Some have asked why we offer a 10% discount for purchases made with Bitcoin. Bitcoin has no payment processing fees (except when being transferred into USD), so we save a few percentage points just for using it, but certainly not 10%, so what gives? Well, we think Bitcoin is a pretty big deal, for a lot of reasons, and we think it's worth a little bit of our margins to help it grow by getting other merchants into it. Here's why we think it's so great.
1. It's fast, cheap and secure
Banks take days to clear checks or make wire transfers available, credit card processing payments take at least a day and sometimes 3-4 to be deposited. Bitcoin payments are instantaneous. And the Bitcoin protocol has zero-built in transaction fees, whereas credit card processing can cost ~3% or more, and wire transfers and Western Union can be even more expensive. And since Bitcoin transactions are handled between anonymously-owned wallets, corporations and governments can't spy on private citizens' buying habits.
2. It's open-source, decentralized & democratic
The rules that govern Bitcoin are open source and available for everyone and anyone to inspect. The number of Bitcoins currently in circulation is also public knowledge, as is the pre-determined rate-of-release of new Bitcoins, keeping it's inflation-rate set and limited, unlike some fiat currencies. Rather than entrusting the rules that govern the currency to wealthy corporations or private bank owners, tens of thousands of individuals around the world participate in the Bitcoin network through a process called mining - which provides the cryptographic proofs that move Bitcoins from one wallet to another securely. Because they're all running the same open-source software, changes to the software (and, by extension, the way Bitcoin works) can therefore only be made slowly and when the majority of the network agree that they're a good idea. This decentralization means that some institution can't take the currency from private individuals and use it to bail out undercapitalized banks.
3. It's easy to accept and use Bitcoins at your business
If you think you're ready to start accepting Bitcoin at your business, it has never been easier to get started. E-commerce and cart-systems have been all-over Bitcoin for a while now, so you have a lot of options for your web-store. But what about your brick-and-mortar retail store? Here's a (incomplete) list of retail POS platforms that allow you to accept Bitcoin:
Many companies chose to accept Bitcoins as a method of checkout, but never handle the virtual currency themselves - their checkout system exchanges it into USD for a nominal fee and makes deposits into a bank account similar to how credit card processing is handled. Overstock.com is one such company, and according to CEO Patrick Byrne, choosing to start accepting Bitcoins has paid off, with over $130,000 in Bitcoin sales the first day they were accepted, with almost all of those purchases coming from new customers. Now you can tap into the wealth that Bitcoin savers are sitting on and increase your store's sales by appealing directly to current holders of Bitcoins by getting on the map.
And since transferring into and out of USD is the most expensive part of using Bitcoin, some of your employees may ask to be paid in Bitcoins - well, now it's easy to do that too (yes, the IRS still gets theirs and it's all above-board).
*Your Cashbox or PayStand can be used with these Bitcoin POS platforms to accept Bitcoins in your store.
1. It's fast, cheap and secure
Banks take days to clear checks or make wire transfers available, credit card processing payments take at least a day and sometimes 3-4 to be deposited. Bitcoin payments are instantaneous. And the Bitcoin protocol has zero-built in transaction fees, whereas credit card processing can cost ~3% or more, and wire transfers and Western Union can be even more expensive. And since Bitcoin transactions are handled between anonymously-owned wallets, corporations and governments can't spy on private citizens' buying habits.
2. It's open-source, decentralized & democratic
The rules that govern Bitcoin are open source and available for everyone and anyone to inspect. The number of Bitcoins currently in circulation is also public knowledge, as is the pre-determined rate-of-release of new Bitcoins, keeping it's inflation-rate set and limited, unlike some fiat currencies. Rather than entrusting the rules that govern the currency to wealthy corporations or private bank owners, tens of thousands of individuals around the world participate in the Bitcoin network through a process called mining - which provides the cryptographic proofs that move Bitcoins from one wallet to another securely. Because they're all running the same open-source software, changes to the software (and, by extension, the way Bitcoin works) can therefore only be made slowly and when the majority of the network agree that they're a good idea. This decentralization means that some institution can't take the currency from private individuals and use it to bail out undercapitalized banks.
3. It's easy to accept and use Bitcoins at your business
If you think you're ready to start accepting Bitcoin at your business, it has never been easier to get started. E-commerce and cart-systems have been all-over Bitcoin for a while now, so you have a lot of options for your web-store. But what about your brick-and-mortar retail store? Here's a (incomplete) list of retail POS platforms that allow you to accept Bitcoin:
Many companies chose to accept Bitcoins as a method of checkout, but never handle the virtual currency themselves - their checkout system exchanges it into USD for a nominal fee and makes deposits into a bank account similar to how credit card processing is handled. Overstock.com is one such company, and according to CEO Patrick Byrne, choosing to start accepting Bitcoins has paid off, with over $130,000 in Bitcoin sales the first day they were accepted, with almost all of those purchases coming from new customers. Now you can tap into the wealth that Bitcoin savers are sitting on and increase your store's sales by appealing directly to current holders of Bitcoins by getting on the map.
And since transferring into and out of USD is the most expensive part of using Bitcoin, some of your employees may ask to be paid in Bitcoins - well, now it's easy to do that too (yes, the IRS still gets theirs and it's all above-board).
*Your Cashbox or PayStand can be used with these Bitcoin POS platforms to accept Bitcoins in your store.
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