Three New Merchants are now up-and-running with Bit-Pay

[BitPay Business Solutions]

We are happy to announce three new merchants that are fully up-and-running accepting bitcoins on their websites.  They are all using the bit-pay widgets that were shown live in episode 30 of the bitcoin show.

Check out and support these great bitcoin merchants!

http://www.bitcoinconference.com - Order your admission for THE bitcoin event of 2011 right now!  August 19-21 in NYC!

http://www.ogdogg.com - Merchandise, mix tapes, and T-shirts from Og Dogg Records

http://www.horolotech.com - The ultimate bitcoin fashion statement - really nice Swiss chronograph watch

Many more merchants have applied and are working on integration now.  If you are a merchant and you are fully running, and you haven't told us, please do so and we'll include you in the next announcement.

Merchants looking to accept bitcoins on their website should apply at https://bit-pay.com today!

If you choose to be paid in bitcoins, our fees for shopping cart and automated checkout is only 0.99%!

[Trader Steve]

Yes, it was super-easy to set up bit-pay for our site!

Trader Steve
on behalf of http://www.horolotech.com

[TheBitMan]

Do you really need our tax id? I'm only 15 and my parents would never let me put it on here.

[OgNasty]

Yes, it was super-easy to set up bit-pay for our site!

Trader Steve

Are you going to implement this on http://GoldStarBullion.com as well? 

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Do you really need our tax id? I'm only 15 and my parents would never let me put it on here.

only if you want to be paid in US Dollars.  If you'll take the bitcoins, then no we don't need the EIN.

[wumpus]

Cool, nice to hear you guys are doing well in spreading bitcoin payments to businesses

[Trader Steve]

Yes, it was super-easy to set up bit-pay for our site!

Trader Steve

Are you going to implement this on http://GoldStarBullion.com as well? 

I'm working on the mechanics of the automatic conversions since the conversion goes from gold to dollars to bitcoin. Don't know how soon this we be available though.

[enmaku]

Do you really need our tax id? I'm only 15 and my parents would never let me put it on here.

only if you want to be paid in US Dollars.  If you'll take the bitcoins, then no we don't need the EIN.

You may want to check into other legalities too though. There are certain lines of business you can't be in at 15 and I'm not sure if you can be a "sole proprietor" at all, IANAL but I know a few do lurk around these forums. Even if it's OK federally it may not be OK with your state/county/city so tread lightly.

I'm trying very hard not to come off as a hater or telling you not to do your thing, I certainly did my own thing at 15 and in some cases lied about my age to get programming contracts, I'm just advising caution where the IRS can/will track you.

[nmat]

Great. I like the new logo

[OgNasty]

Great. I like the new logo

+1 and the matching favicon.

[Steve]

Great. I like the new logo

Thanks...forum member evoorhees designed it for us and is great to work with.  If you need any logo or copy writing work done, check with him (and at least for us, he accepted payment in bitcoin).

[OgNasty]

Any other merchants on board with this yet?

[Steve]

Yes, we have quite a few...in various stages.  At the moment we're working on a JSON API to enable OpenCart integration (which several merchants are anxious to get).  We've been busy and just haven't had time to make any other announcements about new merchants.  We also want to do something to help the merchants promote their sites...right after the conference I think we'll start working on something along those lines.

[Shinobi]

Are there any merchants that currently have an existing business for which Bitcoin is simply an added pay option and not the reason for the business? The first merchant is the Bitcoin Conference, and the 3rd is selling a BTC-engraved watch.

Despite how I may sound in other posts, I'm not trying to be sarcastic here - I do want to know. What you are doing will really guide the future of Bitcoin - building an economy, not speculating - and that is commendable. I just wanted to know if there is any prospect yet for real adoption and not just BTC-enthusiast-based businesses.

Yes, we have quite a few...in various stages.  At the moment we're working on a JSON API to enable OpenCart integration (which several merchants are anxious to get).  We've been busy and just haven't had time to make any other announcements about new merchants.  We also want to do something to help the merchants promote their sites...right after the conference I think we'll start working on something along those lines.

[Smalleyster]

"Merchants can be paid in US Dollars"

How does that work? I could not find details on your site. What exchange rate do you use?

