Should I accept Bitcoin for payments on my online store?

[Gotumoot]

I'm considering to possibly add Bitcoin and other altcoins as a way to pay for goods purchased on my online store.

Is this a good idea? Are there any risks (other than the volatility)?

Is anyone really going to use this?

I'm afraid that my customers may not be much into cryptos, but I guess that it's hard to tell until you try ...
I also have some doubts on the technical side.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance

I think the only risk in accepting crypto as a payment method is the volatility but if you would convert it into Fiat right away then there wouldn't be a problem.
But you should also consider the transaction fee's and the delay of transaction.
I think you shouldn't really worry about it since it is just going to be an option on your online store you could also add more option for them.

[AGD]

This might be what you are looking for in case you decided to accept Bitcoin in your store: https://github.com/btcpayserver/btcpayserver

[bL4nkcode]

The one of my main concerns is: how safe is it to accept cryptos as payment on a website?  

Yeah, that will be the next thing you should do, there are lots of payment gateways available but I'll naming a few including btcpayserver, blockonomics, coinpayments, and bitpay.

But I'll suggest to use btcpayserver if you want more control of your funds without paying % every sales you get, without kyc, and no more account lockup, though this cost you a bit developing such gateway since your the one who will host it and/or will hire a person to do it for you if don't have knowledge in programming.

While other gateways need 0-3% charge every sale you made, need kyc, and sometimes wait a bit longer til your funds get withdraw. Though you still need to hire a developer to do the work.

Check this url for more comparisons
https://github.com/alexk111/awesome-bitcoin-payment-processors

[ILuckyGuyI]

I'm considering to possibly add Bitcoin and other altcoins as a way to pay for goods purchased on my online store.

Is this a good idea? Are there any risks (other than the volatility)?

Is anyone really going to use this?

I'm afraid that my customers may not be much into cryptos, but I guess that it's hard to tell until you try ...
I also have some doubts on the technical side.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance

In my opinion, it will be better if you have more options in payment methods for your customers. Cryptocurrencies are being more popular every year. We will start using digital currencies and fiat will be history in the future. So, I think it is good that we get ready for the future already now. If you add Bitcoin as a payment method, I believe that it can help you make more money too. Because Bitcoin is the most known cryptocurrency and there are lots of people who would like to use it as a payment method in shopping etc. .

[Twinkledoe]

I think the only risk in accepting crypto as a payment method is the volatility but if you would convert it into Fiat right away then there wouldn't be a problem.
But you should also consider the transaction fee's and the delay of transaction.
I think you shouldn't really worry about it since it is just going to be an option on your online store you could also add more option for them.

He can accept other crypto like XRP where volatility and tx fee is not much of a prob. Some consumers will be hesitant to use bitcoin because of the relatively expensive fee that they need to pay on top of the price of the goods. But bitcoin is a start, to see if some of his clients will try paying btc. And if they ask for alternatives, then XRP is a good one or maybe doge. Anyway, he can always exchange these 2 alts to a lot of exchanges if he wants to.

[stompix]

And if they ask for alternatives, then XRP is a good one or maybe doge. Anyway, he can always exchange these 2 alts to a lot of exchanges if he wants to.

I think that finding clients who want to spend bitcoin rather than fiat is already quite the task but expecting to find somebody with xrp on a spending spree is like trying to sell ice cleats to people in the Bahamas.

I'm afraid that my customers may not be much into cryptos, but I guess that it's hard to tell until you try ...

Well, if people who usually buy from you via paypal or cards or whatever your payment methods are right now don't want to use crypto, they will simply not use it, you're not forcing them to do something you're offering another way of payment. I can't envision the scenario where somebody will stop buying from you via a debit card because you offer bitcoin payments. Forcing them to use crypto, that would be a different thing and a really bad idea.

Do YOU want to receive bitcoin and other crypto currencies? Or do you want to receive fiat currency but allow users to pay in crypto currencies?

But you should also consider the transaction fee's and the delay of transaction.

