How would a (bicycle) merchant go about accepting bitcoin?

[thesmallgod]

First of all, I definitely wouldn't suggest BitPay. It has a well deserved reputation of being terrible. Roger Ver is a heavy investor in it, it supported Segwit2X and continues to support BTrash, and you won't be able to use it to buy your bike without completing KYC as the value is over their arbitrary limit.

BTCPay are a good payment processor, but still require the merchant to manually sell the bitcoin for fiat, if that's what they want to do. Others I've seen used in the past which support instant BTC-to-fiat conversion for the merchant are CoinGate and CoinPayments, but I don't have any experience of using these myself.

As AGD says, the simplest option would be to get him to set up his own wallet and accept bitcoin directly. If he wants to then register on an exchange to sell for fiat, then he can do that too.

I am seen this for the first time. I am serial user bitpay and I have not had an issue with them before, in fact, bitpay is my best crypto wallet and with the current version, new coins are added including USDC and PAX. If the op still want to buy that bicycle, I will suggest he convert the bitcoin he has to fiat and buy but if he insists in buying with bitcoin, then maybe he can find online marketplace that accepts bitcoin and search maybe he can see the type of bicycle he wants to buy

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[bearexin]

I don’t really know for you, but one thing for sure is that they are not going to agree to use Bitcoin just like that. For them to even know about Bitcoin and accept it, it’s going to take you some days of teaching them about Bitcoin and them taking time to understand it before they will agree. Another thing is that you’re a stranger to them, so how will they trust about some digital form of money, and they will also be needing that money in their bank account at anytime.

So, I will advise you yourself to convert the Bitcoin to cash and buy whatever it is you want to buy, or search for it online, I believe a search on Google will bring sites that are possibly selling bicycles for Bitcoin, but the thing is whether they will be legit.

[Meowth05]

I am not experienced with this kinds of transactions but I think you should convert your bitcoin to physical money. I think it is very hard for this merchants to accept bitcoin as payment but if we were to educate them about cryptocurrency and such then they will likely accept the offer. The best way I think would be to pitch them a proposal about the advantages of transactions via bitcoin and tell them that they will be famous when they pioneer this kind of transaction in their own business field.

[HardFacts]

Hard, why not go posture somewhere else?

OP is asking for a simple answer to a simple question.

It is usually better to give someone the answer they NEED rather than the answer they want....    I know most people here like to be in a self supporting echo chamber of positive, " feel good " BitCoin news, but they need reality and good advice now more than ever...

Hard Facts

[HardFacts]

if we were to educate them about cryptocurrency and such then they will likely accept the offer. The best way I think would be to pitch them a proposal about the advantages of transactions via bitcoin and tell them that they will be famous when they pioneer this kind of transaction in their own business field.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG:

Everyone is aware of what BitCoin is, and the vast majority of businesses REJECT IT.   Time is money, it take time, effort, and education to set up systems to accept BitCoin, it takes more time to use them, and it is not worth it for the ONE customer out of 10,000 that would want to use bitcoin instead of US dollars.   Business get more profit by putting their time and effort into other areas of their business.

You are DELUSIONAL, and do not accept reality.

Hard Facts

[The Sceptical Chymist]

I am not experienced with this kinds of transactions but I think you should convert your bitcoin to physical money.

You know, I hate to do that but I think I'm going to have to--although I haven't yet talked to either bike shop I'd be interested in buying a bike from.  I just have a feeling that neither one would be amenable to accepting bitcoin unless it was very easy to get set up with a payment processor--and that would be essentially the same thing as me selling bitcoin for fiat and then buying the bike.

The other thread I created about this issue (which I can't seem to find) had some good suggestions for bike shops accepting bitcoin internationally, but I want to buy locally.  And there are retailers like overstock.com that sell a select few e-bikes, but they don't have what I want.

It is usually better to give someone the answer they NEED rather than the answer they want.... 

I agree with that, but you're being a dick.

