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Surely many will ask "Why would I pay Dell in bitcoins?". Well Dell wants to promote the currency so much they will be giving a discount: "we’ll be offering a

by mrb 12y ago

Surely many will ask "Why would I pay Dell in bitcoins?". Well Dell wants to promote the currency so much they will be giving a discount: "we’ll be offering a special Alienware promotion wherein customers can save 10% off a new Alienware system purchase (up to $150 limit) when checking out with bitcoin"

crb 12y ago
A partnership with Coinbase is seen as low enough risk (they're backed by A16Z!), that conventional merchants are prepared to use them as a payment processor; first, probably, in exchange for publicity, and later, because they will be at a competitive disadvantage if they don't.
foobarqux 12y ago
But most people have to pay extra to acquire Bitcoins in the first place. And 10% is a promotion not a persistent discount. Why would I pay Dell in bitcoins in the long term given that Coinbase doesn't have any obvious cost advantage over other payment processors?
- baby 12y ago
  People who already have bitcoins can now spend them to get an Alienware. I know I would if I didn't lose mine.
  - gambiting 12y ago
    If it means that I can get $150 off a new Alienware machine I would go and create a wallet right now to buy some bitcoins.
- livingparadox 12y ago
  If you don't use bitcoin, there's absolutely no reason. Same reason for paypal et al. There are a group of people who prefer to use bitcoin as their payment method, and this is for them.
- mrb 12y ago
  You say "why would I spend bitcoins if I don't have any?" That's the problem of bootstrapping an economy. But I would like to point out that the history of Bitcoin demonstrates it is not such a big problem. Indeed more and more merchants are accepting it, more and more users are setting up wallets, more and more people are giving bitcoins to friends and family, etc. So given this adoption, at some point you will probably receive some bitcoins. Perhaps a friend will give you bitcoins as a birthday gift, or a coworker will insist to pay you back his sandwich in Bitcoin. Then you will say to yourself "hey, why not spend it on that ergonomic Dell keyboard"? And you will have played a role in bootstrapping the Bitcoin economy.
  - foobarqux 12y ago
    I don't think it is plausible that a significant number of people will receive a material portion of their income from Bitcoin. Your examples of ways in which I can receive BTC are trivial in amount and frequency.
- baddox 12y ago
  > But most people have to pay extra to acquire Bitcoins in the first place. What do you mean by "pay extra"? The functional exchange rate of that currency to bitcoins is the total cost of exchanging fiat currency for bitcoins.
  - foobarqux 12y ago
    Trading costs are an expense and you pay Coinbase more than the market spread (they need to make money). If you use a credit card to buy BTC you pay those fees directly or indirectly.
67726e 12y ago
> Well Dell wants to promote the currency Maybe. But that's probably just wishful thinking. Someone in marketing probably came up with this as a way to get some free publicity from all the raving bitcoin lunatics and get some sales. Offering 10% off of their Alienware systems, which are pretty well know as overpriced crap, is probably a fraction of their markup.
- bduerst 12y ago
  Right. As with Overstock, this is marketing ploy to a target demographic.
  - Alupis 12y ago
    My company started accepting bitcoin a few months back. We use BitPay.com to offload risk (they instantly convert a BTC payment into your preferred currency and cash you out at the going rate). We haven't made any sales with BTC yet... (as my VP reminds me weekly ;-), but none-the-less, the company views it as a great alternative to what normally would constitute a "high risk" shipment (usually to countries were high credit card fraud rates or other scams originate from... if we get our money now, and there is no risk of chargeback, etc, then we will ship the order). So, it's not really a "marketing ploy" as you put it, but rather a good vehicle to accept orders the company may have normally rejected due to too much risk.
    - doctorfoo 12y ago
      So, uh, what's the company? I got me some Bitcoins here. (Partially serious; chances are you don't sell what I need, but if you did, I'd rather support a Bitcoin accepting company.)
      - Alupis 12y ago
        Doubtful you would be interested in our products, although you never know! -- we're in the jewelry and crafting business. http://www.jewelrysupply.com/ http://www.jewelrysupply.com/ http://www.jewelrysupply.com/ordering_info.html http://www.jewelrysupply.com/ordering_info.html
battani 12y ago
> Well Dell wants to promote the currency Dell wants to promote Dell. And the Alienware promotion? Alienware is used primarily for video gaming. There's quite an overlap between the demographics that play video games and own bitcoin ("geeks"). This is Marketing 101.
Alupis 12y ago
> Well Dell wants to promote the currency so much they will be giving a discount What could be going on here is, Dell is speculating on BTC. So a 10% discount today in exchange for products they still make profit on, will result in potentially multitude of additional profit later. (The discount encourages people to give Dell their BTC, so Dell can sit on them and speculate... it's what a lot of the BTC payment processors are doing presumably).
- bequanna 12y ago
  Dell sells computers and peripherals. They aren't really in the business of alternative currency speculation. I doubt Dell management (at any level) would green-light gambling with company revenue. > it's what a lot of the BTC payment processors are doing presumably Maybe some, but certainly not most.

