Anyone use Local Bitcoins

**ehp6737** · 02-21-16, 06:00 PM

Ive recently used localbitcoin for my first 2 ever bitcoin transactions and it was quick and flawless. I was a buyer however, not a seller. Yes, there are some ridiculous asking prices on there, and almost all others are above market value, which yes, people will pay. Ive paid about 3-5% above market value on both my transactions, but it was quick and easy. In the end it cost me what I would've paid in p2p fees, gas, time, etc so I didnt mind.

Both buyers I dealt with had over 1000+ trans, so people are using this option.

Hope this helps

**PharaohUB** · 02-21-16, 06:36 PM

Stay away. They stole 0.4 BTC from me. They froze my wallet and asked me to confirm my identity. Which I refuse to do for anything related to bitcoin. These sites are run by a bunch of amateurs I don't trust them to never leak my information.

Anyway instead of letting me withdraw my 0.4 BTC (almost $200) they just told me I wasn't getting anything.

I HIGHLY reccommend paxful.com instead of localbitcoins. Never had a problem with them, and the people on the site are much nicer and you won't get scammed.

**DR225** · 02-22-16, 12:03 AM

You know what they say, if it's too good to be true it probably is. I've had two purchases through localbitcoin (one amazon, one paypal) and even though it was an amazing deal, I regretted it so much as you can lose your money at any moment. The reason these amazon gift cards are so devalued is that someone probably purchased them with a stolen credit card and if that's the case, amazon can track the money to your account and empty your gift card balance. You might even be responsible for the things you bought with the stolen money. Do some googling regarding localbitcoin scams and you'll get hundreds of hours of reading material. If you end up going through with it, good luck!

**jtoler** · 02-22-16, 12:07 AM

Check in Raiders.

**futbolmundial** · 02-22-16, 10:35 AM

I wouldnt trust that site for selling... I created an account last year and the layout looks complicated. Also you MUST send your coins to thier wallet if you want to sell anything. Sure they may be a good site of you want to sell coin at a higher price than the market dictates. In my opinion this is the only reason for using this site besides buying coin. If you wanna sell coin at a higher price just post on craigslist and keep coins in your own wallet. You may not have the same amount of buyers on cl but you can keep your coins in your control during the entire process, rather than send your money on a site that may require you to verify x, y and z before allowing you to withdraw.. maybe keep funds low at lbc and begin like that if you want to take the risk.

**Optional** · 02-22-16, 10:45 AM

Originally posted by cincy

I just checked and circle shows I can sell bitcoins at 1btc=$445. I checked local bitcoins and see some offers like 1btc=$1000 for ebay gift card and 1btc=$750 for amazon gift and 1btc=$700 for prepaid debit cards. These offers seem too good to be true. Is there a catch?

Yes.

The vouchers have been purchased with stolen cards and there is a chance they might be cancelled eventually.

**raiders72001** · 02-22-16, 12:32 PM

Don't worry about making a lot of transactions with Circle/Coinbase. There are professional bitcoin traders that do a high volume of business. Instead of always doing the maximum withdrawal, mix it up on occasion.

In 99% of the cases Coinbase/Circle will send you an email asking about your transactions prior to closing your account. Just say you are a trader, buy/sell computer equipment, etc. If they ask for names, just tell them you want to keep it private and they will let it go. They are asking for legal purposes.

One exception is if you transfer directly from sportsbook to Coinbase/Circle. Those accounts get shut down with no questions asked. Always use a wallet in between such as blockchain.info In the past, Coinbase and Circle were closing accounts without asking but they have changed that procedure.

Localbitcoins is a very good service. I use it for bank transactions and Paypal. Use someone with 100% rating and many transactions. If you are an infrequent user of Paypal and don't mind losing your Paypal account, one security measure that you can use is to keep your Paypal balance low. If your Paypal balance is $20 and someone does a bitcoin charge back for $500, Paypal will only grab $20 and your account will show -480. Paypal will not withdraw money from your bank account. Of course, no one wants this since it means losing your Paypal account or paying the loss.

The reason for sending money to localbitcoin's bitcoin address is for your safety. When you sell bitcoins, you create a trade. Local bitcoins will hold the BTC in escrow. When someone pays you, then you click release bitcoins. If there is ever a dispute, localbitcoins will interject if requested.

I've never bought or sold using gift cards so don't have any recommendations or opinions on that.

