06 Aug 2014 / Mashable – If you’ve been following the news about Bitcoin, you’ve probably come away with the idea that the currency is unstable, potentially lucrative and more of a novelty than an actual payment method that people use on a daily basis.
Retailers who take Bitcoin say something different. For them, the currency is a viable, preferable alternative to credit cards that don’t carry the same risk of fraud and have lower transaction fees. Merchants say bitoin payments aren’t a huge part of their business, but the niche is growing steadily.
“It’s really been fantastic,” says Chris Nichols, CEO of GameTimeZone, an online seller of games and gaming consoles. “We’re a merchant that unfortunately has to worry about credit card fraud. When we see orders from companies like Poland and Eastern Europe and even Western Europe in high dollar amounts, we have to worry.” By contrast with Bitcoin “we know that it’s a safe transaction.”
GameTimeZone began taking bitcoin payments last October. Since then, such orders have encompassed as much as 20% of sales. That appears to be way above average. Online retailer Overstock says bitcoin transactions only account for about 0.25% of daily volume. The retailer posted $1 million in bitcoin-based sales within the first three months of offering the option and just recently hit $2 million in sales….. Read more