I do like the fact that you are a Florida corporation.

[Steve]

Are there any merchants that currently have an existing business for which Bitcoin is simply an added pay option and not the reason for the business? The first merchant is the Bitcoin Conference, and the 3rd is selling a BTC-engraved watch.

Despite how I may sound in other posts, I'm not trying to be sarcastic here - I do want to know. What you are doing will really guide the future of Bitcoin - building an economy, not speculating - and that is commendable. I just wanted to know if there is any prospect yet for real adoption and not just BTC-enthusiast-based businesses.

Yes, we have quite a few...in various stages.  At the moment we're working on a JSON API to enable OpenCart integration (which several merchants are anxious to get).  We've been busy and just haven't had time to make any other announcements about new merchants.  We also want to do something to help the merchants promote their sites...right after the conference I think we'll start working on something along those lines.

Yes, we do have a couple that are established businesses.  We will be targeting businesses that could likely benefit from bitcoin's unique advantages and might be receptive to bitcoin.  It's a tough sell at the moment...especially since we cannot in all honestly recommend bitcoin to anyone that isn't technical and doesn't understand crypto and such to handle anything but very small amounts of bitcoin.  Bitcoin is not user friendly, hard to secure and we cannot recommend any online wallet service where the customer does not retain full control over private keys and where the service itself has *absolutely zero* ability to move your money.  So, from a merchant perspective (and remember, the merchant doesn't have to handle bitcoins...we can pay them dollars each day) it means that there is only a really small potential customer base.  Still, there are some merchants that, even understanding these facts, are interested in starting now in order to be prepared for the future.

[Steve]

"Merchants can be paid in US Dollars"

How does that work? I could not find details on your site. What exchange rate do you use?

I do like the fact that you are a Florida corporation.

A merchant can set prices in either USD or BTC and get paid in either USD or BTC.  Regardless of which currency is used for pricing, if the merchant will accept payment in BTC, we charge 0.99% ...if they elect to take payment in USD, we charge 2.99%.

We pull the high bids from Mtgox, Tradehill and CampBX.  We take the two high bids that are closest and kick out the third.  Of those two, we take the highest high bid.

[Smalleyster]

"Merchants can be paid in US Dollars"

How does that work? I could not find details on your site. What exchange rate do you use?

I do like the fact that you are a Florida corporation.

A merchant can set prices in either USD or BTC and get paid in either USD or BTC.  Regardless of which currency is used for pricing, if the merchant will accept payment in BTC, we charge 0.99% ...if they elect to take payment in USD, we charge 2.99%.

We pull the high bids from Mtgox, Tradehill and CampBX.  We take the two high bids that are closest and kick out the third.  Of those two, we take the highest high bid.

Wow, that's the same price as PayPal. Oh well. Good luck.

[Steve]

"Merchants can be paid in US Dollars"

How does that work? I could not find details on your site. What exchange rate do you use?

I do like the fact that you are a Florida corporation.

A merchant can set prices in either USD or BTC and get paid in either USD or BTC.  Regardless of which currency is used for pricing, if the merchant will accept payment in BTC, we charge 0.99% ...if they elect to take payment in USD, we charge 2.99%.

We pull the high bids from Mtgox, Tradehill and CampBX.  We take the two high bids that are closest and kick out the third.  Of those two, we take the highest high bid.

Wow, that's the same price as PayPal. Oh well. Good luck.

Bit-pay charges 0.99%, Paypal charges 2.9%+$0.30 and that's for US only.  They add an additional 1% if it's international.  They add another 2.5% if there's a currency conversion involved (we're adding an additional 2%).  And if the transaction is for less than $2.00, they charge 5% (plus another 1% for international and 2.5% for other currencies).  And, from what I understand, they have a bad habit of reversing charges and freezing accounts.

I can appreciate that people want things for free, but we are trying to create a service that makes things very easy for the merchant, integrates with their accounting systems, integrates with various shopping carts, enables easy customization to fit with their own branding, etc.  This is not a hobby for us.

[evoorhees]

Wow, that's the same price as PayPal. Oh well. Good luck.

Except zero chargeback risk... that's a huge consideration.