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[turtlehurricane]

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[hilariousandco]

Been posted a few times, but I was just wondering if there's a legal problem with only accepting Bitcoin? Are they actually refusing to accept GBPs? I don't know if the law is different in Scotland, but I don't think a business can refuse to accept legal tender unless it's counterfeit etc. I know the store has an ATM, but will most people be bothered to use it? I guess this is all good and free publicity for the store, but I hope it doesn't backfire for them.

[hilariousandco]

Been posted a few times, but I was just wondering if there's a legal problem with only accepting Bitcoin? Are they actually refusing to accept GBPs? I don't know if the law is different in Scotland, but I don't think a business can refuse to accept legal tender unless it's counterfeit etc. I know the store has an ATM, but will most people be bothered to use it? I guess this is all good and free publicity for the store, but I hope it doesn't backfire for them.

I don't think it's illegal to refuse accepting certain types of payment. I don't get why they're flat out refusing pounds though, they'll lose sales.

I'm not a legal expert (clearly), maybe someone who is more knowledgeable on this will comment.

I dont think you can refuse to accept legal tender. And I'm almost certain they'll miss out on sales.

http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/policies-and-guidelines/legal-tender-guidelines

Seems unclear, but I found this that shows the law can be different in Scotland:

In England and Wales the £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes are legal tender for payment of any amount. However, they are not legal tender in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

[Mister S]

From the same page on the Royal Mint.


Legal tender has a very narrow and technical meaning in the settlement of debts. It means that a debtor cannot successfully be sued for non-payment if he pays into court in legal tender. It does not mean that any ordinary transaction has to take place in legal tender or only within the amount denominated by the legislation. Both parties are free to agree to accept any form of payment whether legal tender or otherwise according to their wishes. In order to comply with the very strict rules governing an actual legal tender it is necessary, for example, actually to offer the exact amount due because no change can be demanded.

So no matter where the transaction took place, legal tender is not required to be exchanged for a transaction to occur.  Yes, they lose out on sales due to this, in a broader sense, but it makes good business sense in the instance of the shop in question, a technology exchange shop.

[hilariousandco]

You people should read the article if you going to comment on it. Quote from the article:"After May 15 CeX will go back to accepting the pound, but perhaps they will continue to use Bitcoin as another way to pay beyond May 15."

Maybe you should read our comments and not assume things. Where did we state we thought this was going to be a permanent operation?

[franky1]

i can see it already. customers come in and want to buy a game and get refused to handle their bank notes and debit cards. those wanting exchanges only offered bitcoin.

i see lots of customer complaints, arguing and only a small bit of actual trade.

bitcoin is not really widely accepted.

the only trade CEX will do is the true bitcoin fans that use it like a one off gimmick.

imagine they see 500 customers a day usually. well in this 2 day event they will have 400 customers complaining and returning on the third day. maybe 20 of the 100 spare will accept bitcoin as their trade in, and the other 80 are bitcoin holders using this event as a gimmick or a way to spend their bitcoins, basically traveling specially for the event from neighbouring towns or counties..

once GBP transactions return, even if ALSO offering bitcoins along side GBP they wont see a regular 80 bitcoin transactions a day, as its not a special event anymore, they may see 5 or less transactions on a normal day then on.

(dont knitpick the numbers. they have no realworld statistical/predictive meaning and only used for illustration purposes)

[hilariousandco]

(dont knitpick the numbers. they have no realworld statistical/predictive meaning and only used for illustration purposes)

Haha, was going to say your figures are probably way out, but you're right, the only people who will use bitcoin are likely those already involved in bitcoin and go there to show their support. There'll be a lot of angry customers during those three days. They should've just used bitcoin alongside cash and maybe told every customer about it or gave them a leaflet explaining what bitcoin is and outlining the benefits etc.

[franky1]

(dont knitpick the numbers. they have no realworld statistical/predictive meaning and only used for illustration purposes)

Haha, was going to say your figures are probably way out, but you're right, the only people who will use bitcoin are likely those already involved in bitcoin and go there to show their support. There'll be a lot of angry customers during those three days. They should've just used bitcoin alongside cash and maybe told every customer about it or gave them a leaflet explaining what bitcoin is and outlining the benefits etc.

yep my numbers were random, should have used percentages, but that wasnt the point, the point was large number of customer complaints. a more then usual number of bitcoin fanboys making the extra effort for the event, which they wont do usually on a day to day bases.

its a good advert for bitcoin, but average joe public are not ready for bitcoin yet.

the good thing though is that corporate brands with multiple stores such as subway in finland and cex in glasgow, atleast have some independent control of their stores, allowing them to experiment with things. which just goes to show that corporate brands are not so tight and rigid and oppose to change after all

[Bibop]

Seems like Scotland going all the way with Bitcoin

[hilariousandco]

Seems like Scotland going all the way with Bitcoin

Well, not really. Unless you count one store accepting BTC for three days 'going all the way'  .

[ENEWIT]

CeX says they love Bitcoin, since it is so efficient and secure.

I like its open-mind to innovation and I was surprised, because the British are generally conservative

[hilariousandco]

CeX says they love Bitcoin, since it is so efficient and secure.

I like its open-mind to innovation and I was surprised, because the British are generally conservative

What? Please don't make mass generalisations on several entire countries of people.