Why does it feel so complicated/frustrating to buy bitcoins for the first time?

[digicoinuser]

@digicoinuser: I sent you a PM a couple of hours ago.  Did you miss it?

I have just responded to your PM a few minutes prior.

It took me a little bit of time to go through all the previous posts and check out some of what everyone was talking about but I am glad I took the time to write the initial post in such a way that it fostered great community responses.

[ChuckBuck]

Why don't you just buy them here in the Marketplace from a Trusted member in BitcoinTalk forum?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=53.0

Lots of sellers here for cash, paypal, amex, bank wire, WU, etc.

Just make sure they're a Hero Member or above and have a great Trust rating and Trust History.

Not so complicated, and if you don't trust the seller even with all that green, then get a trusted Escrow service from this forum to be an intermediary.

[Razick]

Try out circle.com. There is no complicated verification process and you can use a credit or debit card. 

[johnyj]

Localbitcoins purchase can be extremely easy if both of the trader use mobile payment solution. Typically a mobile payment solution already have built-in user identification (AML and KYC rules are followed by those mobile payment processors), a phone call is enough to verify the buyer's legitimacy

[dimsky]

Have used Coinvase in Europe and it does take a bit of work to connect and purchase but it is doable.

[Billbags]

Circle.com

Debit card, credit card or bank account.

Instant service(no days to wait like Coinbase.com......Instant Bitcoin.

Note: on my bank statement Circle shows up as "US financial institution Circle(with some gov financial license number)", not just Circle.com. I think this is going to solve the issue my last bank had with large sums of money going to and comming from just Coinbase.com's bank account.(Im sure coinbase probably has these license by now also, I'm not bashing them)

The only time I get fees with Circle is when using it with debit card and of course miner fees.

[cyberpinoy]

I will answer this question  with a few questions

What was it like the first time you set up a checking account?

How was your first experience with sending money via western union

How easy was it to get your paypal account stated linked with your bank account and a bank debit/credit card?

To be honest, compared to paypal I dont see why getting bitcoin started seems to be so complicated to a lot of people? It is actually easier than paypal, and takes a lot less time I had my bitcoin stuff up and running (including my wallet) in less than 20 minutes.

[digicoinuser]

Why don't you just buy them here in the Marketplace from a Trusted member in BitcoinTalk forum?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=53.0

Lots of sellers here for cash, paypal, amex, bank wire, WU, etc.

Just make sure they're a Hero Member or above and have a great Trust rating and Trust History.

Not so complicated, and if you don't trust the seller even with all that green, then get a trusted Escrow service from this forum to be an intermediary.

Yes, I will definitely look further into that board as I noticed it looked like a place where individuals are trading.

I will answer this question  with a few questions

What was it like the first time you set up a checking account?

How was your first experience with sending money via western union

How easy was it to get your paypal account stated linked with your bank account and a bank debit/credit card?

To be honest, compared to paypal I dont see why getting bitcoin started seems to be so complicated to a lot of people? It is actually easier than paypal, and takes a lot less time I had my bitcoin stuff up and running (including my wallet) in less than 20 minutes.

Checking account was an in person interview after making sure to have all the correct information alongside me.  Other than that, I believe I was able to use the account immediately provided I had loaded the funds in before I left the bank with my temporary card that day.  It took near a week to receive the physical card.  I am not sure if FDIC insurance has anything to do with this process.

Western Union, I have not utilized that service yet.

You bring up quite a good point with PayPal as it was near the same complexity to set up my initial PayPal account many years ago but I wasn't viewing the places to acquire bitcoin via fiat at the same level as PP.  I think it is near the same process for a CC as it is a bank account with the verification of multiple small deposits into the account.


The good news is that circle did work out and I was able to load the small amount of funds into my account.  There was a manual verification required (not sure what happened as I didn't need to provide any extra information) and it took a little over 7 hours.  I did put a phone call into customer service to try and get this sped up as well.  I guess it wasn't too bad of a timeline considering a PP account would take 2-3 business days but again, I didn't see it as highly regulated as it currently seems.  Definitely not a bad thing, but it could be off-putting to some people.

[exoton]

I will answer this question  with a few questions

What was it like the first time you set up a checking account?

How was your first experience with sending money via western union

How easy was it to get your paypal account stated linked with your bank account and a bank debit/credit card?

To be honest, compared to paypal I dont see why getting bitcoin started seems to be so complicated to a lot of people? It is actually easier than paypal, and takes a lot less time I had my bitcoin stuff up and running (including my wallet) in less than 20 minutes.

This. Buying bitcoin on an exchange for the first time is going to be very similar to opening a new bank account, as both of these are very similar in what you are getting and very similar as to the verification requirements.

You do have options other then to buy bitcoin on an exchange, for example you can buy on LBC or can buy on the currency exchange section here (or in some other p2p way)

[botany]

It is complicated buying bitcoins for the first time, because of increasingly stringent KYC norms.
With that, pseudonymity of bitcoin addresses goes out of the window.

[feendog]

when i was at dreks gthe other day i had this feeling i god underhelmed

[digicoinuser]

when i was at dreks gthe other day i had this feeling i god underhelmed

Translation?

[feendog]

i got underhelmed by drek, wasnt too farky, just wiped myself down and got on with logan. all good now in honesty!

[12345mm]

because it is complicated and frustrating to buy bitcoins for the first time ... not to mention expensive beyond the current value ... you either need to send a wire transfer of money from your bank account to some overseas shady exchange and wait for a week or two for it to arrive there or at best expect to lose 2% through any available "respectable" broker right away ... 1% for markup and 1% for fees ... gosh .. sign me up ... i'd like to lose 2% of whatever money i convert to bitcoin right away ...

[TippingPoint]

Download and install a Bitcoin wallet.

Find the LocalBitcoins dealers in your area.  Identify the established ones.

Check the Craigslist bitcoin sellers in your area.

Try to find dealers who are listed in both.

Contact one by internet or phone.  Tell him how much you want to buy.  Discuss the procedure and costs.  If buying more than one Bitcoin, consider doing incremental payments and transfers to limit the risk.

Meet him, pay cash, receive the Bitcoin transfer to your wallet.

It is not complicated.  It is not frustrating. 

Later, if you want to, establish an account with an online Bitcoin dealer like Circle.

[Coinna]

I bought my first bitcoins using PayPal on eBay. Easy as another ebay transaction. The price was padded but my newbie excitement at seeing bitcoins jingle into my account absorbed it.

[Aemon]

I don't understand why people think it is hard to buy bitcoins?  Was a very simple transaction for me and I didn't have any issues at all.

[PolarPoint]

It is more frustrating than complicated. It is not complicated to setup an address and an account at an exchange. It is too troublesome to wire cash to exchanges and comply to their KYC questionnaire and verification. I understand the difficulties... 

[moriartybitcoin]

probably because you're buying from shitty, corrupt, and rotten exchanges like coinbase and bitstamp ...

[Stratobitz]

I still find the waiting time limits quite irritating on places like Coinbase. Limiting buyers of BTC to $1000 weekly is annoying if I need a quick supply of BTC to make a purchase and don't want to move holdings. And having to wait up to 4-5 days to get a larger order to clear drives me crazy.

I wish they'd figure out a way to allow for higher credit ratings for those customers who have purchased BTC in amounts > 5 figures on multiple occasions.

Strato