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

[digicoinuser]

I am looking to purchase a crypto related Christmas gift this season for some people I'd like to spread the crypto to and the seller is only accepting payment in BTC/LTC/DOGE.  The problem lies in the fact that the item I want to purchase is ~$75 shipped (yes, the price is given in USD) but I cannot pay with my USD and must somehow convert my fiat to crypto if I want this specific crypto related gift. 

Now the timing sucks because I am finding out all these places to do this want some sort of crazy verification that takes multiple days, I need to take a picture of my passport, residency documentation, etc.  Time is of the essence (yes, late holiday shopping!) and I don't feel I should need to do that for such a small amount.  I have amazing eBay and PayPal records (over 1000+ at 100% positive and yes, I do sell items quite often) but I see there really isn't a good way to buy it on eBay either as it seems sketchy.  Some people are asking for $500+ for a BTC delivered directly to my wallet and the weird instructions I get in the description about doing some sort of micro-transaction process over the course of multiple days is pretty awkward.  Nonetheless when I'm essentially trying to get 0.25 BTC, or ~$85 worth (as of this posting), I'm not sure why the hassle is turning out to be so great and I may not get to use BTC for a Christmas gift this year.

I actually have BTC/LTC/DOGE that I mined, but between the 3 combined I have less than what I need to purchase the item and still feel good about my mining efforts.  I wholly understand that the seller is choosing to only accept crypto as I asked if I could pay via PayPal as an option but dang it is tough.

In light of me joining the BTC forum very recently (I've been reduced to a newbie - for now!) I figured I'd share my first experience trying to acquire a small amount of BTC for a purchase. 
I made an account on Circle.com since it "seemed" the easiest, got through all the steps and entered the information listed here:
===========================
1. Email, Full Name & Address
2. Phone number for verification
3. Birth-date and last 4-digits of my SS#
4. Debit Card/Credit Card Information, exactly the same information I made to purchase something substantial a couple weeks ago at an online retailer
===========================

And it didn't work. 

I was pretty disappointed when I couldn't add funds as I am an avid internet user and understand I just handed over a ton of PII and they wouldn't let me follow through on my purchase of 0.25 BTC.  I am stuck on "We are working on connecting your credit card." when any other online retailer would have said OK and processed my payment.  If it was a large enough amount I understand I would have gotten a phone call to the home number that is attached to my Bank Card for verbal verification.  I have waited over 2 hours since landing on that page with nothing to show except for a waiting message and I'm a little frustrated that I may not be able to make a BTC Christmas purchase as I don't want to turn this circle.com thing into a 24-48 hour ordeal for a $75 item.  I will not be hooking up a bank account to that site, I was just willing to use a Bank Card but now I am contemplating dumping the whole idea and having that "account" deleted. 

I need to live up to my name of digicoinuser and freaking obtain some BTC to use but it's very difficult right now from my perspective.  I like the whole anonymous idea behind bitcoin, but feel that sites like the aforementioned devalue that whole train of thought.  I didn't trust cex.io to go through the process they have and don't plan on signing up on any more websites that require a level of information where I'd want to keep tabs on that site/system due to having a high level of PII filed for me.

Is there a safer and easier way I could get 0.25 BTC from a trusted source and start my journey purchasing items with BTC? 

Sincerely,
digicoinuser (hopefully an official one soon)

[Elwar]

Easiest as far as verifications go is localbitcoins.

If you're in the US CoinBase is about the best route for bank transfers.

I have had to deal with a few companies since moving to Europe.

I have had to send:
a copy of my passport
a copy of the back of my passport
a picture of me holding up my passport
a copy of my debit card (I forgot which service required that)
a copy of my bank statement
proof of address

In the end I was denied on 2 out of the 4 that I tried. One of them costs me money to wire my money to them because they are in Hong Kong, the other was working for 2 weeks and then halted euro deposits. They opened euro deposits for a week and now dropped my verification level because they upgraded their verification process. This includes a new questionnaire with the following questions:
Are you a politicaly exposed person?
Are your family members politically exposed?
Are you working as an executive staff, acting board member or current shareholder (>10%) of any licensed financial institution?
Have you ever been charged with a financial crime, tax evasion cases, involved in falsification of auditor documents or are currently a person of interest in a financial crime(s) case?

