What does it cost a retailer to set up bitcoin payments?

[_smudger_]

Does anyone know...

What does it cost a retailer to set up bitcoin payments, roughly?

How easy is it to do?

What are the on-going costs of bitcoin payment support?

I was wondering if a retailer starts supporting bitcoin and there isn't enough interest, at least initially, are they likely to withdraw support or are the ongoing costs sufficiently low that they would be happy to wait until bitcoin payments take off? 

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[RomertL]

0

[franky1]

Does anyone know...

What does it cost a retailer to set up bitcoin payments, roughly?

How easy is it to do?

What are the on-going costs of bitcoin payment support?

I was wondering if a retailer starts supporting bitcoin and there isn't enough interest, at least initially, are they likely to withdraw support or are the ongoing costs sufficiently low that they would be happy to wait until bitcoin payments take off? 

1) a merchant can set up their own system by just getting a bitcoin address and using the price ticker of a exchange they would use to cash out on.

EG make a simply script that shows a bitcoin value of bitstamp + bitstamp's withdrawal charges. meaning the set up is free and if the maths is done right then the merchant will receive the FIAT amount they require (by having a premuim price the customer pays)

1) they can sign up to coinbase or bitpay for a easier set up and be charged 1% or sign up to bitpays large volume packages EG $30 a month to allow $10,000 a day (~$300k a month) = 0.001%

[Elwar]

About 10 minutes of their time on BitPay.

[blatchcorn]

0.  Bitcoin ain't no paypal!

[_smudger_]

t.
0.  Bitcoin ain't no paypal!

I appreciate the underlying cost is zero, but unless you are very tech-savvy then you will always need to pay a third-party company to help ( e.g. Bitpay / coinbase ).

It's good to see that BitPay have structured their charges so that the retailer is not clobbered if they don't (initially) receive many payments via bitcoin. Bodes well for continued support.     

[RomertL]

0, I'm using coinbase for my webbshop. Setup was free and receiving in Bitcoin is free and easy. They have free plug-ins for different shoppingcarts, you don't need to be tech-savvy. They make money coz most people want some of the payments directly converted to fiat and sent to bank acc. That will cost you % per transaction, but less than PayPal en al. There is also plug-ins for personal wallets like electrum for some shoppingcarts. The beauty with that is that you're totally without middleman, pretty cool.

[Meuh6879]

1) cost of a phone or tablet
2) cost of a wifi or 3G emittion system
3) cost of internet provider
4) cost of exchange fiat converter (yes, in 2014 ... needed)
5) ... customers that want (and have) bitcoin to spend ...

In normal world, the 1-2-3 is already available in store.
4 need no very complex process.
5 ... well, perhaps more easy in 2015 when internet store accept (really) bitcoin in a "standard integration" (like paypal).

[beatljuice]

A business can get set up with a payment system for free assuming they already have computers/smartphones and internet. And you could say that it only takes 10 minutes to set up but that is complete BS. Accounting, while not difficult takes time. Training employees can be a significant headache and long term time sucker. Dealing with internal opposition, such as spouse or manager that doesn't like it. Answering customer questions. Dealing with technical issues - of which there will be many.

My point is that, while it costs almost nothing monetarily, it does take considerable time. I'm sure I didn't even list everything. I'm pretty sure that it's worth it though. If only to have an excuse to chat with all the wonderful people here at BitcoinTalk.

[RomertL]

1) cost of a phone or tablet
2) cost of a wifi or 3G emittion system
3) cost of internet provider
4) cost of exchange fiat converter (yes, in 2014 ... needed)
5) ... customers that want (and have) bitcoin to spend ...

In normal world, the 1-2-3 is already available in store.
4 need no very complex process.
5 ... well, perhaps more easy in 2015 when internet store accept (really) bitcoin in a "standard integration" (like paypal).

5 is the hard part, I give 20% discount in my webshop for Bitcoin-payments but everybody still pays in fiat...

[darthcoin]

bitpay does it all.

[guybrushthreepwood]

All depends on the type of integration. I can't imagine it will cost nothing to fully integrate it into your website, nor will buying some kind of hand-held payment processor, but it wont cost anything to take payments in store on your companies ipad or have money sent to a qr code or whatever.