**thespeculator** · 02-22-16, 12:58 PM

Agree with raiders, I have cashed out 5k, 6.5k, and had the money in hand within Hour. I certainly didn't get the market value, but if you are looking to cashout any amount,very quickly, local bitcoins is the place.

**thespeculator** · 02-22-16, 01:00 PM

Just be careful, there is a fake site that looks just like. I have been burned. It is spelled localbtcoins.

**raiders72001** · 02-22-16, 01:27 PM

Originally posted by thespeculator

Agree with raiders, I have cashed out 5k, 6.5k, and had the money in hand within Hour. I certainly didn't get the market value, but if you are looking to cashout any amount,very quickly, local bitcoins is the place.

What methods are you using with localbitcoins?

**Skrilla777** · 02-22-16, 01:56 PM

what if you have your btc transferred to a phone wallet like mycellum, from coinbase or libertyx. Can you, or is it OK to transfer them straight to your sportsbook.

**cincy** · 02-22-16, 02:49 PM

Originally posted by raiders72001

Don't worry about making a lot of transactions with Circle/Coinbase. There are professional bitcoin traders that do a high volume of business. Instead of always doing the maximum withdrawal, mix it up on occasion.

In 99% of the cases Coinbase/Circle will send you an email asking about your transactions prior to closing your account. Just say you are a trader, buy/sell computer equipment, etc. If they ask for names, just tell them you want to keep it private and they will let it go. They are asking for legal purposes.

One exception is if you transfer directly from sportsbook to Coinbase/Circle. Those accounts get shut down with no questions asked. Always use a wallet in between such as blockchain.info In the past, Coinbase and Circle were closing accounts without asking but they have changed that procedure.

Localbitcoins is a very good service. I use it for bank transactions and Paypal. Use someone with 100% rating and many transactions. If you are an infrequent user of Paypal and don't mind losing your Paypal account, one security measure that you can use is to keep your Paypal balance low. If your Paypal balance is $20 and someone does a bitcoin charge back for $500, Paypal will only grab $20 and your account will show -480. Paypal will not withdraw money from your bank account. Of course, no one wants this since it means losing your Paypal account or paying the loss.

The reason for sending money to localbitcoin's bitcoin address is for your safety. When you sell bitcoins, you create a trade. Local bitcoins will hold the BTC in escrow. When someone pays you, then you click release bitcoins. If there is ever a dispute, localbitcoins will interject if requested.

I've never bought or sold using gift cards so don't have any recommendations or opinions on that.

How can someone do a bitcoin **********? I thought bitcoin transactions can not be reversed.

I now understand I should ignore all those local bitcoin offers that seem too good to be true because they likely involve stolen cards.

Can someone explain what it means if I sell bitcoins on local bitcoins and ask for a cash deposit. Do I need to give my bank account numbers to a stranger and then someone from anywhere in the USA can walk into any bank and deposit cash into my account?Can this method be charged back or reversed?

I guess right now I prefer to find the best market price I can get to sell bitcoins for actual cash bills. I see there is a genesis coin atm machine nearby that says I can sell bitcoins and only pay 0.6% from bitcoin average.That seems reasonable and does not seem to have any ********** risk.Is there a better option that has no ********** risk?

**cincy** · 02-22-16, 02:51 PM

******** must be charge back

**raiders72001** · 02-22-16, 03:00 PM

Originally posted by Skrilla777

what if you have your btc transferred to a phone wallet like mycellum, from coinbase or libertyx. Can you, or is it OK to transfer them straight to your sportsbook.

You are fine with mycellum. Just don't go straight Coinbase to book or book to Coinbase.

**DR225** · 02-22-16, 04:54 PM

I hate you op!!! I went back to localbitcoins last night after seeing this thread to see what people were selling and I bought a $29 Panera Bread gift card for $11 something. Today the card has $0 on it, didn't think someone would try to scam me over $11 lol.

**thespeculator** · 02-22-16, 05:08 PM

Originally posted by raiders72001

What methods are you using with localbitcoins?

Hey, I have a trader I deal with in cash. I admit the first time was scary. But the guy was first class , even let me use his wifi to make the deal. For smaller amounts I use email transfer. It is used between Canadian banks , but I think the big American banks have it also

**jtoler** · 02-22-16, 06:05 PM

Any of you guys meet in person with strangers to buy/sell bitcoins? Thats something I will not do, see no need for it.

**raiders72001** · 02-22-16, 08:17 PM

You can sell your bitcoins right now on localbitcoins and a make a profit. You don't release your bitcoins until you are paid.

