Working out fees when purchasing.

[Galahad]

Meaning of Total Paid (USD)

I'm totally new to BTCs and I've been doing a serious amount of reading today (5-6hrs, maybe I should do something else now). I'm in the process of working out MT Gox and I found a fee calculator so I could work out how much I will loose in the process.

http://usingbitcoin.com/mtgox-fee-calculator.html

I want to buy £150 worth. The fees look really low, not even worth worrying about but there is one part I don't get - "Total Paid (USD)". Why does it say $567.072 when I only put in $189.024 ? ($189.024 is $150).

Second Point

Also, I'm transferring from Halifax and I understand that the bank is in Japan for MT Gox and will charge me 1000yen. 1000yen works out at £6.66 for me currently. Halifax also wants to charge me £9.50 for the privilege as well. I'm not sure if this is because they are trying to convert into yen for me though and whether I can tell them not to.

Do these fees sound typical for a purchase of Bitcoins? I realize that many of you will not be from the UK or same bank and these questions may be bank-specific.

[SamuelSG]

what field did you put 189 into??? as there is not a field for entering how much you want to spend on that calculator. To approximate, divide 189 by market price, put that number in the first box, and the market price in the second. It will tell you how much the fees are for it, so you can incrementally lower the number of Bitcoins till the result is equal to 189. But don't forget that there are usually charges to get money into Gox, or any other exchange.

[Galahad]

I put $189 into the price field. I understand it's asking for the exchange rate for 1 coin now.

On the second question. Do you think the fees sound correct or am I doing something wrong? It's around £16 plus MT Gox fees.

[SamuelSG]

no, unless you are buying an insane amount.

If, As I understand it, you ar looking to buy $189US worth of bitcoins, at near current market rate, then the totals should look like this:

Your MtGox Fee: .6%
Buy BTC: 1.58158
Price (USD): 119.5
Total Paid (USD): 188.99881
Fee (BTC): 0.00948948
BTC (Recieved): 1.57209052

The last figure is the amount in BTC that you would recieve for $189US at a price of 119.5, after the MtGox transfer fees.
The total fee would be $1.13399286US, and is included in the USD spent, not added on after.

If you are looking for the fee cost for a but order alone, only pay attention to the first row of figures, ignore the 2nd and the profit lines.

I hope this helps you to better understand.

[Galahad]

no, unless you are buying an insane amount.

If, As I understand it, you ar looking to buy $189US worth of bitcoins, at near current market rate, then the totals should look like this:

Your MtGox Fee: .6%
Buy BTC: 1.58158
Price (USD): 119.5
Total Paid (USD): 188.99881
Fee (BTC): 0.00948948
BTC (Recieved): 1.57209052

The last figure is the amount in BTC that you would recieve for $189US at a price of 119.5, after the MtGox transfer fees.
The total fee would be $1.13399286US, and is included in the USD spent, not added on after.

If you are looking for the fee cost for a but order alone, only pay attention to the first row of figures, ignore the 2nd and the profit lines.

I hope this helps you to better understand.

Thanks for doing the calculations. With this in mind I'm struggling to understand how to actually get some coins for a normal price. I have a current account and I'd like to buy some. But my bank wants to charge £9.50 for international currency transfers. So how are you all buying coins?! Do you have a different bank?

[SamuelSG]

Well, I live in the USA, so I use dwolla to transfer money from my bank account to dwolla for free via ACH, then from dwolla to MtGox via BitInstant for a 1.89% fee for $100+ (drops to .89% for I think $250+) and a $0.25 transfer fee from dwolla.

I only use this for now as I am waiting in the LONG queue for MtGox account verification, a process that involves them verifying your Proof of ID and Proof of Residence.
At which point you are able to deposit directly for an almost non-existent fee.

In Europe, there is a form of transfer called SEPA, that, as I understand it, costs significantly less than an international wire, or even free for the money sender. Not really quite clear on how it works, but I believe it is similar to our ACH system here. You do still have to have a verified account to use it.
If you are not verified, then get in the queue as soon as possible, as it takes quite some time (I have been waiting around 3 weeks and I am #3040 now).

Other than that, look into different exchanges, there are a few that operate out of Europe I believe, with BitStamp being one of them with a 0% SEPA transfer fee (though I am unclear if your bank would charge for the SEPA transfer).

Other options include using localbitcoins.com to find a nearby dealer of coins in person. Even here in North Pole, Alaska, I  have found 2 local small exchangers that way. It is a good way to get your first coin(s), though usually they charge a few dollars over market cost, though that is often quickly made back if clever.

First and foremost, read the official bitcoin wiki, and weusebitcoins.com, to get a thorough understanding of how the system works.

Hope that is helpful.

SamuelSG

[Galahad]

BUMP this up please.