What does "politically exposed person" even mean?


I went to get a bank account. Walked in, showed my ID, signed some papers, got an account.
It seems to me that the Bitcoin exchanges are under much more restrictions than banks when it comes to proof of identity.


But, by jumping through all of those hoops you are able to charge people using localbitcoins a premium because you deal with all of the bullshit so they don't have to.

[548845]

Circle.com , Cex.io , Virwox.com

Pay with Visa 

Keep in mind Virwox might take up to 48hours to send your coins if a new account.

[cheekychap]

Circle.com , Cex.io , Virwox.com

Pay with Visa 

Keep in mind Virwox might take up to 48hours to send your coins if a new account.

Once you know thwe methods, its pretty easy, but yeah its complicated for first timers to find a reliable place to buy.
Too complicated.

[Aemon]

Buying is pretty easy (depending on where you are) 

In the US just attach a bank account to Circle.Com or Coinbase.  Pretty much click buy and you will have your coins instantly(if you use that option) or you have a small delay period until payments go through.

I am sure someone from another country can help you purchase them if that is the case.

[LiteCoinGuy]

Bitstamp, Kraken, Circle, Coinbase are the best.

Soon you will be able to buy BTC in the supermarket (via gift cards).

[btckold24]

Its very frustrating to buy for the 1st time. Its why I don't think bitcoin will never reach its potential unless their is atm's readily available for everyone to safely buy and sell btc quickly - it just takes was to much info and time to buy btc these days.

even with local bitcoin making bank transfers which make it easier - some banks I read on here are closing accounts which make it very scary to use that method

[Aemon]

Its very frustrating to buy for the 1st time. Its why I don't think bitcoin will never reach its potential unless their is atm's readily available for everyone to safely buy and sell btc quickly - it just takes was to much info and time to buy btc these days.

even with local bitcoin making bank transfers which make it easier - some banks I read on here are closing accounts which make it very scary to use that method

What about purchasing Bitcoin the first time makes it hard?  Granted I am from the US and the first time I purchased it was very easy, just like buying any other item from any website. 

[The Chainmaker]

Coinbase is very slow the first time, but super easy.

[Aemon]

You can instant buy with Coinbase depending on where you are, I haven't tried it yet but I swear I read about it somewhere. You just have to have a credit card in order to do so.

[Soros Shorts]

OP should consider doing an off-exchange purchase. It is definitely a lot easier than trying to jump through all those hoops.

[newIndia]

For US/UK customers Circle will probably be easier than CoinBase.

[687_2]

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

1. Because it's a nascent technology restricted by outdated and inappropriate laws and rules.
2. Because "real money" that follows programmatic rules has never existed before, and it's difficult to exchange "almost real money" (fiat cash) for real money.

I have found Coinbase and Bitquick.co to be the easiest and reasonably private ways to buy BTC in the US, but there are many other small services where you can send cash in the mail, etc. although I have not tried them. I tried and failed to setup accounts at many of the major exchanges (and Circle, which I think sucks in many ways), so I simply avoid them. Localbitcoins was not an option for me either as I seem to be the only person within 100km that uses BTC.

Coinbase only requires your bank account number, TIN, and company name if you register as a business. They probably require more info if you buy frequently or large amounts. You guys that send your pictures, passport, stool samples etc. to these exchanges are crazy  

[NarC]

To me coinbase is the easiest once your verified. But my http://Trucoin.com account I set up in 30 seconds and was able to make credit card purchases, they're the quickest if you don't mind paying their processing fee.

[DannyHamilton]

Where are you located?

If you want "simple", how about this...

Give me cash.  I give you BTC.  Done.

Seems simple enough to me.

[687_2]

Is there a safer and easier way I could get 0.25 BTC from a trusted source and start my journey purchasing items with BTC? 

