Topic: 1 year of accepting crypto payment in my fashion store - page 4. (Read 828 times)

You can decide to convert your coins to fiat at anytime that you want, but holding your money in bitcoin during bull run would be very profitable.

The problem I noticed yet in Nigeria is that most people prefer to buy and just hold bitcoin, instead of using it for buying. Hope people using bitcoin to buy from your store are many? I would like to know about this.

Accepting bitcoin payment is good. And as more people accept it, the more the adoption. But which bank are you using? I have been using some banks in Nigeria and no problem even during the weekends. But normally there could be bank service problem which can also occur during the weekdays. And with banks, you do not full control over your money, the reason bitcoin would be better.

It is always a pleasure to read such positive examples about using bitcoin and crypto currencies. I fully support you in your campaign. Have you had any positive reactions from customers? I didn't see anything about your satisfaction with the response.

Whatever the case may be, this is an outstanding article that will surely get attention. Keep up the good work and I will make sure to share this article with anyone who are interested in following in your footsteps.

What is the average percentage of customers you have that pay with Bitcoin, LN and other cryptocurrencies?
If that number is significant you could convert one part of your coins to fiat currency, but you keep other part in Bitcoin.
This way you could save a lot on fees that could be much higher if you constantly convert BTC to Fiat.
In case if only small percentage of your customers pays with Bitcoin, than I would just hold Bitcoin at least few years before selling.

It's a year since I started accepting crypto as payment . I will show you how I operate and also how you can accept crypto payments as a small business owner. I run a fashion store, we make African prints, suits, shirts and trousers. This is a popular business in Nigeria, I needed a edge in the market to better my competitors. A greater percentage of my customers are within the age of 20 - 47, this category are people who are tech savvy and open-minded. Nigeria is one of the biggest markets for Bitcoin. This survey led me to make the decision of accepting Bitcoin payments in my business to serve the increasing number of crypto-paying customers.  I recently made a catalog of Bitcoin wears available for preorders https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.60641685. It's been a one hell of a journey and I would like to share with y'all.
 
How to Get Started

Step 1

Choose a good wallet
Use a wallet you're familiar with. Do not be experimental with wallets, use a highly secured wallet and keep your keys close to your heart.

Step 2

Training my staff

Keeping in mind I can't be everywhere at once, my staff needed to have basic knowledge about crypto. So they can offer assistance to  customers when they need it and also show the newbies how to buy Bitcoin and make payment. Quality customer service is important, you don't want your staff to look confused on the job. That’s poor customer service.  Bitcoin transactions are irreversible, you can't afford to make mistakes.

Step 3

Advertising & Promotions

Getting word out that you now accept crypto payment is important. I rebranded my shopping bags to include crypto images. Also I had a the billboard in front replaced with an new one that says we accept crypto.   Discounts on certain items were given to encourage more customers to use crypto as payment. When a customer buys goods worth more than $100 worth of Bitcoin, they are given a free voucher to shop $10 free.

A typical crypto transaction at my store look like this:

1.The cashier gives the customers a Bitcoin QR code to make payment

2. The QR code is customized to tell customer’s crypto wallet where to send the bitcoins and how much to send.

3. The Bitcoin payment is confirmed by the cashier.

Challenges

The only down side I have experienced is the price volatility of Bitcoin. This has a huge effect on the business, because you need cash to run the business. Do you convert to fiat immediately or do you hodl the crypto payments you receive? If you choose the latter, how do you keep record of your actual profits? For me, I save my money in USD because of the unstableness of the naira. Accepting crypto payments has been of great benefit to me, crypto doesn't have an off-day like the banks do not work on weekends and the network on weekends are usually terrible, crypto payments saves me the bank trouble.

Advice

You don't have to know everything to begin, just start. When I started, I used electrum wallet to receive payments. Then I got to know about lightning network, which I adopted. I have recently become acquainted with a crypto exchange in Nigeria. I'm considering a deal to create a merchant account with them as a payment gateway.