Should I accept Bitcoin for payments on my online store?

[ChiBitCTy]

I echo many others in that I don't see much of a downside accepting bitcoin or cryptocurrencies for your business.  I have found a few businesses around my city that have nothing to do with technology or crypto that accepted bitcoin and they said they actually use it a fair amount.  Worth a shot!

[Fesatmas]

There are many things that you need to consider in some other online stores that have implemented a payment system with bitcoin and altcoin.
is it not a hindrance? when many people flock to visit and want to buy items that are available in your store but do not have bitcoin and altcoin. wouldn't something like that narrow the reach of your customers. In my opinion, payments using bitcoin and altcoin are only alternative payments, the main thing is to keep using cash transactions.
this innovation can be a great option. because not all consumers own or store bitcoins. innovation in building an online store is a very good thing, but it does not reduce the core values which are much more important when transacting

[abel1337]

Yes you may accept bitcoin and other altcoin as well, but do not make it only the mode of investment remember not all people already know crypto currencies, it can be a plus having that thing, but also accept other payment such as  PayPal, we pay alipay and so on, better to accept fiat too! I also recommend to add usdt in your priority since the value is stable. consider the transfer fee, it is very huge now, christmas season is coming.

[plvbob0070]

For me, it's a good idea to accept bitcoin payments because you will be giving your customers more options they can choose when paying. However, there will be no assurance that a lot of customers will use it as their payment method unless your business's nature is crypto-related. In an online business, there's now a lot of payment method and your customers probably might not into bitcoin so if you're still doubting, try monitoring your customers if some of them would be willing to use bitcoin payment.

[Serious475]

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

It is better if you accept both bitcoin and fiat currency because not all the customers are using bitcoin. It is really a good thing because those customers will be having an idea how to use bitcoin and they may also get curious that will make them use bitcoin. There are also some risks that will give you a lot of trouble with a different factors and one of the biggest trouble is the mistype of your bitcoin address and it will be a problem for customers that will make them think to buy on the other store. If there are some bitcoin user around your store, they may use it.

[Alucard1]

That would be a good move for your business, well, as what you have said you business is online so I think it is suitable for you to add cryptocurrency as way of payment, there is no wrong in having many choices, the more way of payment then the better, many people now are well known by cryptocurrency and they are looking for such payment using cryptocurrency but before that, you should consider first your area, is your area familiar with cryptocurrency or not? Then if not better to stay on fiat currency.

[imstillthebest]

For me, it's a good idea to accept bitcoin payments because you will be giving your customers more options they can choose when paying. However, there will be no assurance that a lot of customers will use it as their payment method  to use bitcoin payment.

not all have a cash ready at all times and not all use the same payment method but some like us do use a crypto . its a big help if a store supports it . its okay if he got less or no costumers that will pay using a crypto because those people may miss it or still thinking about it if they wana try it for the first time .

 the expectation will just come in the long run . think about the adoption for crypto , not all times we are going to be like this but people do adopt to a newer trend too .

[Eureka_07]

<snip>
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 ...
<snip>

Other than volatility, you might encounter users that might double spend the transaction, in which a loss in your side if you happen to deliver and he gets the product before the transaction was confirmed.
One solution to this is ofcourse to wait until the transaction was confirmed, then after that you may deliver to your customer.

Well, you'll just adding other mode of payments, not changing your online store's traditional way of payment.
Crypto-users might choose to pay you using crypto because maybe most of them find it much convenient than other methods.

[The Cryptovator]

Since you are well aware of Bitcoin volatility then there is no other major risk. But you have to choose the right payment gateway. Because there is risk involved if you use a custodial payment gateway. Most probably it would be better if you use BTCPay server to accept Bitcoin & other altcoins as well. All the control will be with you if you set your own server. You may also use their third party server as well if you don't have much technical knowledge. It's a self-hosted, open-source cryptocurrency payment processor.  

Additionally, you may add a few peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange links on your site. So those aren't familiar with the bitcoin they would learn about it and they could buy bitcoin to make a payment on your site. In this way, you are keeping your role in the Bitcoin adoption.

[Em00n01]

Yes you can. There are many people in front of us who uses crypto. But you should accept not only BTC but also fiat. The risk of volatility is nothing to me because if you hold it you will surely get some good number of extra money. Despite of higher fee everything is okay to me. Btw, I will suggest you to also accept other popular crypto like LTC,ETH,XRP,XLM etc with Bitcoin.

