how to buy BTC in person

[Anon136]

Local Bitcoins? Sounds sketchy.

its legit

[kostagr33k]

Thanks guys! that was useful information! I actually live near NYC so nearest casino is about 1 hour away. I guess starbucks could work as that local site seemed to have local people in NYC/NJ that it may work in.

Good info as far as the confirmations as was not sure how many i should stick around for.


Thanks for all the info!

[FocusMedia]

Thanks guys! that was useful information! I actually live near NYC so nearest casino is about 1 hour away. I guess starbucks could work as that local site seemed to have local people in NYC/NJ that it may work in.

Good info as far as the confirmations as was not sure how many i should stick around for.


Thanks for all the info!

If possible try stay for 3, most sites who take Bitcoin wait for 3 but if you have a lot of time then you could stick around for 6.

[DannyHamilton]

You'll have to decide for yourself how many confirmations to wait for.

When the seller is willing to use the localbitcoins.com transaction service, there is no need to wait for any confirmations at all, but that service costs the seller 1% of the transaction amount. If the seller is in a hurry and doesn't want to wait for the number of confirmations you need to feel secure, suggest that they cover the cost and use the transaction service.  That allows them to buy the ability to leave quickly after the transaction.

For amounts less than $20, I'm almost always willing to accept with 0 confirmations.
For amounts less than $200, I'm almost always willing to accept with 1 confirmation.
For amounts less than $2000, I'm almost always willing to accept with 3 confirmations.
I don't think I'd personally be concerned about waiting for 6 confirmations in a face-to-face exchange unless the amount was over $10,000.

That's my personal choice though.  A zero confirmation transaction is pretty risky, but it would take some significant technical knowledge, to pull off a scam after 1 confirmation, especially if you verify that confirmation from multiple sources (your wallet, blockchain.info, and blockexplorer.com).

The only concern I've had so far in a face-to-face transaction was when someone tried to look over my shoulder as I typed in my wallet password.  I don't think they were trying to memorize the password (which would've been extremely difficult for them anyhow), I think they were just naturally curious about what I was doing on my computer, but as soon as they left, I changed the password anyhow, just in case.

[anyroll]

You'll have to decide for yourself how many confirmations to wait for.

When the seller is willing to use the localbitcoins.com transaction service, there is no need to wait for any confirmations at all, but that service costs the seller 1% of the transaction amount. If the seller is in a hurry and doesn't want to wait for the number of confirmations you need to feel secure, suggest that they cover the cost and use the transaction service.  That allows them to buy the ability to leave quickly after the transaction.

For amounts less than $20, I'm almost always willing to accept with 0 confirmations.
For amounts less than $200, I'm almost always willing to accept with 1 confirmation.
For amounts less than $2000, I'm almost always willing to accept with 3 confirmations.
I don't think I'd personally be concerned about waiting for 6 confirmations in a face-to-face exchange unless the amount was over $10,000.

That's my personal choice though.  A zero confirmation transaction is pretty risky, but it would take some significant technical knowledge, to pull off a scam after 1 confirmation, especially if you verify that confirmation from multiple sources (your wallet, blockchain.info, and blockexplorer.com).

The only concern I've had so far in a face-to-face transaction was when someone tried to look over my shoulder as I typed in my wallet password.  I don't think they were trying to memorize the password (which would've been extremely difficult for them anyhow), I think they were just naturally curious about what I was doing on my computer, but as soon as they left, I changed the password anyhow, just in case.

I've had a similiar situation with some random person  looking over my shoulder just as I was entering my password. I asked him kindly to look away, and later changed my password just to make sure 

[FocusMedia]

You'll have to decide for yourself how many confirmations to wait for.

When the seller is willing to use the localbitcoins.com transaction service, there is no need to wait for any confirmations at all, but that service costs the seller 1% of the transaction amount. If the seller is in a hurry and doesn't want to wait for the number of confirmations you need to feel secure, suggest that they cover the cost and use the transaction service.  That allows them to buy the ability to leave quickly after the transaction.

For amounts less than $20, I'm almost always willing to accept with 0 confirmations.
For amounts less than $200, I'm almost always willing to accept with 1 confirmation.
For amounts less than $2000, I'm almost always willing to accept with 3 confirmations.
I don't think I'd personally be concerned about waiting for 6 confirmations in a face-to-face exchange unless the amount was over $10,000.

That's my personal choice though.  A zero confirmation transaction is pretty risky, but it would take some significant technical knowledge, to pull off a scam after 1 confirmation, especially if you verify that confirmation from multiple sources (your wallet, blockchain.info, and blockexplorer.com).

The only concern I've had so far in a face-to-face transaction was when someone tried to look over my shoulder as I typed in my wallet password.  I don't think they were trying to memorize the password (which would've been extremely difficult for them anyhow), I think they were just naturally curious about what I was doing on my computer, but as soon as they left, I changed the password anyhow, just in case.

I've had a similiar situation with some random person  looking over my shoulder just as I was entering my password. I asked him kindly to look away, and later changed my password just to make sure 

When I bought some Bitcoins in a face to face trade months ago, the guy asked if we could go to the bank and get my notes checked out. He had already sent the Bitcoins to my address and I handed him the money and we finished out drinks in the cafe and then he was like do you mind if you come to the bank with me to see if they are real. In the end I suggested him give me the money back and I will get out a fresh set of notes from the ATM machine and he was happy with that.

