LocalBitcoins

LocalBitcoins is a peer to peer bitcoin marketplace based in Helsinki, Finland. Its service facilitates over-the-counter trading of local currency for bitcoins. This is exactly how it differentiates from Bitcoin exchanges. With the common Bitcoin exchange sites you will have to upload funds to your account and buy your Bitcoin through the system and pay through the system. Well with LocalBitcoins you don’t have to do this, as you simply go to the buying or selling Bitcoin menu, find a guy to trade with and figure out the details yourself. This new and innovative idea was started in 2012 and has grown massively since then, especially in its native country, Finland.

Ratings system

With thousand of unique visitors on a daily basis and hundreds of thousands successful trades in LocalBitcoins, they have established themselves as a large and respected person-to-person Bitcoin trade/exchange site. They do what they can to protect the users with their build-in rating system where users can rate each other based on the trades made. In the rating system you can see the trade volume, how many trades the person have done, how well a score he got and how many people that trusts him. The system makes it easy to see who you can do trades with and who it is not so smart to do trades with, ensuring that there is a very small chance you will get scammed.

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You can find users that are near you or you can choose to search people from all over the world to buy Bitcoin from, it is all up to you. You can choose which payment methods you prefer to pay or be paid with and the range that you want to buy Bitcoin at. The system is easy to understand and is very user-friendly, so that everyone can understand how to use the system properly. It can be hard in the beginning to establish yourself as a trusted trader, but after a little time it will happen.


Buying Bitcoin

To buy Bitcoin through LocalBitcoins is a simple process, but there are still things that you should be aware of before starting a trade. First of all you need to decide if you want to buy from someone who is near you or just from anyone that is selling on the site. The difference between the two can be that you either want to pay with cash or want to eliminate any fees for sending money abroad. You can pay with bank transfer, cash and online wallets when you purchase Bitcoin in LocalBitcoins, however it does depend on how the seller want to receive the cash.

Once you have decided which payment method you want to use and found potential users that are willing to accept the payment method that you prefer to use, then it is time to look at the prices that the traders offers to sell Bitcoin to you for. There will be sellers who will try to make a good buck on selling Bitcoin if they can, as well as people who wants to get rid of their coins as fast as possible because they need money.

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The best price

Find the best price that you can from a user that has a good feedback rating from other users and has made several successful trades in the past, so you avoid getting scammed by someone trying to make a quick buck off you. Once you have found a person that you can trust according to the system and which sells at a reasonable price, then you simply contact the user and discuss the last details with him. You and the seller will then make an order in the system and LocalBitcoins will make an escrow service so that the Bitcoin you have bought are locked in the system until the seller receives his money and you will then receive your coins. The escrow service is in place to ensure that the seller has the Bitcoin and to make sure that the seller always receives the money for the Bitcoins. It’s a great security system and is part of what has made LocalBitcoins so popular.


Selling Bitcoin

Selling Bitcoin works in the same way as when you want to buy Bitcoin, as you will be able to post a selling Bitcoin post on the market place as well as look for potential buyers there. You will need to look for buyers who are willing to pay you with the method you prefer, wants to pay the price of the Bitcoin that you want and who has a good user rating for when he has to pay you.

The main trick that scammers have used in order to steal Bitcoin from people in LocalBitcoins is to send the money to the seller, receive the Bitcoin and then do a chargeback on the account so that you will lose the money and the Bitcoin as well. Because of this we recommend that you always use a payment method where it is not possible to do a chargeback with, so you avoid this type of scam. It should never happen if you take a user with a good feedback rating, but rather be safe than sorry.


Transferring Bitcoin From LocalBitcoin’s Wallet

The Bitcoins that you will selling through LocalBitcoin, needs to be inside of LocalBitcoin’s wallet, in order for them to be able to do the escrow service that they offer. So the first thing you have to do to sell Bitcoin through LocalBitcoins is to transfer Bitcoin to your LocalBitcoins wallet. Once done then you are ready to sell Bitcoin through the system, which is very simple. Once you and a buyer have agreed on the Bitcoin you need to sell you place the order in the system and LocalBitcoins will take the amount of Bitcoin and lock them so you cannot transfer them and as soon as you have received the money then they will send the Bitcoin to the buyer.

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Sending and Receiving Money

The methods that you want to use for sending and receiving money is completely up to you, as you can basically choose whatever method in the world that you prefer. It is obvious that there are certain methods that are more popular than others, but it is still possible to ask them to accept bank transfers, pre paid cards, money transfers, online wallets, cash and everything else you could think off. It is your decision and the system will allow you to specify the methods that you prefer when you want to sell or buy.


Fees For Using LocalBitcoin Service

You can trade Bitcoin completely free with LocalBitcoins, if you accept the fact that your buying or selling posts will not be on the first couple of pages of available trades when people wants to do trades. However if you want to do quick sales and wants to be advertised, then you will need to pay a 1% fee of the total transaction amount for that service.

Furthermore there is a transfer fee for when you do outgoing transfers of your Bitcoin from your LocalBItcoins wallet. The fee is around 0.20%, but can be smaller and bigger depending on the amount of Bitcoin you will be sending.