Seriously guys, read what he is writing, he wants that because he wants to get crypto from his sales and not use an exchange to buy coins directly!!!

[mindrust]

I'm considering to possibly add Bitcoin and other altcoins as a way to pay for goods purchased on my online store.

Is this a good idea? Are there any risks (other than the volatility)?

Is anyone really going to use this?

I'm afraid that my customers may not be much into cryptos, but I guess that it's hard to tell until you try ...
I also have some doubts on the technical side.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance

Why not?

Some people don't even have credit cards or have any access to any kind of banking and they may want to buy your products.

You can't lose anything by implementing it on you site.

If you don't want to keep your crypto you can always cash them out instantly on an exchange if that's what you want.

[Chris Barth]

Ah! Why not? Bitcoin was created for payment purpose as its main aim. Two options, you can either do it because you want to promote bitcoin. Or for the fact that some of your bitcoin-enthusiastic customers may prefer paying in bitcoin.

[Ayiranorea]

When we make an initial step in accepting bitcoin into the business, through us few people will get to know about bitcoin. This doesn't mean they'll use it. I believe one in ten people who see the bitcoin acceptance sign will try to know what is bitcoin and all its features. Maybe this can turn the person start using bitcoin as an currency, investment or on other needs. With this it is always good to add bitcoin to the accepted list of payment if your country is neutral or supportive to cryptocurrency usage.

[goinmerry]

If you understand the risks, then consider it. If you also want to have BTC without buying it on an exchange, then do it.

But if you will tend to do a regular conversion of BTC to fiat, you might experience difficulties in managing your capital as the conversion is not instant. You need an API to execute the conversion right away you received BTC payment so you are quite still safe from volatility.

Adding BTC as payment is good. More payment options, more convenience to customers.

[yazher]

Just try it but you need to have full responsibility if the customers don't know what to do if their transaction got stuck or something. In this case, maybe you should consult with the other online stores that accept bitcoins. I don't mean you talk to them personally but look at what kind of service they used for their bitcoin payment as they are a lot of them right now. you just need to choose wisely, reading some reviews might help as well.  

Check this out you might find some information that you need.

https://www.g2.com/categories/cryptocurrency-payment-apps

[Savemore]

If you understand the risks, then consider it. If you also want to have BTC without buying it on an exchange, then do it.

But if you will tend to do a regular conversion of BTC to fiat, you might experience difficulties in managing your capital as the conversion is not instant. You need an API to execute the conversion right away you received BTC payment so you are quite still safe from volatility.

Adding BTC as payment is good. More payment options, more convenience to customers.

It is really depends on the system that you have, if you think that you can handle that kind of volatility then maybe you can accept bitcoin as one of the mode of payment in your online system. There are a lot of stores where they started to accept bitcoin as payment but they eventually removed that in their system because they cannot handle the volatility and their sales are decreasing. Right now the price of the bitcoin is currently in uptrend so there is a high chance that your sales can go up if you will start accepting bitcoin as payment. The regulation of the government is also a factor so consider it for you to accept bitcoin as payment legally. There are now a lot of customers around the internet wherein they want to pay online through the use of bitcoin so for sure that it can also increase the popularity of your store.

[Lorence.xD]

The more payment methods, the better. Although, I don't think that anyone is going to buy with bitcoin currently. You realize that he/she has to pay product's price + ~$7 in order to get the transaction quickly confirmed. If the fee was much lower I would suggest adding it.

It will help the business if there are more payment options. I do think that even if no one takes a look at it, you still need to add it in because you might never know when it will come handy. You will also feel good that you are contributing to the adoption of cryptocurrency in the mainstream market.

[LogitechMouse]

With the current transaction fees right now of Bitcoin, instead of adding it you should consider adding other coins like Ethereum or any coins that has a low transaction fee (even ETH has a high tx fee I think).

Maybe Litecoin or Bitcoin Cash or Ripple if you like would do. The more payment methods the better as they say so if you will ask us then possible our answer is yes but it is still your decision if you will integrate crypto payments in your online store.

