Interesting conversation with a retailer who formerly accepted Bitcoin

[muqali]

So... just use the shopping cart as normal and when you get to the payment page select bitcoin as the payment method and you will be given instructions on the address to send the payment.

-David

Will you be accepting bitcoin payments for purchases at your physical location/store as well?

There is a pretty low-tech method for doing this available now. 

Launch a mobile app (Blockchain for Android) .
Click Request money.
For the amount, click the pen icon to enter USD amount.
After entering the amount it will show a QR code.
Tap the QR code to make it larger and present that to the customer..

Using a web-based EWallet this can be done as well, use Preev to convert USD to BTCs:
 - http://www.Preev.com

ssh into my robot's command terminal. Have him bring my cold storage bitcoin disk online, then ssh into that machine. transfer the bitcoins to my online wallet. close that connection and have the robot take the disk back offline. Then ssh into my online wallet and send them to the address specified.

I'm joking btw, I don't have a robot. I'd just call my girlfriend to do it :-P

[epiks]

The rebuttal would be that the dollar could also be worth 50% less the next day.

That is a lot less likely to happen to the dollar then with bitcoins..

[BoardGameCoin]

The rebuttal would be that the dollar could also be worth 50% less the next day.

That is a lot less likely to happen to the dollar then with bitcoins..

+100

[wachtwoord]

Over the long term it is a lot more likely though, in fact with Dollars it's a certainty to lose at least half it's value in 30 years.

[jwzguy]

The rebuttal would be that the dollar could also be worth 50% less the next day.

That is a lot less likely to happen to the dollar then with bitcoins..

I think you are incorrect, but you are missing the point completely, which is that either is pretty unlikely.

Meanwhile, the dollar is already down FAR more than 50% vs Bitcoin in the last 2 months.

[TheBitcoinChemist]

The rebuttal would be that the dollar could also be worth 50% less the next day.

That is a lot less likely to happen to the dollar then with bitcoins..

What are you comparing the Dollar to in this assumption, because when people say "bitcoins could drop in value by half tommorrow" the common assumption is that is compared to US $.  If the reverse comparison is also true, then the dollar has already drop significantly over the past couple of months alone, and by orders of magnitude over the past three years.

[wachtwoord]

They are talking in buying power and Dollars have not halved in buying power in the last months.

[TheBitcoinChemist]

They are talking in buying power and Dollars have not halved in buying power in the last months.

Okay, but it has in the past 15 years.

[wachtwoord]

Don't know about 15 but certainly 30 (0.975^30 = 0.468) see my previous post.

It's a ll short term versus long term. I can take short term variance but I can appreciate someone owning a small business might not.

[BoardGameCoin]

They are talking in buying power and Dollars have not halved in buying power in the last months.

Okay, but it has in the past 15 years.

Sure, and that's part of why we're all excited about BTC... but a fair observer has to realize that BTC is more volatile and speculative than the USD, EUR, GBP, or other currencies everyone here likes to dump on. The criticisms of those currencies can be totally legitimate, it's just important to temper our enthusiasm with a factual understanding of how far BTC is from being significant in terms of volume of real trade and stability.

[nmteaco]

Don't know about 15 but certainly 30 (0.975^30 = 0.468) see my previous post.

It's a ll short term versus long term. I can take short term variance but I can appreciate someone owning a small business might not.

Keep in mind to that there is no economy for bit-coins... I can not buy my products from my suppliers with bit-coin, I can not pay rent with bit-coin, I can not pay the power company with bit-coin...

So if the dollar goes down or up in value, it is reflected in the economy of the dollar. In 30 years a dollar will buy less tea, but our customers will also make more as a salary. And while I will make more per pound of tea sold, it will also cost me more to buy.

The reason that the volatility in bit-coin is such an issue for a business person is that we have to exchange them out, since there is no economy in bit coins. I would not care if the value of bitcoins dropped by half if my bills where also dropping in half (because I could pay them in bitcoin.)

People cant start thinking in bit-coins, (without doing the conversion in their heads to their local currency with every transaction) until there is an economy.

-David

PS... just an update for people curious, we have had about 5 transactions with bitcoins, it seems to be working well, thanks for inspiring me to start it up again!

[myrkul]

Don't know about 15 but certainly 30 (0.975^30 = 0.468) see my previous post.

It's a ll short term versus long term. I can take short term variance but I can appreciate someone owning a small business might not.

