The best and easiest way for merchants to accepts bitcoins in local shops.

[bitpower]

I would like to introduce bitcoin payments to some local shops in my town for bitcoin promotion, but I don't really have too much free time for research.

Do you know which way would be the best and easiest to set up for merchants/customers so they can accept and pay in bitcoins in local shops? I would like to convice them to start using it but I don't want them to get scared away by the idea of it. Should they use some kind of software or a specific website? Ideally with lowest or no fees.

For helpful answers bitcoin tips are waiting

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[J603]

The easiest way is to have people use their smartphones and scan a QR code, and then send the payment that way. Of course, you have to either trust that they're actually sending it and let them purchase their good or service instantly, or have them sit around for 30 minutes while the transaction gets confirmations.

[Elwar]

BitPay, so convenient.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/YZ-pqo0cLcE?autoplay=1&rel=0

[J603]

What is the benefit of bitpay over simply telling the customers to send it to your personal address?

[escrow.ms]

BitPay, so convenient.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/YZ-pqo0cLcE?autoplay=1&rel=0

Bitpay is good for online shops not localshop's.

Best solution for double spend is to  accept payment from a wallet app that works offchain.

or accept redeemable vouchers like inputs.io provides now.

[favdesu]

or coinbase, it's probably the easiest way to convert btc to fiat for a merchant

[The Bitcoin Catalog]

https://bips.me/

[escrow.ms]

or coinbase, it's probably the easiest way to convert btc to fiat for a merchant

He wants to accept coins first and as J603 said there are some problems like "double spend".

The easiest way is to have people use their smartphones and scan a QR code, and then send the payment that way. Of course, you have to either trust that they're actually sending it and let them purchase their good or service instantly, or have them sit around for 30 minutes while the transaction gets confirmations.

However if "double spend" is not a big problem for you then there are many ways.

[Elwar]

What is the benefit of bitpay over simply telling the customers to send it to your personal address?

For retailers they like to be able to just put an app on their employee's phones and let them type in the dollar price of the purchase.

It is as simple as that. No need to coordinate addresses for each employee or have conversions for bitcoins or a tracking system.

BitPay will also allow the business owners to get all of their money in dollars. And it has a good tracking system of the payments.

For a merchant that does not care about bitcoin but wants to accept them, BitPay is ideal. All they need is an app. The setup is easy, and they get their money in their bank account just like with the credit cards that they are used to.

Their fee (1% I believe) is small compared to the convenience.

[/dev/null]

What is the benefit of bitpay over simply telling the customers to send it to your personal address?

For retailers they like to be able to just put an app on their employee's phones and let them type in the dollar price of the purchase.

It is as simple as that. No need to coordinate addresses for each employee or have conversions for bitcoins or a tracking system.

BitPay will also allow the business owners to get all of their money in dollars. And it has a good tracking system of the payments.

For a merchant that does not care about bitcoin but wants to accept them, BitPay is ideal. All they need is an app. The setup is easy, and they get their money in their bank account just like with the credit cards that they are used to.

Their fee (1% I believe) is small compared to the convenience.

LOCAL SHOPS =/= Company
Employee

[J603]

I still think that the easiest way is to just hand out bills/receipts with a QR code for the shop's bitcoin address. Customers scan it and send the payment. Done. No fees other than the typical dust fees.

[Elwar]

What is the benefit of bitpay over simply telling the customers to send it to your personal address?

For retailers they like to be able to just put an app on their employee's phones and let them type in the dollar price of the purchase.

It is as simple as that. No need to coordinate addresses for each employee or have conversions for bitcoins or a tracking system.

BitPay will also allow the business owners to get all of their money in dollars. And it has a good tracking system of the payments.

For a merchant that does not care about bitcoin but wants to accept them, BitPay is ideal. All they need is an app. The setup is easy, and they get their money in their bank account just like with the credit cards that they are used to.

Their fee (1% I believe) is small compared to the convenience.

LOCAL SHOPS =/= Company
Employee

Many retailers have some kid running the register. Or for restaurants you have waiters/waitresses.

I set up my wife's clothing store through BitPay and everything is very convenient. The YouTube video I posted shows how the transaction takes like 30 seconds and they said that they had to slow down for the video.

[J603]

What is the benefit of bitpay over simply telling the customers to send it to your personal address?

For retailers they like to be able to just put an app on their employee's phones and let them type in the dollar price of the purchase.

It is as simple as that. No need to coordinate addresses for each employee or have conversions for bitcoins or a tracking system.

BitPay will also allow the business owners to get all of their money in dollars. And it has a good tracking system of the payments.

For a merchant that does not care about bitcoin but wants to accept them, BitPay is ideal. All they need is an app. The setup is easy, and they get their money in their bank account just like with the credit cards that they are used to.

Their fee (1% I believe) is small compared to the convenience.

LOCAL SHOPS =/= Company
Employee

Many retailers have some kid running the register. Or for restaurants you have waiters/waitresses.

I set up my wife's clothing store through BitPay and everything is very convenient. The YouTube video I posted shows how the transaction takes like 30 seconds and they said that they had to slow down for the video.

What's the name/location of her store? That's a big leap if something necessary like clothes is being sold for BTC.

[justusranvier]

Something that could work, if the local shop has a web browser available to the cashier, is to use LocalBitcoins as a payment processor.

[Elwar]

What's the name/location of her store? That's a big leap if something necessary like clothes is being sold for BTC.

Unfortunately we closed up the shop last year.

[domob]

I think the way some shops in Germany (Room77 in Berlin, Niederlassung in Munich) do it is to either just print out a single QR code and have customers send to it or to install a simple wallet software on some phone or tablet.  The Schildbach wallet for Android comes to mind (which also allows to enter a requested amount in local currency and have it converted to Bitcoins automatically), but it has the disadvantage that employees or someone who steals the device can spend the coins.  I think other apps are available that provide read-only access.

This is of course only possible if the shop owners are fine with getting bitcoins instead of local currency (both owners of the shops mentioned above are into bitcoins themselves and don't just do it as a favour for some customers).  It also requires some trust that the customers won't double spend or even just pretend to send the coins (for a printed code when no wallet software is running to watch for incoming transactions) - but I don't think this is a big problem for day-to-day purchases (as opposed to some people who insist on their claim that "totally secure zero-confirmation transactions" are necessary), because someone who intends so defraud a shop could just as easily walk away with some goods stuffed into his/her pockets without paying instead of going through the hassles of staging a double-spend.