Category: Payments

Here you will find info on all of the payment methods and instruction on how to use them.

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I’m new to bitcoin, what are the options for paying for my order using bitcoin?

I’m sure all of you have heard about bitcoin by now and have a general understanding of it. Bitcoin is here to stay, the adoption by major institutions and banks has made it much easier to use now. Over the next years we see the w2w, w/u, and mg payment options getting harder and harder to use (not to mention more expensive). I am writing this post to outline and explain some of the easiest ways to pay for your order using bitcoin. It’s not as hard as it used to be, and its actually much cheaper then w2w, w/u, and mg. 

Online wallet and smartphone apps.

You can go online to set up, and fund your new wallet using a debit or credit card. We recommend using either coinbase, or cash app (cash app iOS or cash app Android). They both provide iOS & Android apps on your smartphone along with websites that allow you to create an account. Depending on what wallet you prefer, the set up time for the wallet is minimal. The process involves creating an acct with basic personal information. You then complete a brief KYC questioner which stands for ‘Know Your Customer’. These online wallets are required to have an image of a valid state issued ID on file. You take a picture of your ID and upload it, thats it. The reason for the KYC requirement is because you’ll be linking your debit or credit card to the acct, this is how you will fund it. To create the acct and link the debit or credit card takes about 10-15 min. We recommend linking your debit card to the acct, as this is the fastest way to fund it. If you choose to fund with a credit card they put a 3 day approval hold on the acct, for fraud purposes. Using the debit card takes 1-2 days for the acct to be funded/approved & active to buy/sell and send/receive Bitcoin. The set up process for opening a cash app or coinbase acct takes 15 min to open up, and 1-2 days to get approved (if you link to a debit card), but once approved you can pay for orders literally in 20 seconds. It’s so much easier than having to go into a physical location to send a western union, money gram or Walmart to Walmart payment, not to mention your order ships out the same day the payment is received. 

Pro’s

  • You can pay for your order in 20 sec. online without leaving home
  • Faster shipping time as we receive the payment in seconds and prep shipment the same day. 
  • No risk of having payment flagged like w/u, MG, and w2w, and having to drive back to the store to refund and resend the payment.  
  • Low fee’s to send payments (much cheaper then w/u, mg, and w2w)

Cons

  • Approval can take 1-2 days
  • Must complete KYC

We feel these online wallets are the easiest way to use bitcoin on an ongoing basis to pay for your order. Once the wallet is set up your able to buy bitcoin using funds from your debit card, and then send the Bitcoin to pay for your order within 20 seconds. You must complete the KYC questioner and provide an image of your drivers license, but you give the same exact info to the clerk when you send payment using W/U, MG, and w2w. You still remain anonymous using bitcoin, no one can see who your sending payment to & no-one knows what its for. If you want to use this method I highly recommend setting up an acct before you are ready to order, that way you have a few days to let the approval process complete and you’re able to send payment immediately when you place order with GearDepot.

Bitcoin ATM

There are bitcoin ATM’s popping up all over the world now due to the popularity of bitcoin and other crypto currencies. We call these BTM’s (bitcoin ATM’s). The function BTM is to allow the customer to put cash into the machine, and convert it to bitcoin. Most people use these machines to fund their own wallets, but if you don’t have a wallet and are new to Bitcoin you will simply use the machine to fund our wallet. When you deposit the cash the machine will ask you if you’re finding your own wallet? Or sending to someone else. If you choose the option to end your own wallet, but give them our wallet address it will bypass your need to complete the KYC questioner. So basically if you don’t want to create a wallet and simply want to pay for your order using cash, you can go to one of these BTM’s and deposit cash that is converted to Bitcoin then send to us to complete payment o your order. The only drawback on these BTM’s is the high fee’s they charge, most of them range from 7% – 20% to use them. If you want to use this option we can do a search for BTM’s in your are and help you select one that has fee’s under 10%. Many times these BTM’s don’t list their fee’s online in an effort to dupe you into starting the process on the machine only to find out hey are going to charge you 17% for send $300 or something. If you can find one of these BTM’s that has appropriate fees in your area this can be a great option for using bitcoin, but not having to create an acct etc. 

Pro’s

  • No need to create online wallet
  • No KYC questioner
  • Payment funds fast, no waiting for receiver to collect funds

Con’s

  • High fee’s 6-20%
  • Limited number of BTM locations in most areas

The BTM is a good solution if you are opposed to opening up a crypto wallet/account. The main drawback are the high fee’s these guys charge too use their service. You can think of it like withdrawing cash from a ATM in Vegas or something, you can def get the job done but you’ll pay a higher fee to use it.

We are recommending our customers to try out bitcoin by opening a cash app wallet. We have put together a detailed step by step process that will walk you through the process start to finish. If you are interested in using this, we highly recommend starting the process before you place you next order so you can get the acct set up, verified and then funded before we send you the payment details for your order. If you do it in this order the process is silky smooth! If you have any questions on bitcoin and how to use it to pay for your order please let us know, we’re happy to help.

