Topic: just wondering...do you want an easier way to buy coin? (Read 1831 times)

I think it is a good idea, however i don't think greendot will allow a business out of this. Greendot is meant to be sort of a debit card type thing, so if they notice an account that is getting thousands and thousands of $$ in moneypacks, I think they would close it down. If you keep the operation small, and across many accounts I think it could work. I am a noob, so don't know too much, and i might be wrong. but I can tell you that there is certainly a demand! for people lie me anyways, I am having an extraordinarily difficult time buying bitcoins at the moment.

Thanks


Regards

Hi Coincrazy, basically what you do is sign-up at: https://campbx.com/main.php, which is an exchange (like Mt.Gox).

They accept Dwolla, which can be signed-up to here: http://dwolla.com/

Dwolla accepts direct bank transfers, like Coinbase.

OH! Another place to buy from is Coinbase, but the only problem is that they limit you to 10/day until you hold your BTC for 30 days. Upon which they'll raise your limit to 50/day.

I hope that helps!

While the idea is nice, you quite simply will at no time in the near future be able to buy crypto-currency with a credit card or Paypal, as there is far too much risk (documented over and over again) of the purchaser simply reversing the charges. Thus getting the coins at the exchangers expense, as CC companies dont understand the crypto-currency, and there is no way to prove that a particular individual in fact DID receive the Bitcoins (or LTC, or whatever), so they will always side with the purchaser. Paypal, on the other hand, specifically forbids using their service to exchange for any other competing digital currency, so they will not only reverse the charges, but will also cancel the exchanger's Paypal account, freezing any funds in it.

This whole screwed-up system is precisely (most of) WHY it is worth the hassle of using a crypto-coin in the first place.
This fact will not slow it down, but will eventually lead to its success (not any particular coin itself, but crypto-currency in general), at which point it will be far easier to find places to purchase by Person-to-Person (irl), major companies, and perhaps, in the far future, even with your lowly Visa (once they understand it properly, and still it will be more expensive, as every participant in the CC chain must effectively insure against the occasional charge back).

Even where I live, in rural Alaska, I can find no less than 2 people in the nearest town who will do small in-person exchanges of crypto-currency for fiat (though at a decent premium, to be expected as it is currently quite volatile. And he must, by need, hold it himself for a time). Google "local bitcoin" for starters, and go from there.

In closing, I again encorage the OP in seeking out a better solution for the near term.

i agree

The problems I see with greendot, or any other prepaid card for that matter:

There is a initial load cost of $3.95 to $4.95, this is already up to 1% on a maximum load, 2% on $250, and 5% on $100.

They still use the Visa and Mastercard system, meaning that the person accepting has to use their networks, and thus pay the 3.49% (with monthly fee) to 3.99% (without) charge to actually get the money.

Those two charges already equal a 4.49% to 4.99% minimum overhead on a $500 transaction, and the cost grows as the ammount gets smaller TO A POSSIBLE WHOPPING 8.99% ON $100 TRANSACTIONS!!!

And that is BEFORE the exchanger makes a single cent of profit........ So you can plan his 1-2%, plus his costs to get the money into an exchange account. This is another couple percent unless he uses the ACH system in USA (or its equivalent in Europe), which takes 3-5 days, so he would have to take into account that he will not get to use your money to buy more bitcoins immediately, thus having to use his own up front, which he will have to charge for the privilege.

Making the end cost estimated between 6.49% and 12.99%

The only way (partially) around this would be to actually mail the card to the exchanger, who could then use only certian ATM's to withdraw the money without paying Visa/MC. This would still be an upfront cost of 1% to 5% for the card itself, and the exchanger would have to physically drive to an ATM, something which noone in their right mind would do without a significant % profit. And this would still have long time at fault.

Taking all this into consideration, the plan to use prepaid cards is absolutely infeasible.


Not at all to dissuade you from your explorations, as there REALLY NEEDS to be a good, cheap, and fast way of changing fiat to BTC.

A much more sane approach, I would suggest exploring:
-Is for the exchanger to use a good large bank, with branches everywhere, in combination with dwolla.
-Thus allowing the purchaser to deposit cash at any local branch of said bank, directly into the exchangers account, at no % overhead.
-Or allowing the exchanger to use their dwolla account to send money instantly for only 25¢.
-Both of which would allow the exchanger to verify in minutes.
-At which time the exchanger could send you the coins at close to market rate, if he keeps a good reserve ahead.
-OR (and unfortunately this would add a few hours by dwolla, or the usual 3-5 days if by cash deposit) he then transfers the money into his trading account, and purchases them for you at the then current price, plus commission.

I could see this operating nearly instantly for a 1%, or more likely 2% over market rate fee, if the exchanger can keep enough money in his trading account to cover 3-5 days of sales ahead.
If he cant, then I can see a dwolla purchase happening within a few hours for 2-3%, and a cash deposit happening in 3-5 days for the same 2-3%.

Either way, it would take the exchanger having a good reputation, for the purchaser to trust that he would have to send the money first.
And the near instant option would take the exchanger having a sizable initial investment that he keeps floating on the trade markets.

