On Pricing Etiquette

[BitcoinPenny]

Hello, everyone.

I've tried searching the forum as well as the internet in general, but I can't seem to find an answer to my question. (I must be using the wrong keywords, because I am 100% convinced that this same question has been asked a bazillion times!)

What is the accepted etiquette for BTC pricing as far as deadlines go? For instance, let's say that the current exchange rate for BTC is $500 USD/BTC. If I am selling something on a forum for $100 or .200 BTC, how long should I honor the price of .200 BTC? I mean, if I'm asking .200 BTC because I'm hoping to get around $100 USD for my item, but the buyer decides to wait several days hoping that the exchange rate drops to around $400 USD/BTC, then I lose a significant amount of money on the sale (percentage-wise).

I know that some companies (Overstock, I think) give a one minute (or so) deadline for the BTC price for just this reason, so what is the accepted forum etiquette on BTC price deadlines? Hours? Days? Forever?

Thank you in advance.

My Best,
Christopher

[1713284923]

1713284923

[1713284923]

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[gadman2]

10 minutes imo.

[CIYAM]

Sometimes 1 confirmation can take an hour (not often but it does happen).

So unless you are dealing with 0 confirmations then you should probably keep this in mind.

[marcotheminer]

Sometimes 1 confirmation can take an hour (not often but it does happen).

So unless you are dealing with 0 confirmations then you should probably keep this in mind.

You just made absolutely no sense whatsoever please read the topic and answer using your mind.

[CIYAM]

You just made absolutely no sense whatsoever please read the topic and answer using your mind.

Maybe I was answering in a "technical way" so it didn't make any sense.

The reply about 10 minutes indicated *one confirmation* but *one confirmation can take a lot longer than 10 minutes* was what I was getting at.

EDIT: Basically if you are using a service like BitPay (which all the big companies being mentioned do) then it is really BitPay that makes that decision for you (not the other way around).

[kolloh]

I made a purchase on NewEgg and it gave 15 minutes to make the payment at that price. I believe they use BitPay which takes the loss if the price falls though.

[keithers]

When there is not very much stability, I would recommend setting your price in USD, and then when they agree, then you can give them the equivalent price in BTC.  That way your price won't be bouncing all over the place...

[CliveK]

Cannot say I know the answer but if I was a merchant accepting bitcoins I would consider the following based on the volatility of Bitcoin (Assuming online transaction):

Giving the customer a set time to pay, say 20 minutes.
Insisting on transaction fee to make sure the payment happens sooner rather than later (not very happy about this but what else can you do).
Require at least 3 confirmations.

So that is from clicking "I want this item" to me confirming that the payment is in my wallet is approximately 1 hour.

And then sadly you would have to make the decision on whether you exchange the BTC for fiat.

Unless some payment portal would guarantee an exchange rate or something like forward cover.

What would I do if the customer was standing in front of me....another story and haven't given it much thought.

CK

Donations towards my thesis welcome:  1ADEzUG7HVQkq3mu5g85KkupAAbzRTppyd

[ducatitalia]

Hello, everyone.

I've tried searching the forum as well as the internet in general, but I can't seem to find an answer to my question. (I must be using the wrong keywords, because I am 100% convinced that this same question has been asked a bazillion times!)

What is the accepted etiquette for BTC pricing as far as deadlines go? For instance, let's say that the current exchange rate for BTC is $500 USD/BTC. If I am selling something on a forum for $100 or .200 BTC, how long should I honor the price of .200 BTC? I mean, if I'm asking .200 BTC because I'm hoping to get around $100 USD for my item, but the buyer decides to wait several days hoping that the exchange rate drops to around $400 USD/BTC, then I lose a significant amount of money on the sale (percentage-wise).

I know that some companies (Overstock, I think) give a one minute (or so) deadline for the BTC price for just this reason, so what is the accepted forum etiquette on BTC price deadlines? Hours? Days? Forever?

Thank you in advance.

My Best,
Christopher

You can avoid the concept of having an exchange rate asking price "accepted by" timeframe altogether by simply using a real-time converter in your listings, like the one offered at youmeandbtc.com.  If you want $100 for an item, then you ask the buyer to send BTC equivalent at time of payment...whenever that might be.  No need to hold any price, just check the converter and pay that amount at the moment of payment.

Here is the code for $100 at Coinbase rates:
<a href=http://youmeandbtc.com/bitcoin-converter-adjust-prices-automatically/><img src=http://youmeandbtc.com/bitcoin-converter-php.php?dir=tobtc&val=100&cur=usd&btctype=btc&exchange=coinbase&dec=8></a>

And here is what conversion image looks like in a listing:

[JerryCurlzzz]

What is the accepted etiquette for BTC pricing as far as deadlines go? For instance, let's say that the current exchange rate for BTC is $500 USD/BTC. If I am selling something on a forum for $100 or .200 BTC, how long should I honor the price of .200 BTC? I mean, if I'm asking .200 BTC because I'm hoping to get around $100 USD for my item, but the buyer decides to wait several days hoping that the exchange rate drops to around $400 USD/BTC, then I lose a significant amount of money on the sale (percentage-wise).

