E-commerce platforms are great. You can do all the shopping from your desk or couch and get stuff delivered on the mail. Doesn’t get much better than that. However, using traditional payment methods like PayPal or Skrill can be incredibly expensive due to the overhead fees charged by these platforms.
Luckily, some websites are beginning to realize the value of Bitcoin and the money it can save its customers. Overstock, an American internet retailer, is one of these platforms. On January 9, 2014, Overstock.com became the first major retailer to start accepting bitcoin as payments method. On the first day, they made sales worth US$126,000 in bitcoin.
So, if you’re looking to further distance yourself from the economic pitfall that is fiat and its legacy infrastructure, then forget about Ebay! Overstock is your new favorite online commerce platform.
If you don’t have any Bitcoin, you can buy some on Coinbase.
Let’s see how it works!
Part 1 - Creating an account
Step 1: Click here to go to Overstock
Step 2: Hover your mouse above “Account” and click “New Customer? Create an account”
Step 3: Enter your email and password
Step 4: Click “Create Account”
Part 2 - Shopping
So, now we have an account, it’s time to get shopping. This part is pretty straight forward and depends on what you want to buy, but let’s take a look at an example. Say we want to buy a t-shirt:
Step 1: Search for the item you want to buy and hit enter
Step 2: Once you’ve chosen your item, click on it
Step 3: Choose the quantity and other options (if necessary)
Step 4: Click “Add to Cart”
You can now continue shopping or go straight to the check out if you’re done. We just want this awesome Green Lantern t-shirt, so we’re going to move on to check out.
Step 5: Click “Check out now”
Part 3 - Pay with Bitcoin
You’ll be redirected to the check out page.
Step 1: Fill in your billing and shipping address
You can review your order and edit if necessary
Step 2: Choose your shipping options
Step 3: Now, choose “Bitcoin" as your card type
Step 4: Send the designated amount to the BTC address shown
You have now made your Bitcoin payment. Follow the instructions provided by Overstock to confirm any required information.