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Using “Cash App” to buy and send Bitcoin.

Cash App is a great method to buy and send Bitcoin to pay for your order. Here we guide you through the process of setting up the Cash App account, getting approved to buy and send Bitcoin, then buying and sending the Bitcoin to pay for your order. If you want to use Bitcoin to pay for your next order, I would highly recommend going through this process to open, verify, and fund your account. Then you can go onto the GearDepot website and place your order. Please note: when you place an order on the site and select ‘Cryptocurrency’ for payment, you will only have 15 min to make the payment. This process of setting up the Cash App account takes 1-2 days to get the verification process complete, hence the reason we suggest getting it out of the way before you place your next order.

You can think of Cash App as a bank account. When you’re setting it up, you will need to provide some basic info so you can be verified. The easiest way to do this is using the Cash App on iOS or Android. 

iOS App Store link

Android link

CREATING YOUR ACCOUNT

Install the app, then register an account by following these steps:

  1. Enter your mobile phone or email
  2. A confirmation code will be sent to you
  3. Enter the confirmation code on Cash App
  4. Link your bank by entering your debit card number.
  5. Enter first and last name
  6. Select a personal $Cashtag (this is a unique username for your account)
  7. At this point you can invite friends, or just skip and move forward.

FUNDING YOUR ACCOUNT

Next you will want to fund your Cash App account so you can purchase Bitcoin.

  1. Hit the Home icon at the bottom left of the screen.
  2. Tap “Add Cash”
  3. Enter the amount you want to fund the wallet with and tap “Add Cash”. (The funds are pulled from the debit card you used to set up your account with). If you want to only fund your account with what you anticipate your next order from us will be, then I would recommend funding the wallet with an extra 5% on top of the total order amount. If your order comes to $500, then it would be wise to fund the wallet with $525, to you make sure you have enough to cover any fee’s.

4. On the following screens it will ask you to confirm your name, date of birth, SS #, and home address.

Complete these details and the funds will be immediately added to your Cash App balance. Once you have completed this you will have your funds being held in the Cash App wallet. Similar to being held in a bank account, these funds are safe and can be used for buying items online or purchasing Bitcoin (which we will go over in the next steps).

VERIFYING YOUR ACCOUNT & BUYING BITCOIN

With your Cash App account funded, you’re now ready to buy some Bitcoin. If this is your first time purchasing Bitcoin on the app you will need to complete a verification process first. Cash App has to verify who you are with some extra information to ensure they are compliant with government regulations.

  1. From the app home screen, tap “Bitcoin”
  2. Hit “Enable Withdrawals and Deposits”

3. Cash App will request additional details such as email, reason you’re buying Bitcoin, and a question or two about your income and employment.

4. Next you’ll be asked to verify your identity with a license or state ID, by taking a photo of the front and back of your ID.

5. Take a clear lit photo of your face.

The app will now begin processing your ID for verification. This could take up to 48 hours, so sit tight. You will see the “Verification In Progress” message on your screen. As soon as the verification is complete, this message will be removed and you’ll get a text or email letting your know that you’re good to go.

ATTENTION: Once you have received the “APPROVAL” or “COMPLETED VERIFICATION” text or email from Cash App it is time to place your order on GearDepot. I recommend doing this at this point in the process so you know exactly how much Bitcoin you will need to buy in the Cash App to send for your order. If you already know how much your GearDepot order will cost, or you don’t mind buying a little extra Bitcoin, then you can go right to the next steps to buying the Bitcoin.

BUYING BITCOIN (ONCE YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN VERIFIED)

To Buy bitcoin, go to the “Investing” section of the app.

  1. The Investing section is the wavy line (ticker tape icon) at the bottom, second from the right of the screen
  2. Tap this, then on the next screen you’ll see “Stocks” and “Bitcoin” at the top. Select “Bitcoin”
  3. Hit the “Buy” button
  4. Select the amount and hit “Next”. (You should have received an email from us giving you the amount of your order in USD and in Bitcoin. I would select to buy $10 more than the amount total. For example, if the order is $400, buy $410 worth of Bitcoin to ensure you have enough after the small Bitcoin transaction fee is added in, this generally comes to less than 1% of the amount, depending on how busy the blockchain is)
  5. On the next screen hit “Confirm”

Note: if this is the first time you have purchased Bitcoin it will ask you to choose a 4-digit pin to use.

Please note, once you have gone through the 1-2 day verification process you do not have to do it again to buy Bitcoin. Anytime you want to go in and buy some bitcoin you can do it in a matter of seconds and be ready to fund your order immediately.

SENDING YOUR BITCOIN TO PAY FOR YOUR ORDER

Now that you have the appropriate amount of Bitcoin in your Cash App account, it is time to pay for your order.

First, you will want to open up your GearDepot account and go to the payment page. If you selected cryptocurrency to pay for your order, there should be a page that looks like this, listing the price in Bitcoin for your order.

You can do this 1 of 2 ways.