[DireWolfM14]

This thread reminds me of situation that still haunts me to this day;  I founded a sporting goods store back in 2009, owned and operated it until 2016.  I mostly hid in the back, working on people's guns (I offered gun-smithing services,) while my employees took care of the the retail part of the business.  Back in 2012 or 2013 a guy came into the shop and asked one of my employees if we accept bitcoin.  He was shopping for a somewhat rare rifle, and I just happened to have one on the shelf.  At the time bitcoin was about $130, and it had just dropped from a bit over $200.  He offered me 10 BTC for the rifle, which was priced at $1000.

I toyed with the idea while he showed me how to make a wallet (using bitaddress IIRC,) but being the kind of guy who never jumps into something without researching the shit out of it, I declined.

10 BTC at ~$100 would have been nice, but what really bugs me about the episode is that I had the opportunity to learn about and start collecting bitcoin 5 to 6 years before I finally got involved.  Hindsight being 20/20 and all.

Anyway, sorry to go off topic.  Carry on.

[CryptocurencyKing]

Expensive choice man! In this price, I can get a quarter liter motorcycle from Honda in my country! I am sure something must be special about this bicycle since the price is so high! Anyway, coming back to your concern!

Very! Though, from the specifications on the bike, it's another line for some luxury and solves the problem of fitting in some really tight spot on a busy street, it's noise free and energy saving. Looking at the fact that, it uses rechargeable battery plus, it's 28mph is something for a bike.

Though, its some expensive choice but, I doubt that's the issue here for OP. Just that, it doesn't seem to be the best time with the price of bitcoin being down but, the easiest means to some successful transaction is having a bitcoin bar code printed out. It just becomes a matter or quantifying the amount to be deposited and appropriate documentation. Perhaps OP, you've just got to try and hopefully, the merchant might be contemplating just like you if there are those within the vicinity willing to do same.

[romero121]

I had similar experience while buying floor tiles. Went to buy with my friends for my home. It was far away from my home, which is around 500kms. We had planned for a purchase of $5000 worth flooring tiles. The price was quite cheap and looking at this they thought of buying and no money in hand. By the time I had bitcoins. Using that we bought. I sold bitcoin to a trader on LBC and he deposited the respective amount on the flooring tile shop owners account. We bought worth of $9000 in which $5000 paid in hard cash and $4000 deposited through a trader. Maybe OP can try this way of buying even if the bicycle trader isn't accepting bitcoin payments directly. This is just a suggestion.

[Ararbermas]

If you want to accept bitcoin for your shop then provide a sign and instruction as well how your costumer can pay using bitcoin. By the way through internet or let say social media. If i were you post it because it's a big help nowadays wherein to let them know that you're accepting bitcoin..indeed its now the easiest way when it comes advertising, so must do it if you want to adopt bitcoin as a payment method.

[tertius993]

I am not experienced with this kinds of transactions but I think you should convert your bitcoin to physical money.

You know, I hate to do that but I think I'm going to have to--although I haven't yet talked to either bike shop I'd be interested in buying a bike from.  I just have a feeling that neither one would be amenable to accepting bitcoin unless it was very easy to get set up with a payment processor--and that would be essentially the same thing as me selling bitcoin for fiat and then buying the bike.

The other thread I created about this issue (which I can't seem to find) had some good suggestions for bike shops accepting bitcoin internationally, but I want to buy locally.  And there are retailers like overstock.com that sell a select few e-bikes, but they don't have what I want.

It’s a risk:reward question for the retailer isn’t it?  If there is a simple process they can use that will allow them to make a worthwhile (i.e. profitable) sale that they wouldn’t otherwise make then I expect they would do it - reward=high.  Conversely if it’s a burden to setup or they will easily sell the bike anyway, then they likely won’t - risk=high.

As said above I guess your options are:
1. Research payment processors, and if it seems like a reasonable effort for them to setup spend a bit of time persuading them; or
2. Just convert BTC to cash and pay them with that

To be honest seeing it written down like that I think Option 2 is the likely winner … 🥲

Edited to add: the only thought is if you ask them about it AND other people have asked they may start to think, hmm, this may be worth doing … gotta be worth asking the question I would think.

