[2014-05-27] Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne Reports $1.6 Million in Bitcoin Sales

[_smudger_]

http://www.coindesk.com/overstock-ceo-patrick-byrne-1-6m-bitcoin-sales/

[LiteCoinGuy]

and here:

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/3590493397001/overstock-ceo-on-his-international-strategy/#sp=show-clips/all-shows

[redwhite037]

Come on Amazon, Overstock is going to kick your butt if you don't get with the program!

[Chef Ramsay]

The article reports that Overstock and its CEO were "unlikely figureheads" in the crypto community but that seems completely ass backwards. The dude running the show over there has a steady history of bucking Wall St and talking shit about the govt apparatus. Enter BTC and the crypto world and it seems like not only would he be a likely participant but also an active cheerleader and trend setter. Overstock is one of very massive companies doing business in crypto so why would he/they not be st the tip of the spear? More so, he has bragging rights in that they were the first big timers to update business practices in the new millennium. Quite frankly, the guy is a badass.

[hilariousandco]

It'd be interesting to know how much they saved on fees by using Bitcoin and not credit cards or PayPal.

It looks like Byrne is wearing priest's garb in that picture (at least it does on my phone)  .

[bryant.coleman]

Oh... so in the two and half months time (March to mid-May), they have processed around $600,000 worth of Bitcoin payments. That is almost $8,000 per day. Not a very big amount, but still significant.

[Shermo]

Oh... so in the two and half months time (March to mid-May), they have processed around $600,000 worth of Bitcoin payments. That is almost $8,000 per day. Not a very big amount, but still significant.

The bit we need to know is whether this is sales from new customers, or whether it's money they would have got otherwise via existing customers paying via a different payment method.

[yatsey87]

1.6 million is really surprising to me. I must admit I thought they'd barely shift much at all in purchases with bitcoin. I'm glad my scepticism was prioved wrong though. I wish Bryne the best with this and hope that those 10% of coins hes holding really pay dividends in the future.

[Bitcopia]

It'd be interesting to know how much they saved on fees by using Bitcoin and not credit cards or PayPal.

It looks like Byrne is wearing priest's garb in that picture (at least it does on my phone)  .

Their cost with credit card processing is very low at 2% because of the volume that they do. But with bitcoin payments, they are paying 1% or less. So they are saving at least one percent. IIRC, their average profit margin before processing fees is 4%. Credit cards take half of that, and they get to keep 2%. Bitcoin payments allow them to keep 3%. That's a big deal.

[Bitcopia]

The article reports that Overstock and its CEO were "unlikely figureheads" in the crypto community but that seems completely ass backwards. The dude running the show over there has a steady history of bucking Wall St and talking shit about the govt apparatus. Enter BTC and the crypto world and it seems like not only would he be a likely participant but also an active cheerleader and trend setter. Overstock is one of very massive companies doing business in crypto so why would he/they not be st the tip of the spear? More so, he has bragging rights in that they were the first big timers to update business practices in the new millennium. Quite frankly, the guy is a badass.

+1

Byrne is my favorite CEO by leaps and bounds.

[yatsey87]

I think he just seems an unlikely figurehead because he's from a big business, but he does seem like a bit of a rogue once you read a bit about him. I hadn't actually even heard of overstock or him until they started accepting bitcoin, but I'm a fan of both now though.