Option 1 The easiest way is to use the cash app on your phone to take a pic of that QR code we sent you and have it pulled up on the computer. If you do this it will auto populate the Bitcoin address and the amount needed for your order, right there in your Cash App wallet (see image below for where the camera QR code is located)

Option #2 Copy and paste both Bitcoin amount and Bitcoin address into Cash App.

  1. Tap the bottom left home icon, this should have a dollar amount listed on it (whatever the amount you have in your Cash App account)
  2. Tap the Bitcoin section in blue
  3. On the next page, select “Send Bitcoin”
  4. On the next page you will need to switch to BTC (rather than USD) to allow you to enter the amount in Bitcoin
  5. Enter or paste the appropriate amount of Bitcoin for your order and hit “Send”
  6. Paste the Bitcoin address we have given you. DO NOT TRY TO TYPE THIS OUT, YOU MUST COPY AND PASTE IT!
  7. Click next, and then send. It may ask you to confirm the transaction one more time, please look it over and make sure the address and amount look correct, then confirm and send.

Once you have sent the payment, we will receive it within 1-hour. Once we have seen the payment show up, we will immediately begin to process your order for shipping. All you need to do is sit back and wait for the order to arrive. If you do not receive any order updates within 8-hours, send us a message and we will look in to it!

If you have any questions on this process please message us and we’ll be happy to help you out.

[email protected]

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Cash Payments Using BTM’s

In an effort to stay on the forefront of payment problems that seem to be almost inevitable in this industry, we are always on the lookout for new, SAFE, ways to accept payment. It would make all of our lives easier if we could place a credit card terminal right on our website; however, if we were to do that, we would have been shut down years ago.

The newest craze in the financial world is Cryptocurrency. Although many of you may not use this, it is one of the safest options out there today. A new tool that is gaining traction around the country are BTM’s, short for Bitcoin ATM’s. This is a way you can take cash to a location, verify yourself with a just a phone number, scan a code that we provide to you, and deposit cash in the ATM.

Although there are thousands of these Cypto ATM’s across the country, they seem to be more prominent in the more heavily populated areas… thus, this will not be a viable option for every one. To see if you have a BTM close to you, simply CLICK HERE and enter your address. A list of BTM’s will populate starting with the closest. Only select this option at checkout after you have verified that you have access to a BTM in your area.

 

The fees on this are a bit higher (for now)… we believe these fees will go down over time once these grow even more in popularity. You will see the fee schedule for each BTM near you, but don’t be alarmed by this. Currently, fees are anywhere from 10-14% of the purchase amount; however, we have set forth a flat 5% fee charged to the customer. The remaining percentage will be absorbed by Gear Depot.

The process here is very simple and, from the feedback we have gotten in our test groups, the longest part of the whole process is depositing the bills in to the “vending machine like” ATM.

At checkout, select the BTM Cash option (by selecting this option, we assume you have already verified you have a BTM close by). When we reply with payment info (within 24-hours), we will send you the total (inclusive of the 5% fee), along with payment instructions and a QR code that you will take with you to the BTM (usually just saved on your phone). Here is a breakdown of how the BTM payment process will work.

1. Once you get to the BTM, you will need to verify yourself with your mobile number.

2. Once you enter your phone number, you will receive an SMS Text Message with a verification code; enter that code when prompted.

3. Once verified, you will be given the option to buy or sell Bitcoins, select BUY.

4. You will then be asked to scan the QR code (which we will have provided to you).

5. Once the QR code has been scanned, you can then enter your bank notes (in the amount of your order and 5% fee).

6. Select “I’m Done” or similar and you will be given either a paper receipt or a text message confirmation.

7. Take a picture of the receipt, a screen shot of the text message, or a picture of the BTM screen when you are finished.. this will show the amount of BTC purchased and a confirmation code. Send this to us via email, we will confirm, and your order will be shipped out the next day!

If you have any questions on this new payment method or something does not make sense to you, feel free to reach out.

Thanks,

G and all of Team Gear Depot

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How can i pay for my order?

At this time we are accepting Western Union, Money gram, Walmart 2 Walmart and Bitcoin. Please note we have been having more and more issues with collecting Western Union, Money gram, Walmart 2 Walmart payments so we are strongly encouraging our customers to get familiar with bitcoin and begin using it to pay for their orders. If you need help understanding bitcoin and how you can use it to pay for your oder please see this article.

As stated above, we are seeing more and more of these Western Union, Money gram, Walmart 2 Walmart payments getting turned back on us. Its unfortunate as these methods are most familiar to our legacy customers. I believe the issues are stemming from the government cracking down on how much, and how often people can send these kinds of payments. back in the day you could send and receive payments using Western Union, Money gram by simply giving the clerk the name of the receiver and state they are located. Now, we are seeing more and more of these money transfer services wanting you to enter in all of your personal info to allow your to send a payment, so the anonymity of it is slowly dissipating. Opening up a bitcoin or crypto wallet is not as hard as it once was, we have many different tutorials on how you can do this if you’re completely new to it, so don’t hesitate to ask.