[taufik123]

If you want to accept bitcoin for your shop then provide a sign and instruction as well how your costumer can pay using bitcoin. By the way through internet or let say social media. If i were you post it because it's a big help nowadays wherein to let them know that you're accepting bitcoin..indeed its now the easiest way when it comes advertising, so must do it if you want to adopt bitcoin as a payment method.

adopting bitcoin can be done easily, because many third-party platforms provide systems that can be integrated with payments at bicycle shops or other shops.
it just depends on the regulation and how to promote it. If the regulations still don't allow it, of course you can't accept payments using bitcoin and for promotions, it can be done easily if the surrounding community is familiar with bitcoin or is new to it.

[tertius993]

How many people read the subject and then posted without actually reading the first post?

[bitmover]

All the merchant wants is dollars in their bank. <snip>

I think it's for the better, as they allow people to pay for stuff with bitcoin if that's what they have, and it doesn't really matter to me if a merchant is a bitcoin supporter or not.  Besides, I think processors like Bitpay are necessary to mitigate the volatility risk on the merchant's side.  If businesses had to accept bitcoin outright and then do whatever they're going to do with it, I don't think there would be nearly as many accepting bitcoin--and there really aren't a lot to begin with.

I agree with gentlemand. Merchantw wants USD, because they need to pay their Costa and suppliers with usd.
Let's suppose you transfer 0.07 btc to the merchant. He need to pay specialized with about 3k USD, not with 0.07 btc. Hpw will he get they money? He will need to sell it at binance/coinbase. He might even need to pay fees and taxas for that. That's is just a big trouble for him.

On the other hand, he can sell to new customers, such as thePharmacist which wouldn't buy a bike with this merchant in a normal condition (he would just look to the store closer to him with better price)

ThePharmacist could just sell 0.07 usd i coinbase and just transfer usd to the merchant. But thay might occurs in additional fees and taxes

[kucritt]

i think for the first time, the seller can accept bitcoin, and verify it manually, and it there are many transaction that use bitcoin, the seller can upgrade the payment proccessor,
why i told you like that? because payment processor will ask you about the fee in every transaction, and the seller can receive same as the buyer pay it because of that fee

[syedakhlaque]

I think this time not only bicycle riders but all classes of people in the world are selling, purchasing, and mining bitcoin. There is no problem selling or cashing it. There are a lot of ways for doing so. I am also not a Richman but a person who drives on a bicycle and does the bitcoin & cryptocurrency trade. So this is the reality that bitcoin is a unique business or currency that has won the trust of all classes and all ages of life.

[thirdprize]

Easiest way, change your BTC for cash and give that to him.  Certainly in the current climate no one is going to want to accept bitcoin for goods. 

They're not accepting Bitcoin if they use a payment processor. They're receiving dollars sent using BTC as a payment rail. In quite a few places people would rather stay away from banks and let a payment processor handle the conversion. Less potential for the bank getting arsey.

Yes, but if you convert it to USD then you are cutting out at leat one or two middle men.  Someone is going to have to pay for the conversion.  This means you are going to get a better exchange rate between your BTC and your bike.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

OK guys (those of you who posted recently), this topic was started over a year and a half ago, and it was that long since I posted in it.  Obviously nobody is reading the whole thread, probably just the title, and I should have locked this thing up a long time ago.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to buy an e-bike with bitcoin but did buy one with fiat.  I'm not exactly sure how much bitcoin I had at the time I started this thread (if any), but looking back on this question of mine I think it would have been a really, really bad move to spend bitcoin on a $5000 bicycle when the option to spend rapidly-inflating fiat currency instead. 

Bitcoin was under $10k back in April/May of 2020 if I'm not mistaken, and that was when I was seriously considering the purchase.  The $5000 in bitcoin I would have spent would have gone to over $30k when the new ATH was reached. 

In any case, I did end up enticing a business to accept bitcoin, which I wrote about in this thread, which I'm also going to lock.  Sometimes businesses are willing to be flexible, sometimes not.  Fortunately I didn't spend a lot of bitcoin to get my computer looked at.