Selling Bitcoin idea to merchants in one minute
I’ve been to California last weekend for a Bitcoin 2013 conference in San Jose. On my way there I was experimenting with telling about Bitcoin to various merchants: small shop owners, taxists, hotel managers and one retired banker on my flight back.
It turned out that Bitcoin makes them really interested when you say just one thing: it is a digital money that I cannot take back from you. They like that immediately because they know just how painful credit cards are: there are licenses, high fees and you still risk losing money.
The next thing I say is that Bitcoin is easy to start accepting because there is no one to ask permission from. You can keep your own account on your computer where it can’t be frozen or even seen by anyone.
I finish the pitch by saying that transaction fees are zero or near zero and usually fixed: sending either thousands of dollars or 10 cents is often free.
This makes them really enthusiastic. No one starts asking technical questions (if you are not computer geek you would have to trust experts anyway). Instead, they start asking how you buy and sell bitcoins.
I always warn people that USD or EUR price is floating and highly volatile and they can lose all coins by forgetting the wallet password or having a virus. But that does not stop their enthusiasm: if you sell your service for bitcoins and then sell them for dollars right away, that’s not a big issue. By accepting Bitcoin they can remove 3-5% fees and 1-5% chargeback risk (and thus increase profits significantly). That’s a very refreshing idea to those who feel the pain of selling stuff very personally.
No one was much concerned about deflation, investment or technical details. They cared most about cash flow and everyday costs. From that perspective Bitcoin is a fantastic low risk and low cost payment channel. And it is immediately recognized as such.