E-commerce is a thriving industry and bitcoin is doing a lot to improve it. With its peer-to-peer aspect at heart, it has never been easier to buy bitcoin and spend bitcoin in online shops, ordering whatever your heart desires. There are also multiple ways to earn bitcoin such as bitcoin affiliate programs and earning via trading.
Nowadays, more and more businesses are starting to accept bitcoin as payment. You can buy things like furniture, food, and believe it or not, you can even buy things like submarines, wooly mammoth tusks, and tickets to space. Not only that, you can use bitcoin for more practical things like paying your taxes or even donating to charity. With that being said, when should you, as a business owner, start to consider accepting bitcoin as payment? Without a doubt, you should start considering it right now because it’s a growing movement that anyone would be glad to be a part of.
Advantages of accepting bitcoin as payment for your business
Have I got you hooked on the idea of accepting bitcoins as payment? Well hold your horses, let me be fair and tell you why it could be in your best interest. Here are a few reasons why you should at least consider accepting bitcoin as payment for your online goods and/or services.
It’s secure
Bitcoin transactions are some of the most secure transactions in the world. This is because each peer-to-peer transaction is recorded on a public ledger for everyone to see. Although wallet addresses are seen, the identities of the senders and recipients are purposely obscured. There are complex cryptographic hashes in place to keep any unwanted guests from manipulating the transaction records. KYC/AML laws are also being implemented to further secure wallets and accounts.
Bitcoin is borderless
Unlike traditional financial systems, you won’t have to pay a buttload of fees just to send money across the world. Accepting bitcoin as payment could increase international sales for you as well as make payments easier for both you and the customer. With this perk, you can widen your market, allowing for more profits for your business.
The transaction fees are lower
Going back to the comparisons with traditional banking systems, bitcoin transactions require fewer fees. The many different fees that banks charge can get a little out of hand sometimes. There are checking account fees, minimum balance charges, overdraft charges, returned deposit charges, hard copy statement fees, ATM fees… do I dare go on? The point is, these fees can get a little strenuous. Luckily for us, bitcoin transactions don’t have a lot of these fees. I’m not trying to mislead you, there are fees on bitcoin transactions (such as escrow and miner’s fee) but it’s significantly less compared to those of banks.
The community is strong
With it being a little over 10 years old now, the bitcoin community has grown to be the largest and most passionate among all the other cryptocurrency communities. The people who have been mining and investing in bitcoin since the start would be willing and excited to make changes to their buying habits, especially if it means making the cryptocurrency more popular. Accepting bitcoin as payment can be a way to show appreciation for the passionate community… and it could possibly even increase your sales.
How to get started with bitcoin payments
Have you now come to the conclusion that it could actually be beneficial for you to start accepting bitcoins? Here a few ways you can get started:
Start with a small sign
If you aren’t really expecting a whole lot of people to rush in with their bitcoins ready to pay, you can start with a small sign or banner on the side of your website. You can then ask customers to contact you directly if they wish to pay with bitcoins. If you’re planning to do this method, I suggest that you find a good escrow service to mediate your transactions with customers (this is to prevent either party from being scammed).
Online store payments
There are a lot of online payment intermediaries that can help you set up your bitcoin shop. They can help you set up a “pay with bitcoin” button that streamlines the payment process. When you use these intermediaries, you’re given a few lines of HTML code that you can have embedded onto your website. Even if you don’t end up receiving too many bitcoin payments, it doesn’t hurt the business to have it set up.
Keep your priorities in check
Whether or not you’ve been convinced to start accepting bitcoins as payment or not, you should make sure, as a business owner, that all your other priorities are in check. This means that accepting bitcoin payments shouldn’t be your top priority unless you’re absolutely sure that everything else is in order. It’ll all depend on you and what kind of business you run but always make sure to hear your clients out and put their convenience and customer experience before anything else. The point is, accepting bitcoins as payment isn’t really a make-or-break decision so don’t treat it like one.
Make sure to do all your research carefully before making any rash decisions because if you don’t, it can mean some major losses for you and your business.
Video – Cryptocurrencies
Among the hundreds of different cryptocurrencies that exist today, bitcoin is the most widely-known and used. Watch this Market Business News video if you want to find out exactly what a cryptocurrency is and how it functions.