As an aside, I can't wait to try this out as soon as it is ready for real trades:
https://bitsquare.io/

[franky1]

i can buy bitcoins alot faster then buying a different FIAT.

local bitcoins is the service with least KYC restrictions (they ask for least amount of ID) and in comparison to getting in my car, driving into town, parking up, walking into a travel agent/bureau de change and waiting in queue to be served. bitcoins is far superior.

the bitcoin ATM's are becoming more readily available and as others have said soon you'll be able to by bitcoins in multiple places locally. but the thing to remember is that bitcoin is not 200 years old (pound) its not even 90 year old (dollar(non gold backed)) its not even 20 years old(euro).

yet dollar only serves 320million people (under 5%) of the world
yet euro only serves 335million people (under 5%) of the world

so when was the last time you were in england and able to buy things with dollar or euro directly.
so when was the last time you were in america and able to buy things with ponds or euro directly.

bitcoin is international and has many features, benefits and advantages that exceed what fiat could ever try to provide, so although bitcoin is not at 5% world wide coverage yet. it has grown from being a couple dozen people to a couple million people in just 4 year. and this has happened without any government rule that forced people to use it.

we are still in the innovation phase of adoption, and thus expect bigger and better things in the future.

but for now, localbitcoins is the closest thing to a bureau de change where it comes to easiest access to funds that you can actually handle. and then if you wish to compare the hassle of FIAT swapping using bank transfers.. i dare you, in america to try setting up a european bank account to then fund that account with euro's so that you can go buy stuff in france, belgium, germany.

[digicoinuser]

Elwar,
Thanks for the info.  I checked out localbitcoins and it looked alright except some of the postings looked similar to this:

- No ID verification necessary if you have 100+ trades and over 25BTC volume
- Images required for the first purchase. Trusted buyers have no restrictions.

-----Honesty is my Policy-----

★ Paypal Transfer ★

✒ Step 1 - Open Trade

✒ Step 2 - Send me the following in ONE image:

- Your Government ID (To verify you own your paypal account.)

NEXT TO:

I don't feel the Government ID would be necessary for an individual on a localbitcoin trading site but having previous trades would help in those situations I assume.

I gave Circle a call a bit ago and spoke to a nice lady on the phone and am seeing if Circle will work as intended for a single purchase.  I didn't inform them of my purchase size as it was never asked (I thought they would ask) and they said they will "follow up" if more information is needed from me.  I'm not hooking up my bank account though, so I'm not sure what other information they should really need for me to complete a single 0.25 BTC transaction.

Oh and I forgot, there were security questions as well that I had to create when I made my account and then re-verify on the phone.  I agree with ya, it does go on and on.  I believe politically exposed means that you would be connected to some major political party member or someone in high authority and could possibly tarnish a reputation if affiliated with "something" in the wrong light.

Bitstamp, Kraken, Circle, Coinbase are the best.

Soon you will be able to buy BTC in the supermarket (via gift cards).

I am going to avoid trying anymore of these places than just Circle as multi-level forms are heinous inventions. 

Like the gift card idea for ease of purchase but not for the centralization!

OP should consider doing an off-exchange purchase. It is definitely a lot easier than trying to jump through all those hoops.

I saw that but I can't surely trust anyone quite yet, but trust can be earned. 

To me coinbase is the easiest once your verified. But my http://Trucoin.com account I set up in 30 seconds and was able to make credit card purchases, they're the quickest if you don't mind paying their processing fee.

This one looks very promising on the site, but I would have to get some more info before making a decision on that.  The sales pitch was pretty good and I'd have to see what their "processing fee" is.  Does anyone else have experience with trucoin?

Where are you located?

If you want "simple", how about this...

Give me cash.  I give you BTC.  Done.

Seems simple enough to me.

Mid East Coast, USA.  This would be true if I knew people personally who had bitcoin.    Unfortunately the people I mentioned it to recently thought it came out this year.  I read this small book about bitcoin that I will be sharing with some friends but it is a little advanced for a few of them I believe.  Any exposure would be good exposure though.



Thanks for all the other responses.  I am still awaiting the confirmation of whatever needs to happen on the sites end, but hopefully that works out shortly.

I can see why it is so difficult and am still researching some of this related to purchasing as I didn't expect to hit this type of timeline based roadblock for a sub $100 purchase.

[xmasdobo]

Circle.com , Cex.io , Virwox.com

Pay with Visa 

Keep in mind Virwox might take up to 48hours to send your coins if a new account.

Virwox has ridiculous fees.

In general its hard and counterintuitive because its all still very new.

[teukon]

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