Is people are willing to spend their bitcoin against goods?

[knight22]

Is people are willing to spend their bitcoin against goods? I saw that a lot of people trying to get in business stop their bitcoin activity…

[1715270537]

1715270537

[1715270537]

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[Stephen Gornick]

Is people are willing to spend their bitcoin against goods? I saw that a lot of people trying to get in business stop their bitcoin activity…

Bitcoin isn't a silver bullet.  If you are selling something that nobody wants, accepting Bitcoin as a payment method isn't going to help you much.

But, for instance, there are businesses that do quite well specifically because they accept bitcoin.

The band Alco, for instance, is one of the albums that has sold well on CoinDL.  After clicking their audio previews I heard music that I like and bought the album for download.  I'm not the only one.  And since I've bought less than five albums in the past decade, I doubt I would ever have known of Alco nonetheless purchased their music unless they were on CoinDL.
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=77438.0

In other words, marketing to the Bitcoin community lets a seller expand the market and in some instances, offers an edge.

If you look at the selection of merchants on the Trade page of the Bitcoin wiki, you'll notice that even with hundreds of merchants it is still relatively pretty slim -- it represents just a tiny miniature fraction of all businesses.
 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade

But, if you have bitcoins and are looking for web hosting, ... those web hosting providers that accept bitcoins have an edge over the Rackspace/Dreamhost/Hostgator/Bluehost/etc./etc./etc. right?

I'm still waiting for marketers to find bitcoin as something to hitch their wagons to ... it is like free advertising.  I would probably never know about Meze Grill in NYC but because they accept bitcoins (or did at one time), they got national (or worldwide) exposure (at no cost!).

[Grix]

I can only talk for myself, but my little store at bitlasers.com isn't doing too well. I've only made two sales since startup a few months ago. But I haven't exactly done much advertising, and it's a niche market, so your mileage will probably vary.

[mc_lovin]

Is people are willing to spend their bitcoin against goods? I saw that a lot of people trying to get in business stop their bitcoin activity…

My grammar sense is tingling!

I can only talk for myself, but my little store at bitlasers.com isn't doing too well. I've only made two sales since startup a few months ago. But I haven't exactly done much advertising, and it's a niche market, so your mileage will probably vary.

Hey!  It's a tough world with an e-store in the bitcoin world WTCR.ca has the right product for the right price and an invaluable service but it's like pulling teeth trying to get people to buy---and we are advertising... 

[knight22]

You need to be patient. I think, there is not enough bitcoin available in the market to allow people buying stuff that worth a lot. Also, in 2013, there will probably be a jump for the bitcoin worth and I think most of people keep their bitcoin knowing this. So just wait and go trough this period and more people will be allowed and willing to buy your stuff. Just don't give up bro!

[JohnBigheart]

I had higher hopes on the bitcoin economy. I find it hard to sell goods or services for BTCs.  There is an inherent thinking that one day bitcoins may be worth $1000. So people tend to sit on their BTCs and do not use it as an actual currency.

[knight22]

I had higher hopes on the bitcoin economy. I find it hard to sell goods or services for BTCs.  There is an inherent thinking that one day bitcoins may be worth $1000. So people tend to sit on their BTCs and do not use it as an actual currency.

Let's the time do his job. Gives a year or two to get the market stronger.

[Stephen Gornick]

I had higher hopes on the bitcoin economy. I find it hard to sell goods or services for BTCs.

Have you had better success selling those same goods and services for USDs or other currency?   Just offering somethihg for BTC doesn't cause sales to roll in (well, it can but it needs to be something Bitcoiners are interested in)

There is an inherent thinking that one day bitcoins may be worth $1000. So people tend to sit on their BTCs and do not use it as an actual currency.

If it is trivially easy to buy bitcoins to replenish for spending that came from your stash, then there's no hoarding problem because the BTC position is kept at the desired level even when using bitcoins for spending.

People will use their credit card purposely to acquire the rewards (e.g., airline miles).  Similarly, merchants accepting bitcoin no longer pay the 3% payment network fees, no longer are subjected to fraudulent chargebacks, and receive settlement immediately (i.e,. funds can be spent right away).  Those same merchants will then either share part of the cost savings in the form of a discount to those paying with Bitcoin or by selling at a lower price.

