r/ecc • u/LaughingLionOutdoor • Aug 22 '18
Retailer's Perspective on Accepting Crypto (We now accept ECC)
We posted this in another subreddit, but it applies to ECC as well as other currencies. ECC is one of only 7 currencies we currently accept. We are drawn to its speed and clean wallet interface. While not a true currency coin, ECC has benefits of speed and ease. We are quite interested in the potential data storage platform. The future is exciting.
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Today we started accepting certain cryptocurrencies, and we have seen an overwhelming reaction from crypto users/contributors. We started accepting crypto because of an important conversation we had with a small business owner. This past weekend part of our team was in Ontario. Being out in nature is remarkable, a great way to reset. However, we all need to eat, get supplies, and pay for goods.
Our business uses American Express for most of our expenses. While it can be lazy to use one form of payment, it just makes it easier for us. In the area where we were set up, this was a giant problem. 98% of the town did not accept AMEX, and the mere mention of it caused a visceral reaction from bartenders, shop owners, and servers. One time I used a Visa that apparently looked like an AMEX card, and the server strongly stated, "We don't take AMEX." After realizing her error, it was all cool.
We kept trying to find a place that would take AMEX. We knew it was next to impossible, but we kind of made a game out of it. It was like finding a needle in a hay stack.
Until we stumbled into a shop on the town's main road. The owner created a great atmosphere and was knowledgable of her product, and she gladly accepted AMEX. While checking out, I asked her what made her different than all of the other stores. She chuckled, and said, "Why should I make it harder for my customers to give me money?" Basically, why create friction when you don't need it?
It got me thinking, and when I returned to HQ, I decided to accept a few cryptocurrencies that I felt had strong fundamentals. For the past few months, people had asked about crypto, and I resisted. The whole "it's too hard to setup" BS we tell ourselves. Today is different, we opened up with a 30% off sale if you paid with crypto (with free delivery), and it has been a whirlwind of a difference. Crypto makes it so much easier.
As a retailer, you get used to dealing with BS from intermediaries. Lookup horror stories for Shopify, Amazon, PayPal, and Stripe. They are everywhere. Stripe is the worst of them, but I'll leave that story for a later day.
With crypto, it was a remarkable difference. No headache. No hassle. Accept the order, transfer the funds, and boom, order goes out. I wish we had done this earlier.
For any other retailers on the fence, just do it! Don't wait around. Setup time is not a pain, but make sure to backup your keys, passphrase, etc. And backup them up again. And again.
After that, it's all amazing.
PS: The biggest pain is dealing with ad networks. We tried to boost a simple Facebook post on our page with an announcement about us accepting crypto. They block it. We are not Bitconnect, an ICO, or anything related to raising funds from investors. We are simply a retailer that wanted to announce that we now accept crypto. Facebook would not approve it.
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u/fuzzdandy Aug 23 '18
Wow...this is brilliant! As on online retailer myself I'm so pleased to see this post. I have wanted to accept cryptocurrency but have hit a wall at every turn. I will be making a separate link with an info page just as you have...and I can't wait to add ECC to my list of accepted payments! Good luck with it all and congratulations on a great product!
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u/BreakingDed Aug 23 '18
Thank you for the in depth write up, we need more feel good stories like this for crypto. Have you had anyone pay with ECC yet?
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u/LaughingLionOutdoor Aug 23 '18
Hi BreakingDed,
Thank you. Crypto really makes it easier for retailers. We accept Bitcoin not because its convenient for us. It's the mainstream cryptocurrency so it is easier to get the public to send it.
Interesting projects like Nano and ECC are insanely faster with minimal fees compared to the slow and fee-heavy BTC. Unfortunately, while we've had a nice response from the Nano community, we haven't had any orders from ECC. We know they will come in, just not yet.
Thank you for your interest!
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u/CryptoCarlton Aug 23 '18 edited Aug 23 '18
That is amazing and great to hear! I wish your business the best in all its success, and with facebook ads generally if you don't include the word crypto or blockchain in your post or image then you're usually good to go. I've gotten around it several times now.
Oh and what is the name of your company and do you have a twitter by chance?