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> Most consumers would be better off paying with a card: same cost (none) Correction here: There IS a credit card cost, but it is billed to the merchant and pa

> Most consumers would be better off paying with a card: same cost (none) Correction here: There IS a credit card cost, but it is billed to the merchant and passed along to the consumer by being built into product prices. The fact that you think it is "none" when it is merely "hidden" speaks volumes.

dangrossman 13y ago
Most people understand that, and also understand that it's irrelevant so long as there is no discount for using a different payment method. If you're going to pay for the protection of credit whether you use it or not, you might as well use it.
omegaham 13y ago
In that case, a merchant would have to offer a discount in order to make Bitcoin worth pursuing.
- schrodinger 13y ago
  Don't the credit card companies require that you charge the same price for cash or credit?
  - aianus 13y ago
    I believe it's ok to offer a discount for cash as long as you don't have to pay more than the posted price when you use credit.
    - InXorWeTrust 13y ago
      Some gas stations allow you to pay for Diesel with cash at a discount. As a side note, Flash Foods has a card you can get that uses ACH with your debit account (I'm probably not saying that right). You get a flat $0.05 off of gas. They claim it's because of credit card charges (and because ACH doesn't cost them anything).
  - dangrossman 13y ago
    Neither cash discounts nor credit surcharges are prohibited now thanks to new legislation and a court settlement in the past few years.
afterburner 13y ago
Keep in mind credit cards offer 1-2% rewards. So in the end it's probably a 1% effective increase. Bitcoin exchange fees are usually about 1%. And that matters unless the merchant is not ever converting his Bitcoin into other currencies, since he would pass on that cost of business to the customer as well. Oh and of course they'd have to offer a discount to Bitcoin purchasers since they're covering the additional CC fee cost anyways if it's the same price.
abalone 13y ago
Interesting fact: Australia regulated away credit card fees a few years ago. There was no corresponding decrease in consumer prices. In any case, even if there is an increase, unless merchants offer differentiated pricing by payment type (they generally favor simplicity) then what I'm saying holds: there is no additional cost to using cards.

dangrossman 13y ago

Most people understand that, and also understand that it's irrelevant so long as there is no discount for using a different payment method. If you're going to pay for the protection of credit whether you use it or not, you might as well use it.

omegaham 13y ago

In that case, a merchant would have to offer a discount in order to make Bitcoin worth pursuing.

schrodinger 13y ago
Don't the credit card companies require that you charge the same price for cash or credit?
- aianus 13y ago
  I believe it's ok to offer a discount for cash as long as you don't have to pay more than the posted price when you use credit.
  - InXorWeTrust 13y ago
    Some gas stations allow you to pay for Diesel with cash at a discount. As a side note, Flash Foods has a card you can get that uses ACH with your debit account (I'm probably not saying that right). You get a flat $0.05 off of gas. They claim it's because of credit card charges (and because ACH doesn't cost them anything).
- dangrossman 13y ago
  Neither cash discounts nor credit surcharges are prohibited now thanks to new legislation and a court settlement in the past few years.

afterburner 13y ago

Keep in mind credit cards offer 1-2% rewards. So in the end it's probably a 1% effective increase. Bitcoin exchange fees are usually about 1%. And that matters unless the merchant is not ever converting his Bitcoin into other currencies, since he would pass on that cost of business to the customer as well. Oh and of course they'd have to offer a discount to Bitcoin purchasers since they're covering the additional CC fee cost anyways if it's the same price.

abalone 13y ago

Interesting fact: Australia regulated away credit card fees a few years ago. There was no corresponding decrease in consumer prices. In any case, even if there is an increase, unless merchants offer differentiated pricing by payment type (they generally favor simplicity) then what I'm saying holds: there is no additional cost to using cards.