That is already happening.  Tangible Cryptography, for instance, is selling $100 AT&T prepaid wireless top-up cards for $95 worth of bitcoins.
 - http://bitmit.net/en/user/TangibleCrypto/?ref=2487

Now, if you are going to buy AT&T prepaid wireless, are you going to pay $100 with your credit card or $95 worth of bitcoins?

Locking in a gain in the near term beats speculation on the long term, especially when you can do both!

[JohnBigheart]

Have you had better success selling those same goods and services for USDs or other currency?   Just offering somethihg for BTC doesn't cause sales to roll in (well, it can but it needs to be something Bitcoiners are interested in)

I have a bunch of dollars earned on a website that I could transfer with giftcards to someone else. The site is legit and you can spend the giftcards on physical goods that you can buy from their store. I have given away giftcards as gifts, offered them as bounty and had someone buy one off me for cash in person. So I thought I would offer it on the forum for BTCs. I am down to 60% of face value yet I only had 3 people who even showed some interest. One was a scammer. The other wanted to pay in MtGox USD Vouchers. The 3rd lost interest and backed out.

If it is trivially easy to buy bitcoins to replenish for spending that came from your stash, then there's no hoarding problem because the BTC position is kept at the desired level even when using bitcoins for spending.

Well, apparently it isn't. To get BTCs you:
- mine : requires hardware investment and profitability is plumeting
- trade OTC : you face counterparty risk, you can get scammed
- trade on exchange : moving funds in/out of exchanges is burdensome, the forum is full with stories of locked accounts, money being unavailable for days, accounts or entire sites hacked or just running away with money
- sell goods / services : the community is apparently only interested in games or mining hw or more BTCs

[Inaba]

I buy and sell goods almost daily with BTC, so I'm not sure where you're coming from.

As for the gift card thing, you probably see low traffic because there is so much scamming going on in the gift card industry.  I would buy more at a bit under face value, but most of the times I'm offered something, it's by a scammer, so I've shied away from buying gift cards with BTC, except from known good sellers.

[Stephen Gornick]

Well, apparently it isn't. To get BTCs you:
- mine : requires hardware investment and profitability is plumeting
- trade OTC : you face counterparty risk, you can get scammed
- trade on exchange : moving funds in/out of exchanges is burdensome, the forum is full with stories of locked accounts, money being unavailable for days, accounts or entire sites hacked or just running away with money
- sell goods / services : the community is apparently only interested in games or mining hw or more BTCs

There are some places where it is easier, and others where it is harder.

In the U.S., BitFloor has become the easiest (cash deposit at any chase bank), fastest (minutes after you deposit the funds show as being available) and cheapest (no fee for cash deposits, buy bitcoins at below Mt. Gox rate).

No mining necessary.
No trading on OTC
No need to sell goods.

Cash deposit methods are now available in:

U.S. (USD) - Chase (BitFloor), Other major banks (BitInstant), 7-11/Walmart/CVS (Moneygram w/ BitInstant),
Canada (CAD) - CA Virtex
Australia (AUD) - CrypoXChange, Mr. Bitcoins
Brazil (BRL) - Boleto and Banco Recomendito (BitInstant)
Russia (RUB) - Qiwi and Cyberplat (BitInstant)
India (NR) - HDFC (Mr. Bitcoins)

 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Buying_bitcoins

[molecular]

I had higher hopes on the bitcoin economy. I find it hard to sell goods or services for BTCs.  There is an inherent thinking that one day bitcoins may be worth $1000. So people tend to sit on their BTCs and do not use it as an actual currency.

I've been like that for a while until I realized I could just keep some fiat on intersango and just re-buy the coins right away, the trick is to not run out of fiat on the exchange.

Makes it a lot easier to spend bitcoins. Actually I find bitcoin exceptionally easy to spend and I've spent it on stuff I hadn't spent fiat (online) on before: virtual servers, socks, gardening supplies, physical bitcoin, a bitcoin magazine (not yet received), stock, shares in a movie production, lottery tickets, sports and other bets, conference tickets. I also spent it on stuff I have spent fiat on before: sd cards, GPUs.

I've also spent bitcoin on something I hadn't really spent money on before, at least not on that scale: donating/tipping.

In summa, due to bitcoin, I probably spent more money than I would've spent without it and I definitely shifted some of my business to a different supplier because that supplier accepts bitcoin.