[Lucius]

Cryptocurrencies as a payment option are not a bad thing, because for me as a customer it is always positive to see that someone offers as many payment options as possible. You should also take into account that many people spend their coins just at a time when their price is rising, especially those who, invested at the time of halving (100% profit) or even before.

What is important is to acquaint your potential customers with how payment with cryptocurrencies will work, that is, to explain to them the use of the payment processor that you will use. Some payment processors actually convert crypto to fiat, so you don't have to worry about volatility - you can get exactly the value the customer paid.

[jemimah_f3]

Yes, I would say it's the main thing, of course different countries have different regulations, in some countries it's prohibited by law to accept payments other than national currency (even if you pay by credit or debit card the bank convert it into local currency). The same concern will have tax authorities unless you have a clear regulations about crypto. Registration in crypto-friendly country where there are shops accept crypto-currencies might solve this issue I guess.

There is only 1 thing I consider as a threat to your online store: The government's regulations. Does your government accept bitcoin? If so, you can easily create new payment gate for bitcoin. Following the law is very important. The police do not like people when they break the laws and avoid paying tax while using cryptocurrencies. So be careful.

I really appreciate what you are doing to support bitcoin. Adding bitcoin to your online store surely raise people awareness of the blockchain technology. Moreover, you never know who are bitcoin enthusiasts until you see them by yourself. And opening online store will help you point out many of them

One more thing I want to add on the conclusion. At the moment, bitcoin blockchain is being congested by a huge number of transactions everyday. Therefore, people have to pay a higher fee so as to move their transaction with the normal speed. If not, the transaction might be stuck for many days. Think about this too because it will affect your business

[Emily Perkins]

Of course you should have such an option, with more adoption it will be more popular, maybe not only bitcoin but some other cryptos like ETH, XRP, LTC too. I believe there are already some fin-tech companies that offer crypto-fiat gateway solutions.

[mezzaluna]

I'm considering to possibly add Bitcoin and other altcoins as a way to pay for goods purchased on my online store.

Is this a good idea? Are there any risks (other than the volatility)?

Is anyone really going to use this?

I'm afraid that my customers may not be much into cryptos, but I guess that it's hard to tell until you try ...
I also have some doubts on the technical side.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance

Having Bitcoin as a payment option is actually a good sign. It means that you are versatile in ways on how you can do your transactions. It can also act like another investment for your business if you can see it that way. Other businesses would also be interested in how can they do what you are doing and learn that there are open opportunities within the Cryptocurrency Industry.

[Maestro75]

I'm considering to possibly add Bitcoin and other altcoins as a way to pay for goods purchased on my online store.
Is this a good idea?

Yes it is a good idea. It will help spread the awareness of bitcoin.

Are there any risks (other than the volatility)?

The present risk is the huge transaction charge. It means your customers will have to pay more for products or services except you are going to be the one paying the transaction fees.

Is anyone really going to use this?

Yes there are a lot of people who are always ready to try out new things and experiment with it. Be optimistic.

[Naughty Princess]

I think the only risk in accepting crypto as a payment method is the volatility but if you would convert it into Fiat right away then there wouldn't be a problem.
But you should also consider the transaction fee's and the delay of transaction.
I think you shouldn't really worry about it since it is just going to be an option on your online store you could also add more option for them.

He can accept other crypto like XRP where volatility and tx fee is not much of a prob. Some consumers will be hesitant to use bitcoin because of the relatively expensive fee that they need to pay on top of the price of the goods. But bitcoin is a start, to see if some of his clients will try paying btc. And if they ask for alternatives, then XRP is a good one or maybe doge. Anyway, he can always exchange these 2 alts to a lot of exchanges if he wants to.

This might help to add more option of crypto than only accept bitcoin, also have different other option of payment because not all are familiar or ready to risk buying with bitcoin because of the fee. You can accept bitcoin but always remember the volatility of it.