Sell bitcoins online in United States

Coinfucius (1000+; 100%)	Cash deposit: BkofAma/WF/Chase/Credit Union/Suntrust/PNC/Regions/ETC	441.87 USD	2000 - 9999 USD	Sell
DuvarCastle (3000+; 100%)	Cash deposit: BkofAma/TD/Co-OpCU/Citizens/Santander	441.50 USD	1000 - 10000 USD	Sell
tumuch132 (100+; 100%)	Cash deposit: Wells Fargo, BkofAma	441.40 USD	400 - 1200 USD	Sell
HeismanCo11 (1000+; 100%)	Serve2Serve	441.40 USD	20 - 220 USD	Sell
Jpopple (30+; 100%)	Cash deposit: BkofAma, TD, Citizens, Santander	441.40 USD	500 - 2000 USD	Sell

**jtoler** · 02-22-16, 08:22 PM

Originally posted by raiders72001

You can sell your bitcoins right now on localbitcoins and a make a profit. You don't release your bitcoins until you are paid.

Can you explain why the huge difference in bitcoin prices at localbitcoins?

**raiders72001** · 02-23-16, 05:53 AM

Originally posted by jtoler

Can you explain why the huge difference in bitcoin prices at localbitcoins?

When someone sells they input how they want to sell plus margin (percent above or below market price). They can use different exchanges. A person may enter Bitstamp + 2%. Another guy may add 4%. It makes sense to ask for a higher profit if those asking less are offline.

Things to look for when buying are amount of transaction, rating, when account was created, unique users that they have traded with and total amount traded. It's all in their prolfile. Also make sure that the guy is online. A green circle will be next to his name when he's online.

One scam that has been pulled is when a few guys get together and make a ton of small trades between each other. It builds up the amount of transactions and reputation in a hurry. You don't want to trade with a guy that opened up his account a week ago even if he has 500 transactions if the total amount traded is 2 BTC. It means that he's making tiny transactions to build his reputation.

With honest professional traders just starting out, they may want to make a lot of trades with no profit just to build up their reputation. The rest just depends upon how fast they want to turnover trades.

There are huge price differences in the gift cards. I don't mess with the gift cards or know many that buy/sell with gift cards so I don't know the reasons for the huge price differences.

**KonaZonie** · 02-24-16, 12:27 AM

Can I send the bitcoin from my localbitcoins wallet directly to the sportsbook or do I need to send it to my blockchain wallet first?

**raiders72001** · 02-24-16, 01:22 AM

Originally posted by KonaZonie

Can I send the bitcoin from my localbitcoins wallet directly to the sportsbook or do I need to send it to my blockchain wallet first?

Always use something 100% anonymous before transferring to a sportsbook. Tranfer to your blockchain.info account first.

If you don't do it, then you can get your LBC account closed or bank account closed.

None of your accounts, Bank/LBC/Circle/Coinbase/other exchange, should ever be closed if you take one anonymous route. There may be a couple of exceptions.

**KonaZonie** · 02-24-16, 01:48 AM

Mahalo for the info!

**jtoler** · 02-24-16, 04:33 AM

Originally posted by raiders72001

When someone sells they input how they want to sell plus margin (percent above or below market price). They can use different exchanges. A person may enter Bitstamp + 2%. Another guy may add 4%. It makes sense to ask for a higher profit if those asking less are offline.

Things to look for when buying are amount of transaction, rating, when account was created, unique users that they have traded with and total amount traded. It's all in their prolfile. Also make sure that the guy is online. A green circle will be next to his name when he's online.

One scam that has been pulled is when a few guys get together and make a ton of small trades between each other. It builds up the amount of transactions and reputation in a hurry. You don't want to trade with a guy that opened up his account a week ago even if he has 500 transactions if the total amount traded is 2 BTC. It means that he's making tiny transactions to build his reputation.

With honest professional traders just starting out, they may want to make a lot of trades with no profit just to build up their reputation. The rest just depends upon how fast they want to turnover trades.

There are huge price differences in the gift cards. I don't mess with the gift cards or know many that buy/sell with gift cards so I don't know the reasons for the huge price differences.

The prices Im referring to are not 2% or 4% rather over a 200% difference as the initial post indicated. Are all those markups associated with gift cards and if so are they more than likely scams as in once utilized the buyer will find there is nothing on the card or a much lower rate? I went to localbitcoins a long time ago didnt like the setup, looked into it, liked the release methods but something kept me away.