Overstock.com Will Start Taking Bitcoin Next Year

http://www.businessinsider.com/overstockcom-will-take-bitcoin-next-year-2013-12

by Avalaxy • 13 years ago

37 18 13 years ago

I hope that they are actually planning on implementing this and it is not a well-timed PR stunt to get Overstock.com in the news just in time for last minute Christmas shopping. If so, it will be a huge boon for the Bitcoin economy and could be an important catalyst for other companies to follow suit.

Avalaxy• 13 years ago

Well, the CEO seems pretty convinced that bitcoin is awesome and worth trying. And he's right; why not? If you convert it to dollars with bitpay, there isn't much risk, and there's a PR bonus.

yapcguy• 13 years ago

It would be terrible cash management for Overstock to hold onto Bitcoins given the volatile swings. Better to let Bitpay shoulder the burden.

whyenot2• 13 years ago

That is certainly possible, but the CEO mentioned 1 1/2 months ago that they were considering this move.

See this NY Times article from 10/31/2013: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/technology/bitcoin-pursues...

fragsworth• 13 years ago

What's taking them so long? It's pretty trivial to integrate something like Bitpay or Coinbase for merchant accounts.

Maybe they're negotiating a deal with one of those companies?

juliangoldsmith• 13 years ago

Another source, since the source in the OP isn't working for me: http://www.businessinsider.com/overstockcom-will-take-bitcoi...

dustyneuron• 13 years ago

Thanks. I checked later, and was up again for me, so I could archive the original: https://web.archive.org/web/20131219231638/http://newsbtc.co...

eclw• 13 years ago

it coin pumping site pumps bit coin. Now, that is news.

ChikkaChiChi• 13 years ago

Based on my companies performance metrics from our Overstock offerings, they are willing to try anything at this point to stop the bleeding.

Overstock was absolutely murdered after a Google update. They went from being a solid source of revenue from our multi-channel division to being virtually non-existent.

nivla• 13 years ago

How does a merchant go by accepting Bitcoins? Is the price conversion based on the last trade? Average of the day/week/month? Are the Bitcoins going to be converted to $ right way or at certain intervals?

Given the high volatility of bitcoins, there is no way to predict if a transaction will net profit or loss. How do they account for this?

ocfx• 13 years ago

I'm also interested in how this works. I would imagine they would need to use a webservice to get the actual exchange rate at the time of the order processing to give you an exact amount.

jeremyw• 13 years ago

Yes, a service like BitPay will allow you to think entirely in USD; a BTC price determined dynamically for the customer and an exchange price locked in for your bank account.

malandrew• 13 years ago

Hedging via insurance, futures, put/call options, etc. The same way companies that deal in commodities like grains and metals handle this sort of risks. I'm sure people like the Winklevi are more than happy to offer this sort of service.

foobarqux• 13 years ago

Your going to have to pay a lot of money to someone to take on btc volatility.

Overstock.com Will Start Taking Bitcoin Next Year

Related Stories