I hope my in depth analysis can contribute to a better way, but I suppose I will be happy if it merely enlightens some for future ideas, as I am but a Newb to this forum (though not to entrepreneurial business dealings in general, including long distance and international purchases without a middleman).

Sincerely,
SamuelSG

I need to buy from somewhere accepting paypal or visa debit. I can't find anywhere that does this. I'm sorry but like it or not 99% of business on the internet is done through either a credit/debit card or paypal, simple as that. I don't want to wait 4 days for bitcoins + delivery time for whatever I'll be buying with the coins, and all that time be exposed to violent swings it its value. I've tried for several days now but still have no coins. I think the idea for BTC is great but it's too much hassle to be a serious currency.

Totally agree!

I agree, trusted and true is a good way to go but let me warn you about coin base, they are a good idea but with the volatility of bitcoins you can lose a lot of money due to time difference's.

example- I bought ten coins on the up swing for 228.00 per bitcoin. they said that they were behind and that they would get them to me by Monday the 15th. I was like ok its going up anyways. and the day before i did the same thing got some for like 168.00 per bitcoin. ten more coins. so now i have sent 228x10=2,280.00 + 168x10=1,680 for a total of 3,960.00 if i would have got them right when i bout them i could have made money by selling at 266 or say i wated till 240 even. i would have done ok for myself but instead i got my coins yesterday. 20 coins times 60 =1,200      1,200-true cost of 3,960 is -2,760

yep i lost 2,760 all because it took them over a week for them to deliver. I warn anyone who uses coinbase that you could loose A LOT OF MONEY.  im NOT wealthy, in fact im lower middle class tax bracket. so this is a good deal of money form me. and i think that there are a lot of people out there scared of bitcoin for one because its so different and info intensive to understand it, two it intangible, and three there are horror stories like these that make people say fuck that ill just not buy bitcoins...this will not help rise the price of bitcoins. so from my pain i have learned that there is a need for a quicker service but less then 4% fee plus 3.95 service fee.

also I would like to state that this would not be anything like an exchange,or transfer as in back into fiat money. this is just for the basic user who wants to buy bitcoins and they can put into there wallet and do as they please from there. if they want to transfer to bitstamp or another exchange or buy things with the coins its up to them. its just a simple anonymous way for you to buy coins. I think that there is a nitch market for this.

but before i dump thousands into it and build a web sight i would like to know if there is a market for such a service.

thank you everyone that has given me feedback. i rely appreciate it! 

btw im not a rich person im just trying to fill a need and im savvy when it comes to bulding websights and trying new ideas. i need to build a buisness plan and ask for a loan from a bank ( this will be tricky...hey can you give me money so i can build a bissness that takes money out of banks lol) oh man.

thank you so much, im looking into this now. 

thanks for the reply, I agree with the credit card thing and the charback situation, thats why i propose the greendot moneypack cards. they are not a credit card at all they are not even plastic with a strip. they are a cardstock card that you can load with money and a scratch off part on the back. (obviously dont use one that has ben scratched in any way) these can be found at walmarts and 7-11 all over the country (USA).

the Idea is that you go buy one of these cards as a one time thing. load it up from $20 to $500usd. (thats is the cards limits, I would probably do a 100 to 500 limits) for the sole purpose of buying bitcoins.

these cards are just like cash. they say it right on the card, "treat this as you would cash, use as cash none refundable and no replacement if lost or stolen.

its just a simple way to buy bitcoins. and I would give you the amount of coins by exchange rate at time of delivery.

Credit cards can be charged in two ways, with a signature or with a PIN-code.

It's the first one that is easy to dispute. If you use your PIN -not so easy.

Many banks (at lest mine) have a method where you have to use a password that you set yourself in the bank. The password works like a PIN-code. When you use the password, you need to have money in your account, and AFAIK there is very limited chargeback possibillities. Also the merchant pays in the range of $ 0.20 per transaction instead of 1.5-4% of the sale.

could you please explain a bit more ...how this works etc ? TIA

+10

Yes. We need faster ways to buy

I've already voiced these feelings here
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.1814515

I personally think anywhere from 1-4% fee is fair depending on what you get out of it.I have had a MT.gox account for over a year now and barely use it because I hate the idea of them keeping track of my transactions.The only time ill use my mtgox account is for arbitrage trading.For the pure convenience and speed of it I find bitfloor (I know a lot of people have a bitter taste still for bitfloor because of last years theft)the simplest.No ID needed and the money is available usually in half an hour.Fees range form 1-4% in my experience usually around 2.5.I have never had a problem with them executing my orders swiftly.However a cheaper alternative will always be welcome but for a lot of people if it requires paperwork/verification then it is not the worth the 1-2% reduction in fees.Almost anything involving credit cards/paypal will be subject to the chargeback problem.

The internet needs such a thing. Keep in mind that not everything that shines is gold though.

Absolutely. I wish it were easier to get money on exchanges

I find CampBX + Dwolla a fast'ish, simple and secure combo.

ok