I recommend the other newbies check it out http://bitcoin-otc.com/ http://wiki.bitcoin-otc.com/wiki/Beginners_Guide

[kapolani]

I agree 100% about private sellers.

FYI - regarding bitinstant.com, I just used them to buy BTC. I filled out the form on the website, walked over to my local CVS, spent 10 minutes going through the process of calling Moneygram and paying at the cashier. By the time I walked home (30 min) I had my Bitcoin.  Still in 'pending' status, but I think that's normal. 

It cost me $103.95 for about $83 worth of BTC.  About $4 went to Zip Zap, $4 went to Bitinstant, and I lost $13 in the conversion to BTC (which was not obviously disclosed, probably in the fine print).  25% overhead is not a good deal IMHO.

I hope that helps someone.

Jim

Jim -

Yeah. Already %25 behind.

It's like buying PM's above spot plus hefty premium.

Need it to move a lot more to gain some back.

Trying to find a private seller now.