I would either price in BTC (period) to avoid any mishaps in exchange rate. Or, alternatively, I would list a $ price, then "lock in" a price once a buyer has agreed to the deal. After that, I would hope that the deal closes within 15-60 minutes, otherwise I might consider scratching the deal if the exchange rate moved much.

[shorena]

-snip-
What is the accepted etiquette for BTC pricing as far as deadlines go?

I dont think there is an universal rule yet.

-snip-
 I'm hoping to get around $100 USD for my item

If you want 100 USD ask for 100 USD in BTC (post it like this) and name an exchange (or several) where you will check the price when the trade is done.

I know that some companies (Overstock, I think) give a one minute (or so) deadline for the BTC price for just this reason, so what is the accepted forum etiquette on BTC price deadlines? Hours? Days? Forever?
-snip-

In all my trades and in almost all others I see (expect for maybe mining hardware) asking prices are given in USD, EUR, AUD, etc. I usually name bitstamp daily average as the exchange rate, but I also stay felxible when the other site wants to use another big exchange or any price I think is reasonable Im fine with it. Once the price in BTC is set any price fluctuations are risk of trading. Its not like its going to double/half within a few minutes.

[ducatitalia]

...Its not like its going to double/half within a few minutes.

Don't be so sure...its happened before...

[shorena]

...Its not like its going to double/half within a few minutes.

Don't be so sure...its happened before...

Care to underline your claims with some sort of reference?

[Nagato4]

-snip-
What is the accepted etiquette for BTC pricing as far as deadlines go?

I dont think there is an universal rule yet.

+1
There is no "standard" yet, but as a comparison, both Bitpay and Coinbase set the payment window as 10 minutes.

[ducatitalia]

...Its not like its going to double/half within a few minutes.

Don't be so sure...its happened before...

Care to underline your claims with some sort of reference?

Absolutely...drastic BTC exchange price fluctuations over extremely abbreviated time periods have happened many times over the past 5 years on various exchanges for myriad reasons...including a 2014 flash crash of 80% in just a few seconds:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-10/bitcoin-flash-crashes-drops-80-seconds
A couple of weeks ago, this happened again to a much lesser degree:
https://www.coinprices.io/articles/news/bitcoin-price-update-aug-14-flash-crash

Then there was the exchange specific Gox debacle...about which we are all familiar:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2100100/mt-gox-bitcoin-price-falls-below-100.html

There are many more examples on the price spike side from Bitcoin's early days with jumps from $19 to $32, moves from $160 to $230 in 2013 and consistent $100 jumps as recently as this past November...et al.

Point being...there is a reason why so many merchants that are accepting BTC, especially the larger mainstream ones, are using Coinbase to trade out at market rate...it's still early days and price relative to fiat can move quickly.  This should settle down congruently with increased adoption.

[coory]

1 to 2 hours, wait!

[shorena]

-snip-

Point being...there is a reason why so many merchants that are accepting BTC, especially the larger mainstream ones, are using Coinbase to trade out at market rate...it's still early days and price relative to fiat can move quickly.  This should settle down congruently with increased adoption.

As I expected "flash crashes", 10% movements for minutes with fast recovery behind it. Mt. Gox is a good example why you dont keep your coins at an exchange, thats not the topic here. But yes, if an exchange goes "boom" your coins might be worthless/gone. A flash crash does not mean that my bitcoins are worth nothing the next second, usually its just some idiot that learns how to use an exchange or thinks its wise to test that new trading bot on a live API.

When I make a trade with BTC I dont cashout the second after the 1st confirmation (isnt possible with most exchanges anyway), but as of now I always kept them/bought something else with BTC.

The reason why bigger and larger merchants use payment processors is because their suppliers need to get paid in fiat and thus their profit caluclation is done in fiat and their price is set in fiat. Payment with BTC is merely anyother way to get fiat for them. I suspect very few of the traders that do trades on the board (see OP if in doubt who we are talking about here) have those problems.

[BitcoinPenny]

Thank you, everyone, for the replies and good advice. I think that from now on, I'll do as advised by many of you and set the asking price in US dollars, to be paid at the equivalent BTC exchange rate (at the time of sending). If the rate drops after the BTC payment is sent, that's on me, and it's perfectly fine. As long as both parties send/receive payments in good faith, everything is roses.

Thank you again.

Regards,
Christopher