by mrb 12y ago

crb 12y ago

A partnership with Coinbase is seen as low enough risk (they're backed by A16Z!), that conventional merchants are prepared to use them as a payment processor; first, probably, in exchange for publicity, and later, because they will be at a competitive disadvantage if they don't.

foobarqux 12y ago

But most people have to pay extra to acquire Bitcoins in the first place. And 10% is a promotion not a persistent discount. Why would I pay Dell in bitcoins in the long term given that Coinbase doesn't have any obvious cost advantage over other payment processors?

baby 12y ago
People who already have bitcoins can now spend them to get an Alienware. I know I would if I didn't lose mine.
- gambiting 12y ago
  If it means that I can get $150 off a new Alienware machine I would go and create a wallet right now to buy some bitcoins.
livingparadox 12y ago
If you don't use bitcoin, there's absolutely no reason. Same reason for paypal et al. There are a group of people who prefer to use bitcoin as their payment method, and this is for them.
mrb 12y ago
You say "why would I spend bitcoins if I don't have any?" That's the problem of bootstrapping an economy. But I would like to point out that the history of Bitcoin demonstrates it is not such a big problem. Indeed more and more merchants are accepting it, more and more users are setting up wallets, more and more people are giving bitcoins to friends and family, etc. So given this adoption, at some point you will probably receive some bitcoins. Perhaps a friend will give you bitcoins as a birthday gift, or a coworker will insist to pay you back his sandwich in Bitcoin. Then you will say to yourself "hey, why not spend it on that ergonomic Dell keyboard"? And you will have played a role in bootstrapping the Bitcoin economy.
- foobarqux 12y ago
  I don't think it is plausible that a significant number of people will receive a material portion of their income from Bitcoin. Your examples of ways in which I can receive BTC are trivial in amount and frequency.
baddox 12y ago
> But most people have to pay extra to acquire Bitcoins in the first place. What do you mean by "pay extra"? The functional exchange rate of that currency to bitcoins is the total cost of exchanging fiat currency for bitcoins.
- foobarqux 12y ago
  Trading costs are an expense and you pay Coinbase more than the market spread (they need to make money). If you use a credit card to buy BTC you pay those fees directly or indirectly.

67726e 12y ago

> Well Dell wants to promote the currency Maybe. But that's probably just wishful thinking. Someone in marketing probably came up with this as a way to get some free publicity from all the raving bitcoin lunatics and get some sales. Offering 10% off of their Alienware systems, which are pretty well know as overpriced crap, is probably a fraction of their markup.

bduerst 12y ago
Right. As with Overstock, this is marketing ploy to a target demographic.
- Alupis 12y ago
  My company started accepting bitcoin a few months back. We use BitPay.com to offload risk (they instantly convert a BTC payment into your preferred currency and cash you out at the going rate). We haven't made any sales with BTC yet... (as my VP reminds me weekly ;-), but none-the-less, the company views it as a great alternative to what normally would constitute a "high risk" shipment (usually to countries were high credit card fraud rates or other scams originate from... if we get our money now, and there is no risk of chargeback, etc, then we will ship the order). So, it's not really a "marketing ploy" as you put it, but rather a good vehicle to accept orders the company may have normally rejected due to too much risk.
  - doctorfoo 12y ago
    So, uh, what's the company? I got me some Bitcoins here. (Partially serious; chances are you don't sell what I need, but if you did, I'd rather support a Bitcoin accepting company.)
    - Alupis 12y ago
      Doubtful you would be interested in our products, although you never know! -- we're in the jewelry and crafting business. http://www.jewelrysupply.com/ http://www.jewelrysupply.com/ http://www.jewelrysupply.com/ordering_info.html http://www.jewelrysupply.com/ordering_info.html

battani 12y ago

> Well Dell wants to promote the currency Dell wants to promote Dell. And the Alienware promotion? Alienware is used primarily for video gaming. There's quite an overlap between the demographics that play video games and own bitcoin ("geeks"). This is Marketing 101.

Alupis 12y ago

> Well Dell wants to promote the currency so much they will be giving a discount What could be going on here is, Dell is speculating on BTC. So a 10% discount today in exchange for products they still make profit on, will result in potentially multitude of additional profit later. (The discount encourages people to give Dell their BTC, so Dell can sit on them and speculate... it's what a lot of the BTC payment processors are doing presumably).

bequanna 12y ago
Dell sells computers and peripherals. They aren't really in the business of alternative currency speculation. I doubt Dell management (at any level) would green-light gambling with company revenue. > it's what a lot of the BTC payment processors are doing presumably Maybe some, but certainly not most.