Bitcoin is a new payment option that gives people more power and control over their finances. Bitcoin is a digital asset and a payment system. It is extremely inexpensive to send or accept transactions, and the currency’s anonymous nature eliminates the risk of identity theft, fraud, or ‘paper trails.’
Simply put, Bitcoin has all the advantages of paying with an online interface like PayPal, but has the advantage of being able to anonymously send “money” anywhere, within minutes. The system is peer-to-peer and transactions take place between users directly. These transactions are verified by thousands to millions of network nodes, which receive a very small payment (usually a fraction of a cent) in exchange for facilitating the transaction.
Since the system works without a central repository or single administrator, the U.S. Treasury categorizes Bitcoin as a decentralized virtual currency. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, and is the first decentralized digital currency. While there are many other cryptocurrencies out there, Bitcoin is the largest of its kind in terms of total market value.
How do I get an account?
The easiest way to create an account, or a “wallet” is by using Local BitCoin (LBC) – https://localbitcoins.com/
Creating an account on LBC will allow you to use their site to Buy, Sell, and Send Bitcoins with ease. On the top right you will see your balance, by clicking the balance it will show you your “Receive” address, which will look something like this – “1Gm4pN9FBtgtaftVJdVVyelBswaMztTZui” and give you the ability to “Send Bitcoins.”
How do I load money into my wallet?
There are many ways to get Bitcoins into your wallet, but we recommend sticking with https://localbitcoins.com/buy_bitcoins to purchase Bitcoins as they offer many ways to purchase Bitcoins, and have never let any of our customers down.
Sellers have feedback ratings, and all provide different exchange rates. Some options on LBC are Cash Deposit, Money Gram, Gift Cards, Western Union, PayPal, and others, including cash in person. Keep in mind, purchasing Bitcoins is not illegal at all (except in New York, where it is illegal to SELL BitCoins without a business license in NY to people that live in NY, although this is a hard law to enforce due to the anonymous nature of Bitcoin). Bitcoin has become so popular that many mainstream websites accept Bitcoin as a payment option. Many customers have found that meeting in person is the best way to stay anonymous during a Bitcoin Transaction, but there is nothing wrong with using any of the other methods offered on LBC, PayPal being one of the easiest.
http://preev.com/ is a great site to find out what Bitcoins are currently going for. Preev acts as a public informational page displaying the current exchange rate from US currency to Bitcoin. Keep this site in mind when purchasing Bitcoins from various sellers as some sellers offer much better deals than other sellers do, just like money exchangers do in other countries.
Remember – you do not have to buy/send whole Bitcoins a coin at a time; you can buy almost any fraction of a Bitcoin that you want, and send almost any fraction as well. For example, you can send 0.0004277 Bitcoin, which equates to about 25 cents, or 4.276 Bitcoin, which equals about $2500 US.
Once you have your “Receive Address” generated, you can give that to someone that you wish to purchase Bitcoins from. Many people use a new Receive Address for each transaction to add another layer of anonymity. It all goes into your main wallet on LBC, so we highly suggest this practice.
After purchasing the Bitcoins, LBC will act as escrow or a middle man and will wait until there are a few confirmations of the transaction, so the coins will not show instantly – we have seen some transactions take up to an hour to show in our wallet! If doing the transaction in person, do not let the person leave until you confirm that the Bitcoins are in your LBC wallet.
Once you have completed the transaction, the Bitcoins will be in your LBC wallet, where you can then use them to make purchases by “Sending” Bitcoins.
Unlike PayPal, there isn’t a claims or refund process with Bitcoin, once the Bitcoins are sent, they are gone, so be sure to keep your log in credentials very secure. Scamming people out of their Bitcoins is big business as there is no recourse. Never give out your login info, and never send Bitcoins to anyone that you are not 100% sure is the correct recipient.
How do I use Bitcoins to pay Gear Depot?
When you place an order with us, tell us that you want to pay via Bitcoin. We will provide you with a unique “Receive Address” and the amount of Bitcoins you should send, along with a timeframe that the Bitcoins must be sent in via the email you provided when placing your order. It is very important to send the Bitcoins within the allotted time or your order may be automatically be cancelled.
The reason for needing to send the Bitcoins within a certain time frame is that the exchange rate can fluctuate quite a bit, even hour to hour – just like the stock market. For example, if someone placed an order for $580 worth of products, and the exchange rate is $580 per Bitcoin at the time of the order, we would request 1 Bitcoin, but if the person takes too long to send the payment, the rate could change drastically making that single Bitcoin worth far more, or far less than the $580 dollars they are trying to send us, shorting us or the buyer.
If using a LBC account, click on your balance at the top right of the page. On the left of that page you will see “Send bitcoins” and below that it will give you your current wallet balance, “Your LocalBitcoins wallet balance: ___.______ BTC.” You will then see fields labeled “Receiving bitcoin address,” “Amount in bitcoins,” and “Your password.”
After hitting “Send from wallet” the transaction process will begin. You will see a message at the top of the screen reading “Success. Bitcoins sent successfully to address __________________________________.” Since it typically takes a few minutes for the Bitcoins to show in our wallet, you should email us as soon as you have sent the Bitcoins so we can expedite your order.
If you have any other questions please go to https://depot-order.com/contact and send us a message. We strive to reply to all emails and orders within 24 hrs. If you don’t see a reply in that time, please check your spam box.
Thank you!
G