[hatshepsut93]

I think the biggest risk is that Bitcoin fees tend to get very high when there's a lot of price action, and if your customers will happen to try to make purchase with Bitcoin, they will have a very negative experience, which could possibly negatively reflect on your business. Maybe customers, especially those not very familiar with Bitcoin, will think that it's you who charges such high fees. Or they will get their transaction stuck and will get very frustrated. If I owned a store, I'd wait for Lightning Network's mass adoption before adding Bitcoin.

[Shasha80]

My advice is don't hesitate to accept Bitcoin and altcoins payments on your online shop. What you are doing really helps Bitcoin to be
more recognized and useful in everyday life. Of course, it is a very good idea to realize, maybe the beginning will not really affect
the sales of your online store. But the longer it takes to accept payments with Bitcoin and altcoins that you do become a unique and
interesting side of your online store. That's the positive value of your online store, which your competing store probably doesn't have.
You will never know the results if you don't try them. Regarding the technical side, you can hire people who really understand technical
problems.

[DarkDays]

If you can and have the means then go for it. You won't lose your customers as you'll still maintain the mainstream payment systems, you'll just add more flexibility to the way they can pay. What might be difficult to setup especially if you don't have anyone close with the technical background to help you do that but if you're really motivated you can find pay someone to help with that.

What would be challenging aside from the technical stand point and price volatility is the local government regulations. You first need to find out if they allow this or not as you don't want to end up wasting time and effort into building the platform and then pay loads in fines.

[jademaxsuy]

Yes, you may because bitcoin can be made for a exchange for products, services and other business transactions. Bt if you want security then you should not store your profit as bitcoin instead you could use the fiat currency. Meaning that you will going to accept bitcoin in the process that it will be converted to fiat when it reach to your business as funds. This means that you need to have a platform that can ease these process just like a wallet app here in our place that bitcoin was being use to pay utility bills but it will reach the payment as fiat currency that includes the transaction fee on conversion of bitcoin to fiat on the part of the one who pays with bitcoin.

[Brujux]

Of course, the real question is: Why not? The more payment methods, the better

[harizen]

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 ...

Why become worried just because there might be few customers that know crypto. You just basically add a payment method and that won't affect your online business as a whole. If no one or only a few persons use the crypto payment to your online store, nothing will change. It's a good idea honestly as your customers will have several payment options.

What you need to worry is about your purpose in adding that payment method. If you paid by crypto, will you hold it or instantly convert it to fiat as long as you received it? And once crypto-payment is accepted, you might need to give the product right away for buyers even the transaction is not confirmed yet but now showing on the block explorer. But shouldn't be a problem since online stores usually ship the item at least a day or two. I just don't know how's your system in your business.

You have to plan for that if you are circulating all of your money in business, like for let's say, every income should be used as a capital.

[Kelvinid]

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

If you think yourself capable enough to manage online payments, this is the best idea since most of us now are using online platforms for faster and easier transactions. Don't let make yourself behind but instead, have it boost bring to the highest level where most companies, small establishments are open such a thing. But, we should be more careful, hacking is inevitable, just to makes sure that everything is well prepared and funds/wallets are stored securely. And in regards to the technical side, better to ask someone will do a favor or using a known 3rd party services.

[maydna]

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

That is a good idea to accept bitcoin for payments, but you don't have to force your customer to use bitcoin. Let them choose what they want, but you can give the option to pay using bitcoin at your online store. The risk to add bitcoin as the payment is the volatility. Besides that, the fee will be the next thing that the customer needs to think about before they make a transaction using bitcoin.

I don't know if many online stores will going to use that way, but I think we already see that online store trying to add bitcoin as the payment methods. So you can do the same thing as them. It is no problem if your customers are not from the crypto world, but I am sure that soon you will have many customers who want to pay using bitcoin/crypto or stick to the existing payment methods.

You can try to see the result in a month, and if everything goes well, you can continue to use bitcoin as the payment systems, but if it's not happening as what you expect, you can still use bitcoin to your customer who wants to use bitcoin.

[bgaisha]

I suggest that, it is advisable to accept bitcoin for payments on your online store.

[PonZZ]

I don't think that many customers will be ready to buy something with Bitcoin, but this payment option can make your shop more popular among bitcoiners.