Bitcoin for beginners

MynameisMichaelCane

I feel like I am late to the bitcoin party. Whenever I look at forum discussions and articles about bitcoin, a certain basic knowledge seems to be assumed. It is like unravelling a ball of wool and never coming to the beginning. Or unravelling a ball of wool only to find that what I want to know is in another ball entirely but I don't know which ball. If that makes sense! Nearly everything I read seems to be looking at bitcoin from the point of view of investing, and Martin suggests not investing in anything that you don't understand. Good advice but what if you don't want to invest, but to use bitcoin to buy something? This is where I am at.
I want to use bitcoin to buy something online. I have noticed that some websites now offer bitcoin as a way of paying but I don't know what the best way to get the bitcoin is. I also don't know what pitfalls to look out for. Obviously I don't want to leave myself open to fraud or scams. 
Is there an idiots guide that someone could point me to? Or a previous forum where all has been explained?
 

cymruchris

I can't imagine there are many things that NEED bitcoin to buy them that aren't scams.

Are you trying to buy an item or a service?

Crytpo currency always has its vocal supporters while prices go up - and then a huge number of sore nosed people that lose out when prices go down. It can be (not always) very volatile - and any quick movement one way or another could easily catch you out.

Yes - lots of people have made money - but also lots of people have lost money.

There are lots of scams out there - so I'd be very careful about what you're doing with your  money - because once it's gone, it's gone.

Neil_Jones

here you go:

https://www.bitcoin.com/get-started/how-to-buy-bitcoin/

masonic

The main legitimate use case for bitcoin as a currency is where you wish for enhanced anonymity on the internet, such as paying for services like a VPN or a website.

If you are buying small amounts of bitcoin to pay for things, then you will probably still find some of the info on the cheapest exchanges aimed at investors useful. It can be quite entertaining watching your transaction find its way onto a block and receive confirmations if you are of a certain disposition.

tacpot12

I've bought, held and sold Bitcoin using Paypal. I think this is good route for a novice. 

MynameisMichaelCane

Many thanks for the prompt responses. 
Neil_Jones that is exactly what I was looking for.
crymruchris I understand your caution and I could certainly use another means of payment. I don't think I will ever really understand how to use bitcoin unless I actually give it a go. One reason I want to try it is that banks can and do withhold a payment if they suspect a scam. This happened to me on a previous occasion and while I applaud the diligence of the bank in trying to protect my money, it can be frustrating to have to go into lots of detail about why it is a legitimate transaction. I am not interested in bitcoin as an investment.
masonic good point about the anonymity. 

PocketWatchMan

masonic said:

The main legitimate use case for bitcoin as a currency is where you wish for enhanced anonymity on the internet, such as paying for services like a VPN or a website.

If you are buying small amounts of bitcoin to pay for things, then you will probably still find some of the info on the cheapest exchanges aimed at investors useful. It can be quite entertaining watching your transaction find its way onto a block and receive confirmations if you are of a certain disposition.

Often touted, but this is not really true. The claim of Bitcoin being anonymous, has been very thoroughly destroyed, multiple times.

The issue with buying small amounts of bitcoin to pay for things, is that the conversion charges (and there are always extra costs to pay) will probably eat up the value of whatever you're purchasing in seconds. 

masonic

PocketWatchMan said:

masonic said:

The main legitimate use case for bitcoin as a currency is where you wish for enhanced anonymity on the internet, such as paying for services like a VPN or a website.

If you are buying small amounts of bitcoin to pay for things, then you will probably still find some of the info on the cheapest exchanges aimed at investors useful. It can be quite entertaining watching your transaction find its way onto a block and receive confirmations if you are of a certain disposition.

Often touted, but this is not really true. The claim of Bitcoin being anonymous, has been very thoroughly destroyed, multiple times.

The issue with buying small amounts of bitcoin to pay for things, is that the conversion charges (and there are always extra costs to pay) will probably eat up the value of whatever you're purchasing in seconds. 

Actually I think those accounts are rather misinterpreted and misused. Crypto is often used for ransomware scams and provides the criminals much better protection than if they received the payments into their bank accounts. The ledger is public though, so if you wish to keep your identity private from those with whom you transact then some precautions would need to be taken. Even if you were rather careless, someone trying to serve you with a vexatious legal claim for example would have their work cut out for them.

Suppose for sake of argument you ran a company that I said something about on here that you considered defamatory. Let's say MSE gave you my IP address and my VPN provider sold me out with a bitcoin wallet address. You determine this was funded via coins sent from a monero exchange or sent to the address via the donation banner on my website. Where would you go from there?

The transaction fees can get high at times, but for example if you were paying for a three year subscription up front it might cost an extra few percent overall. The volatility would be more of a concern.

Scottex99

PocketWatchMan said:

masonic said:

The main legitimate use case for bitcoin as a currency is where you wish for enhanced anonymity on the internet, such as paying for services like a VPN or a website.

If you are buying small amounts of bitcoin to pay for things, then you will probably still find some of the info on the cheapest exchanges aimed at investors useful. It can be quite entertaining watching your transaction find its way onto a block and receive confirmations if you are of a certain disposition.

Often touted, but this is not really true. The claim of Bitcoin being anonymous, has been very thoroughly destroyed, multiple times.

The issue with buying small amounts of bitcoin to pay for things, is that the conversion charges (and there are always extra costs to pay) will probably eat up the value of whatever you're purchasing in seconds. 

Hardly destroyed, all the transactions are on-chain forever and visible to all but you don’t necessarily know who the wallet owners are. 

Yes, if there is a large hack/scam/fraud and there’s a wallet linked to an exchange where someone has done KYC, then it’s not anonymous but other than that it’s largely unknown.

(Removed by Forum Team)

Is this wallet mine or did I just find it on the internet?

Agreed for small purchases it doesn’t really work, conversion charges will be 1-2% in most retail places so not prohibitive but it might cost $5-10 to send the coins meaning of course you wouldn’t buy something for $20 with this method 

Scottex99

OP, some good points raised already, if it’s a small purchase it might not be economical to use BTC, although you might enjoy learning something in the process.

Generally for payments and settlements, people use stablecoins instead. USDT/USDC.

in your case it may not be an option but certainly easier to comprehend how to go from GBP to USDT and how much value you are holding/sending than it is trying to figure out the same thing with a very volatile asset like Bitcoin 

VoucherMan

As someone who's been dabbling in bitcoin for almost 10 years, I'd agree that you're late. I'd even go as far as saying that a lot of the party-goers have left the building. Sadly, I rarely had the courage (or stupidity, depending on your point of view) to leave more than a few pounds worth of spare bitcoin in my wallet.

My main issue with it these days is the transaction fee, as mentioned by others. Back when I started using it I think fees rarely topped about 5p, but I recall seeing it at about £30 ($37) a few months ago. Hardly worth it, except for the novelty factor, or special, bitcoin only offers.

Another thing to bear in mind is that you'll likely pay two transaction fees. One when you buy the coins, another when you spend them. Don't take my word on it though. I've not bought any for a while, & the rules have changed a lot.

One thing I would suggest, if you do go ahead and buy some. If you decide to use an offline wallet, make sure to keep a backup, or at least a copy of the keys. It only takes a few seconds, but could save some regrets later.