Selling online through sites such as eBay just doesn´t make for a good business model when you consider listing and transactions fees. We stopped offering the lencomotion bearing on eBay a few months back for this reason. In addition, using PayPal to transfer funds is an expensive option, and trying to recover fees in the price of the product often pushes it above the desired price point. There has to be a better way of doing business online where both seller and buyer aren´t forced to pay extortionate fees. Enter Bitcoin!
Over the last few months I have been investigating ways of accepting payments which are both secure, and keep tranactions charges to a minimum. Crypto-currencies seem to be the way of the future, and bitcoin is the most mature of these. I realise that there are some perceived problems with this option for online payments. The currencies are in their infancy at the moment and, as such, have rather volitile values. There is also the issue of buyer protection. Unlike PayPal, buyers don´t have a lot of options if products don´t arrive, or when they do arrive, aren´t as advertised. The volatility issue will sort itself out over time, and as long as both parties are happy with the bitcoin price at the time of purchase, this shouldn´t pose a big problem. Buyer protection is a more difficult issue to deal with. The best option available here is to look at the sellers past history. If customers haven´t been treated well then this will be apparent from negative feedback online. No business trading online wants negative posts on social media sites, forums, or blogs. This is particularly true of small cottage industries like lencomotion audio.
So, we are now happy to offer payment for items with Bitcoins should the buyer wish. We will continue to accept the more conventional methods of payment, PayPal and bank transfer. It is unlikely that there will be a rush by our customers to adopt the new payment method, but is is there for those who wish to use it.
lencomotion audio 