is it safe to do bitcoin for cash meetup?

[tarui]

i was thinking whether is it a good idea to buy bitcoins by meeting up with a local seller and giving cash for bitcoins. just wondering how long will it take for the bitcoins to appear in my wallet as i dont think the seller will want to sit there waiting for the transaction to go through.

once i give cash for the bitcoins and the seller transferred his bitcoins to my wallet, it's not possible for it to be reversed somehow right?

[justusranvier]

It depends on how you do the transaction.

I strongly recommend going through a service like LocalBitcoins because it has a built in escrow and is set up to reduce the possibility of either the buyer or seller cheating.

[tarui]

It depends on how you do the transaction.

I strongly recommend going through a service like LocalBitcoins because it has a built in escrow and is set up to reduce the possibility of either the buyer or seller cheating.

yeah but the rates there are extremely high. not to mention i'm looking to buy quite a bit of bitcoins.

my idea is that i meetup with the seller and i give him half/full amount then he brings his laptop and transfers to my bitcoin wallet via a text.doc on a thumbdrive then once it is sent, i give him any remaining amount.

[mateo]

It depends on how you do the transaction.

I strongly recommend going through a service like LocalBitcoins because it has a built in escrow and is set up to reduce the possibility of either the buyer or seller cheating.

yeah but the rates there are extremely high. not to mention i'm looking to buy quite a bit of bitcoins.

my idea is that i meetup with the seller and i give him half/full amount then he brings his laptop and transfers to my bitcoin wallet via a text.doc on a thumbdrive then once it is sent, i give him any remaining amount.

Why not just bring all the money, let him bring his laptop, have him send you BTC, check your wallet through his laptop on blockchain.info and then give him the money?
Bitcoins transactions are instant unless you are worried about double spending, but I don't think it's likely in this case.
And if you want to protect yourself against double spend just wait like 20 minutes for a couple of confirmations. Surely, if you're exchanging a big amount he won't mind to wait at least that.

[justusranvier]

yeah but the rates there are extremely high. not to mention i'm looking to buy quite a bit of bitcoins.

So you want to do large cash transactions without any kind of escrow?

What you get by paying the going rates on LocalBitcoins is a lower chance of being robbed. A legitimate seller charges a reasonable rate for their time. A thief looking for a mark will try to entice someone into bringing a large amount of cash to a meeting with no intention of giving them any bitcoins.

On the other hand you might get lucky, so might as well save a couple percent by operating with no safety net, right?

[odolvlobo]

check your wallet through his laptop on blockchain.info

That would not be a smart thing to do.

Bitcoins transactions are instant unless you are worried about double spending, but I don't think it's likely in this case.

Transactions are not instant because it is possible to create a transaction that will never be added to the block chain. You really don't know that you have received the bitcoins until there is at least one confirmation.

my idea is that i meetup with the seller and i give him half/full amount then he brings his laptop and transfers to my bitcoin wallet via a text.doc on a thumbdrive then once it is sent, i give him any remaining amount.

You can't transfer bitcoins securely by transferring a file. He can give you a copy of a wallet, but then he still has access to the bitcoins in the wallet.

[odolvlobo]

i was thinking whether is it a good idea to buy bitcoins by meeting up with a local seller and giving cash for bitcoins. just wondering how long will it take for the bitcoins to appear in my wallet as i dont think the seller will want to sit there waiting for the transaction to go through.

once i give cash for the bitcoins and the seller transferred his bitcoins to my wallet, it's not possible for it to be reversed somehow right?

Back to your questions:

You will see the transaction on the network very quickly, within a few seconds, but it takes 10 minutes to confirm a transaction (on average). For large transactions, you should wait for at least one confirmation.

Once there is a confirmation, it is unlikely that the transaction can be reversed. Until a transaction is confirmed, there are ways to potentially invalidate or nullify it.

[tarui]

check your wallet through his laptop on blockchain.info

That would not be a smart thing to do.

Bitcoins transactions are instant unless you are worried about double spending, but I don't think it's likely in this case.

Transactions are not instant because it is possible to create a transaction that will never be added to the block chain. You really don't know that you have received the bitcoins until there is at least one confirmation.

my idea is that i meetup with the seller and i give him half/full amount then he brings his laptop and transfers to my bitcoin wallet via a text.doc on a thumbdrive then once it is sent, i give him any remaining amount.

You can't transfer bitcoins securely by transferring a file. He can give you a copy of a wallet, but then he still has access to the bitcoins in the wallet.

What I mean is I save my bitcoin waller address in a text file so it's easier to type without making errors

[whydifficult]

What I mean is I save my bitcoin waller address in a text file so it's easier to type without making errors

That's fine, you can also print out a QR of the address.

Though I strongly advise either escrow or building trust with the other party first instead of going to a meetup with a big bag of cash.