Please explain this to a total newbie

[moundtown]

A company outside the U.S. owes me money. They want to send it to me with Bitcoin. It appears to me the value of a bitcoin varies greatly from one day, or sometimes one hour, to the next. My question is, if the company pays me in bitcoins what happens if the value drops significantly before I can sell them and convert them to cash? Also, where is a trusted place to sell bitcoins?

Thank You

[tecnocris]

If the value dropps precipitously then you are SOL unless you want to hold on to them until the price comes back up. Mt. Gox is where most people trade but you can also use btc-e (russian site), google them if you need to.

[Methodise]

Still, international money transfers are where Bitcoin shines, for senders and receivers both, and it seems as likely that your Bitcoins would appreciate as they would depreciate against the dollar.

[Malawi]

The easy part is sending the BTC's and getting them into dollars at MtGox or another exchange. The problem is getting the dollars from the exchange and to your bank account. If you are in the US, I thing dolla might be the best route. Otherwise you are likely to be forced to use bank wire that is slow and may have some uncool fees.

[nebulus]

Sounds like a good deal.

[moundtown]

Thank you for all the responses. Have any of you heard of the Coinbase bitcoin buying site?

[bitcoin_bob]

A company outside the U.S. owes me money. They want to send it to me with Bitcoin. It appears to me the value of a bitcoin varies greatly from one day, or sometimes one hour, to the next. My question is, if the company pays me in bitcoins what happens if the value drops significantly before I can sell them and convert them to cash? Also, where is a trusted place to sell bitcoins?

Thank You

how about spending the bitcoins on stuff.

I had this argument with someone who posted something on my local kijiji classifieds and I asked them if they would be interested in trading anything when they came to drop off the item to my house, they said no without stepping through the door, they only wanted cash. I then pointed out to them, what do you want cash for, if not to buy things? They thought a second and said, hey your right! came into my garage and saw I had 4 tires for a car i had sold, and he needed them. He pointed out that he only wanted the cash to buy tires anyway, and said that he never really thought about barter.

So instead of getting hung up on pulling dollars out of bitcoins, why not just relax and buy something with them....

[redemptor]

A company outside the U.S. owes me money. They want to send it to me with Bitcoin. It appears to me the value of a bitcoin varies greatly from one day, or sometimes one hour, to the next. My question is, if the company pays me in bitcoins what happens if the value drops significantly before I can sell them and convert them to cash? Also, where is a trusted place to sell bitcoins?

Thank You

how about spending the bitcoins on stuff.

I had this argument with someone who posted something on my local kijiji classifieds and I asked them if they would be interested in trading anything when they came to drop off the item to my house, they said no without stepping through the door, they only wanted cash. I then pointed out to them, what do you want cash for, if not to buy things? They thought a second and said, hey your right! came into my garage and saw I had 4 tires for a car i had sold, and he needed them. He pointed out that he only wanted the cash to buy tires anyway, and said that he never really thought about barter.

So instead of getting hung up on pulling dollars out of bitcoins, why not just relax and buy something with them....

Isn't it a lot of hassle,much more than $ or plastic? If it wasn't for the crazy run-up in price and a hope for a lot more or a personal need for the underground economy,why bitcoins? Bitcoins seem to be time consuming to use.Plus the horror stories of wallet rip-offs,key-stroke thieves and other situations with little legal remedies,along with lost passwords.Speculation seems to be the only reason to bother.

[doom309]

bitcoin, indeed all cryptos, really needs a dedicated futures exchange, so much volatility is killing the crypto economy, is those people who simply want to buy and sell tangible things using cryptos, so they need a reliable mechanism to lock in the price via a contract or something just like businesses take out futures on commodities for materials they need

[americandesi]

A company outside the U.S. owes me money. They want to send it to me with Bitcoin. It appears to me the value of a bitcoin varies greatly from one day, or sometimes one hour, to the next. My question is, if the company pays me in bitcoins what happens if the value drops significantly before I can sell them and convert them to cash? Also, where is a trusted place to sell bitcoins?

Thank You

I agree that is not the ethical way of doing business. However, Look at the brighter side. What if the BTC gains value and doubles.?
There is a chance for both.

[moundtown]

If I had a choice I would have the company send my money by some other means but they simply won't. This might be a stupid question but how do you receive an exact amount with bitcoins? Is there a decimal system for fractions of a bitcoin?

[gotforce]

Bitcoins are extremely divisible! i.e. 3.2345645645 BTC is a real figure that can exist! It depends on the total amount owed, but personally I'd probably prefer payment in BTC

[Foxpup]

If I had a choice I would have the company send my money by some other means but they simply won't.

You do have a choice. Although Bitcoin is a great system for sending money internationally, perhaps the greatest aspect of it is that nobody can be forced to use it if they don't want to. Bitcoin is an experimental and volatile currency with real risks associated with it, and you should not be pressured into using it if you are not comfortable with it. Unless your contract with this company specifically states that they will only pay you in bitcoins, you can insist on payment in dollars, and sue them if they refuse. Talk to a lawyer if they refuse to budge on the issue.

[seabirddd]

The value of BTC varies by the minute a lot, not just by the day.  I hate sending my coins back and forth between exchanges because sometimes I lose 10% in the hour or two when are in transit.

[moundtown]

The value of BTC varies by the minute a lot, not just by the day.  I hate sending my coins back and forth between exchanges because sometimes I lose 10% in the hour or two when are in transit.

I noticed that also. Within an hour's time I've seen the value drop by a couple of dollars. I've also seen it go up just as quickly. Isn't the value locked in at the time you submit the bitcoins to the buyer?

[moundtown]

Bitcoins are extremely divisible! i.e. 3.2345645645 BTC is a real figure that can exist! It depends on the total amount owed, but personally I'd probably prefer payment in BTC

Thanks for the info. What do you mean by you would prefer payment in BTC?

[wachtwoord]

Thanks for the info. What do you mean by you would prefer payment in BTC?

That he would rather receive Bitcoins than an equivalent value in fiat (e.g $, Euros, or Pound Sterling)

[MadHasher]

A company outside the U.S. owes me money. They want to send it to me with Bitcoin. It appears to me the value of a bitcoin varies greatly from one day, or sometimes one hour, to the next. My question is, if the company pays me in bitcoins what happens if the value drops significantly before I can sell them and convert them to cash? Also, where is a trusted place to sell bitcoins?

Thank You

Your safest bet is probably to have them transfer during the weekends (saturday is usually calm, today not so much though) or not before a quick rise in price. You can also negotiate an extra fee to account for volatility, which would be what you deemed fair. I guess you could also accept pending that they match the difference in exchange price at the time you sell, since this is easy to verify by them as it takes almost precisely an hour for a transaction to confirm.

You should also ask them to sent directly to an address you have on a BTC exchange, so withing an hour of them sending it you can exchange for $/€/Yen/etc. I would test this first with a small amount first since I don't hold much BTC in exchanges - I know you can do it that way.

I would also verify my personal information first, so you can transfer the money out as soon as you receive and exchange the BTC for cash.

[hardup]

A company outside the U.S. owes me money. They want to send it to me with Bitcoin. It appears to me the value of a bitcoin varies greatly from one day, or sometimes one hour, to the next. My question is, if the company pays me in bitcoins what happens if the value drops significantly before I can sell them and convert them to cash? Also, where is a trusted place to sell bitcoins?

Thank You

I would Take the Bitcoins. In my opinion that's better than losing half the fiat money due to conversion fees or wire fees.
But do what feels best for you!

[ukuna]

.... and inflation, taxes, confiscations, devaluations, etc