Keep in mind to that there is no economy for bit-coins... I can not buy my products from my suppliers with bit-coin, I can not pay rent with bit-coin, I can not pay the power company with bit-coin...

But we can buy tea with Bitcoin, and that's a step in the right direction.

[paraipan]

Don't know about 15 but certainly 30 (0.975^30 = 0.468) see my previous post.

It's a ll short term versus long term. I can take short term variance but I can appreciate someone owning a small business might not.

Keep in mind to that there is no economy for bit-coins... I can not buy my products from my suppliers with bit-coin, I can not pay rent with bit-coin, I can not pay the power company with bit-coin...

But we can buy tea with Bitcoin, and that's a step in the right direction.

+1 I don't drink tea, but I'm recommending your business to all my bitcoiner friends 

[julz]

I think for a business to properly take advantage of accepting Bitcoin - it should cater to a more international audience by providing as much info about labelling, packaging, shipment and possible customs hurdles as possible.

Specifically for nmteaco - I'm in Australia, and I'm reluctant to order because It's not obvious how the tea is packaged and whether it would get through customs.
(e.g are all ingredients labelled thoroughly so that customs doesn't classify some of it as unidentified seeds/plant material?)

The australian customs service website seems to suggest that the herbal teas will get through, if they are less than 1kg and 'commercially prepared and packaged'.
http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_casecontent.asp?intNodeId=8867894&intCommodityId=922&Types=none&WhichQuery=Go+to+full+text&intSearch=1&LogSessionID=0

I guess at the moment, providing extra info like that is a bit of a hassle - but down the track, when there are more bitcoin users globally it would surely be worthwhile.

[nmteaco]

Specifically for nmteaco - I'm in Australia, and I'm reluctant to order because It's not obvious how the tea is packaged and whether it would get through customs.
(e.g are all ingredients labelled thoroughly so that customs doesn't classify some of it as unidentified seeds/plant material?)

We have never shipped to austraila before. But we do ship pretty regularly to New Zealand, the UK, and the ukraine (oddly enough).

Anyway, if there was some problem, you would not be responsible. Its not good business to charge people money for things they don't get!

[julz]

Specifically for nmteaco - I'm in Australia, and I'm reluctant to order because It's not obvious how the tea is packaged and whether it would get through customs.
(e.g are all ingredients labelled thoroughly so that customs doesn't classify some of it as unidentified seeds/plant material?)

We have never shipped to austraila before. But we do ship pretty regularly to New Zealand, the UK, and the ukraine (oddly enough).

Anyway, if there was some problem, you would not be responsible. Its not good business to charge people money for things they don't get!

Great!  I'll try a small order and see if it gets through.

[BkkCoins]

Specifically for nmteaco - I'm in Australia, and I'm reluctant to order because It's not obvious how the tea is packaged and whether it would get through customs.
(e.g are all ingredients labelled thoroughly so that customs doesn't classify some of it as unidentified seeds/plant material?)

We have never shipped to austraila before. But we do ship pretty regularly to New Zealand, the UK, and the ukraine (oddly enough).

Anyway, if there was some problem, you would not be responsible. Its not good business to charge people money for things they don't get!

Great!  I'll try a small order and see if it gets through.

I'd make sure to check with Australia customs about tea specifically. They are nasty nasty down there when checking things coming in and have been known to charge significant fines when plant material was brought in. They are very strict and I've run into it a few times because my sister lives there. Being that you live there I'm sure you know all about it - but always best to verify before running head first into Auz customs there.

edit: Oops. My bad - I see you did check already. I hadn't read up a few posts yet.

[myrkul]

Why the ozzies so wacky about plant matter?

Is it drugs, or are they afraid of invasive species?

[fm1234]

It's the ecological aspect.   Look at this map for an understanding. 



Australia is a large country, but its population is mostly densely clustered in a very small part of the country's land area.  Even slight ecological imbalances can create problems.   

I export vehicles to Australia, and learned early on that it's best to just go ahead and spend the money and have every vehicle gone over with a fine-toothed comb before bothering with the VIA paperwork.   They don't screw around over there, and will quarantine an incoming vehicle in a heartbeat.  Especially boats, which can have little bits of marine vegetation and such in places you didn't even know the boat had places.   


Frank

[myrkul]

Not wanting to invite in invasive species I grok. Especially in such an isolated country.

Equilibrium takes an uncomfortably long (for a human) time to reacquire after that sort of upset.