3 ms·

It's interesting to see that this guy wants to transfer BTC -> USD in the form of Newegg shipments, but I have yet to see anyone major accept Bitcoins directly.

by sdkmvx 15y ago

It's interesting to see that this guy wants to transfer BTC -> USD in the form of Newegg shipments, but I have yet to see anyone major accept Bitcoins directly. Newegg has something of useful value (like a hard drive). Both BTC and USD have no useful value in this sense. The actual item 1 USD is simply a piece of cotton-paper with ink on it. A BTC is a mathematical hash. Nobody major with useful objects accepts BTCs. They accept USDs. I would think that most people trading Bitcoins are just trading it. The price goes up and up because everyone is just buying and buying so they can sell before it goes back down. At some point, enough people are going to randomly decide they're done and sell at the same time, and the transfer price will go all the way to (near) zero. I haven't seen many people actively trying to make a real economy out of it. That's why I have no confidence in Bitcoin.

bitspend 15y ago
Accepting BTC directly would really be ideal from large vendors. But one very interesting thing about our service is the worldwide shipping. Newegg makes it very difficult to buy with a non-US (or non-Canadian) credit card. They won't ship outside the US or Canada either. So it really opens up the market to other people. Things like this are exactly what we at bitspend want bitcoin to be successful in. Opening up new markets.
- stock_toaster 15y ago
  I would imagine there is more to accepting international orders (and shipping there) than simply 'using non-US credit cards'. Things like tariffs, export restrictions, taxes (both source and destination company), international corporate status, fraud, etc. In light this, I find bitcoin espoused as 'opening up new markets' a bit of an odd statement.
  - malandrew 15y ago
    For individual orders by the end user, there really isn't that much more. Most of the additional costs such as import duties are typically the responsibility of the receiver.
- Egregore 15y ago
  You should also make something similar for dealextreme, you even will not have to handle shipping, they ship to all countries, but they accept only paypal, and there are countries where paypal doesn't work.
nazgulnarsil 15y ago
same goes for gold. proof of work systems are unintuitive. the value is determined by average investor time window and whether or not the network is growing slower or faster than a certain rate determined by that time window. people buy gold with the intention of later selling it to someone who also wants to buy it so they can sell it later. why does anyone bother? because there is demand for transporting value over time. gold supply is low, the investment window is long, and the number of people who wish to store value for a later date is increasing. the investment window for bitcoin is unknown.
- nazgulnarsil 15y ago
  found related link from last bitcoin discussion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_stones http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_stones

by sdkmvx 15y ago

bitspend 15y ago

Accepting BTC directly would really be ideal from large vendors. But one very interesting thing about our service is the worldwide shipping. Newegg makes it very difficult to buy with a non-US (or non-Canadian) credit card. They won't ship outside the US or Canada either. So it really opens up the market to other people. Things like this are exactly what we at bitspend want bitcoin to be successful in. Opening up new markets.

stock_toaster 15y ago
I would imagine there is more to accepting international orders (and shipping there) than simply 'using non-US credit cards'. Things like tariffs, export restrictions, taxes (both source and destination company), international corporate status, fraud, etc. In light this, I find bitcoin espoused as 'opening up new markets' a bit of an odd statement.
- malandrew 15y ago
  For individual orders by the end user, there really isn't that much more. Most of the additional costs such as import duties are typically the responsibility of the receiver.
Egregore 15y ago
You should also make something similar for dealextreme, you even will not have to handle shipping, they ship to all countries, but they accept only paypal, and there are countries where paypal doesn't work.

nazgulnarsil 15y ago

same goes for gold. proof of work systems are unintuitive. the value is determined by average investor time window and whether or not the network is growing slower or faster than a certain rate determined by that time window. people buy gold with the intention of later selling it to someone who also wants to buy it so they can sell it later. why does anyone bother? because there is demand for transporting value over time. gold supply is low, the investment window is long, and the number of people who wish to store value for a later date is increasing. the investment window for bitcoin is unknown.

nazgulnarsil 15y ago
found related link from last bitcoin discussion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_stones http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_stones