[FocusMedia]

speedyshare(dot)com/cFJ7s/blockchain-checker

Don't like the look of that, I wouldn't go on that site.

[n-gage]

I think that Ripple will allow in person exchanges

[tiktoc]

When I bought some Bitcoins in a face to face trade months ago, the guy asked if we could go to the bank and get my notes checked out. He had already sent the Bitcoins to my address and I handed him the money and we finished out drinks in the cafe and then he was like do you mind if you come to the bank with me to see if they are real. In the end I suggested him give me the money back and I will get out a fresh set of notes from the ATM machine and he was happy with that.

Good idea for the ATM, bit far to wander/walk to the bank. You would think he would have looked up how to check the notes for fakes? Not sure about us notes, ones here are very hard to fake and easy to check.

[josh_nc]

I have used https://localbitcoins.com/ to ghttps://localbitcoins.com/et to a good seller then privately after that.
Try and find someone with at least 6 positives and no negatives that has an OTC.

Example:

OTC yoyoceramic (6; 100%)

[RoyalCoin]

Try localbitcoins, if you're in a smallish town you might not have much luck though.

[MiningUnited]

Don't forget about Craigslist as an alternative source for finding people in person to trade for BitCoin. More people will turn to Craigslist until localbitcoins.com becomes more known. I checked a lot of cities, and there are ads up for buying and selling on CL.

[wernerno]

www.localbitcoins.com

[RodeoX]

Face to face is safe and kinda fun. You get a chance to meet other peers near you and help build the community. If you are concerned about your own safety then bring your own gun. I have no problem meeting with someone who wants to bring a legal gun for protection. In fact I think we are both safer that way.

[controlb]

It's because 6 confirmations delay that the BitCoin never can go to streets.
Think about: When you pay for a soda, you need to wait several minutes before left the store.

[DannyHamilton]

It's because 6 confirmations delay that the BitCoin never can go to streets.
Think about: When you pay for a soda, you need to wait several minutes before left the store.

That's just silly.

When you pay with a credit card, do you wait until midnight for the store to receive settlement from their card processor before you leave the store?  Do you wait months until the transaction can no longer be reversed before you leave the store?

When a business decides to accept electronic forms of payment, they accept a small risk of fraud in exchange for an increase in customer count, increased impulse purchases, and increased convenience.  With bitcoin, they'll know that the transaction in irreversible within minutes rather than withing months.  This sounds like an improvement over the current system to me.  In addition there are likely to be third party providers in the future who will insure and guarantee transactions for the merchant.

There could even be a whole new paradigm where you make a "deposit" to the merchant as you walk into the establishment, and when you check out, the merchant just sends you the change.  This means the entire time you are shopping, your transaction is gaining confirmations.

There are so many ways to deal with this that I can't believe how short-sighted people are when they say that bitcoin can't work for brick-and-mortar purchases.

[lostatsea]

can anyone suggest a good smartphone app for bitcoin transactions, especially to be used for face-to-face exchanges of money to bitcoin?

[DannyHamilton]

can anyone suggest a good smartphone app for bitcoin transactions, especially to be used for face-to-face exchanges of money to bitcoin?

Depends on your smartphone.

Pretty much the only one useable for an iPhone is blockchain.info.

There are others for the other smartphones, but I'm not familiar with any of them.

[Anon136]

You'll have to decide for yourself how many confirmations to wait for.

When the seller is willing to use the localbitcoins.com transaction service, there is no need to wait for any confirmations at all, but that service costs the seller 1% of the transaction amount. If the seller is in a hurry and doesn't want to wait for the number of confirmations you need to feel secure, suggest that they cover the cost and use the transaction service.  That allows them to buy the ability to leave quickly after the transaction.

For amounts less than $20, I'm almost always willing to accept with 0 confirmations.
For amounts less than $200, I'm almost always willing to accept with 1 confirmation.
For amounts less than $2000, I'm almost always willing to accept with 3 confirmations.
I don't think I'd personally be concerned about waiting for 6 confirmations in a face-to-face exchange unless the amount was over $10,000.

That's my personal choice though.  A zero confirmation transaction is pretty risky, but it would take some significant technical knowledge, to pull off a scam after 1 confirmation, especially if you verify that confirmation from multiple sources (your wallet, blockchain.info, and blockexplorer.com).

The only concern I've had so far in a face-to-face transaction was when someone tried to look over my shoulder as I typed in my wallet password.  I don't think they were trying to memorize the password (which would've been extremely difficult for them anyhow), I think they were just naturally curious about what I was doing on my computer, but as soon as they left, I changed the password anyhow, just in case.

I've had a similiar situation with some random person  looking over my shoulder just as I was entering my password. I asked him kindly to look away, and later changed my password just to make sure 

When I bought some Bitcoins in a face to face trade months ago, the guy asked if we could go to the bank and get my notes checked out. He had already sent the Bitcoins to my address and I handed him the money and we finished out drinks in the cafe and then he was like do you mind if you come to the bank with me to see if they are real. In the end I suggested him give me the money back and I will get out a fresh set of notes from the ATM machine and he was happy with that.

wow thats weird. its really easy to tell if bank notes are legit by holding them up to a light source.

[Anon136]

can anyone suggest a good smartphone app for bitcoin transactions, especially to be used for face-to-face exchanges of money to bitcoin?

use the blockchain.info app