More US-based vendors moving toward Crypto-based payment?

[brownb56]

The way I see it, if they want to move to crypto they can get more competitive with gray. I understand that charge backs and payment processors is a large part of loss for them. But if I'm paying with crypto then they can lower their prices with that reduced overhead. I've found one such vendor so far.

 

[swimmer]

Payment processing is the biggest gatekeeper in the peptide business (maybe for good reason). It’s very hard to find reliable processors because of the nature of the business. Most flagged companies need several processors and must rotate them. Chargebacks only make things worse.
The worst I’ve seen is fitness influencers using Shopify sites... those people are clueless.

A few weeks ago, I saw a major US based "bulk" peptide seller run into issues with his payment processors. It probably cost him a good amount of money.
My thought was, why not offer a good discount for payments in stable coins like USDT or USDC? That would help minimize losses.

There are plenty of Reddit subreddits (some good, some gray, some bad) where people share ideas about payment processors for peptide businesses. I worked for a while in the gambling industry, where payment was always complicated until they built their own.

There are several problems with stable coins. First they are pegged to the dollar so they are guaranteed to lose value over time. Second they are issued and controlled by a massive corporation rather than the fed. Who knows how many actual dollars they hold to back the stable coin. If everyone tries to exchange them for dollars I doubt they have enough. For now they do seem to work for they grey market better than traditional payment systems.

 

[50ShadesGreyMarket]

Do you have one you recommend? I had no clue there was such a thing! I looked on Amazon but really not sure if any of those are any good

Cryptotag.io sells various models at different price points. I have 2 of the Thor from 2018. Before that I had a machinist friend from college help make one, back in like 2012 and it still looks great, the hand-stamped letters are a little wonky but it’s legible. We keep a duplicate of each at both homes in different states in case something horrible happened at the primary residence. Remember that if you had a disaster there’s no guarantee you’d be able to recover a safe - I learned a lot from watching videos about the safety deposit boxes in the banks of the World Trade Towers. 👍

 

[OnyxGirl]

This has been my main issue buying from gray vendors is my ignorance of crypto.

 

[ProfPep]

There are several problems with stable coins. First they are pegged to the dollar so they are guaranteed to lose value over time. Second they are issued and controlled by a massive corporation rather than the fed. Who knows how many actual dollars they hold to back the stable coin. If everyone tries to exchange them for dollars I doubt they have enough. For now they do seem to work for they grey market better than traditional payment systems.

Circle and Tether are audited.

 

[ProfPep]

Below is an excerpt of an email I received from a US-based peptide website/vendor. (I deleted items that I believe would be promotion-oriented, and all ellipses are mine).

A Difficult—and Urgent—Update

I’m not going to hide behind corporate-speak. I'm writing to you today because we have a serious problem, and I need to be 100% transparent with you.

As of yesterday, our ability to process credit cards has been abruptly paused.

We received a BRAM (Business Risk Assessment and Mitigation) Notice from Mastercard. This isn't a random event. This is a targeted, industry-wide action.

For years, "other industries" have been pressuring payment processors to cut off independent research companies. Their goal is simple: to control the market, limit your access, and shut down anyone who offers fair, independent pricing.

They are trying to squeeze us—and you—out of the picture.

We’ve always known this day might come. And we are 100% prepared.

We are NOT shutting down. We are 100% operational.

But to move forward, we need to bypass these gatekeepers. This means until we can get this cleared (if we even can..), we can no longer accept credit cards.

From now on, we will be accepting P2P (Peer-to-Peer) payments. The options are now live at checkout:
Cash App
Zelle

I know this is an inconvenience. I know it’s not as simple as typing in a credit card number. But using these methods is how we fight back. It’s how we declare our independence from a system that wants to control us.

A New Idea. A Better Future?

This fight has given me a new, powerful idea.

The 10% credit card fees were never the real issue. The real issue is the control.

What if we cut them out for good?

I am seriously considering building a second, completely separate website. This new site would ONLY accept Bitcoin, ….

This is a massive project, and I will only do it if you are interested. This is where I need your help.

Please, just hit "Reply" to this email and let me know:

1. A simple "YES" if you would use a Bitcoin-only site …..

2. A simple "NO" if you would not.

Your vote will determine our next move.

Thank you for your support and understanding as we navigate this. We are in this together, and we will not let them win.

Sincerely,

Bitcoin kinda sucks as a medium of exchange. USDT on ERC20, Solana or Tron are probably your best bet, lowest friction UX. Monero and or ZCash if you want to preserve privacy as done in DNMs.

 

[ProfPep]

This whole concept is just silly. One of the main reasons people are willing to buy at higher prices from domestic vendors is because they are able to pay with their CC or PayPal. If you are using crypto then you are an absolute fool to not order from China.

The reason to order domestically isn't to use a CC. It's to avoid the dreaded "Shipment is on hold" message in transit tracking.

 

[Retazempic]

Bitcoin kinda sucks as a medium of exchange. USDT on ERC20, Solana or Tron are probably your best bet, lowest friction UX. Monero and or ZCash if you want to preserve privacy as done in DNMs.

Yeah - I think the company who wrote the email is using the the term “bitcoin” to mean crypto, generically

It think it reflects the company’s lack of familiarity with crypto

 

[IshimaruKenta]

Every time you use a credit card, PayPal, venmo, applepay, etc for a commercial transaction, you are contributing 3 to 5 percent of the transaction to them. If they are in bed with the big pharmacy you are supporting them too. Bitcoin is the enemy of these companies. Bitcoin essentially removes the middleman facilitating the financial transaction. I think most of these companies that do use crypto make it difficult on purpose to dissuade you from using it. I have been using and involved with bitcoin for more than 12 years. If you hold bitcoin the chances are much higher it will go up than down. If you hold the dollar it is GUARANTEED to decrease in value.

Ooooooooooook.

 

[swimmer]

Bitcoin kinda sucks as a medium of exchange. USDT on ERC20, Solana or Tron are probably your best bet, lowest friction UX. Monero and or ZCash if you want to preserve privacy as done in DNMs.

Remember if the site makes using btc difficult it is their fault not bitcoins.

 

[ProfPep]

Remember if the site makes using btc difficult it is their fault not bitcoins.

Yeah Bitcoin is fine for online transactions when the confirmation time doesn’t really matter, like this. Stables remove any exchange rate drift tho and have greater market penetration. Really a choice of all of these would be ideal from end user perspective.

 

[swimmer]

Yeah Bitcoin is fine for online transactions when the confirmation time doesn’t really matter, like this. Stables remove any exchange rate drift tho and have greater market penetration. Really a choice of all of these would be ideal from end user perspective.

The confirmation time depends on the miners fee for on chain transactions. Bitcoin on the lightning layer is confirmed in a fraction of a second. I've seen too many people lose their money sending stables on the incorrect chain. The developer of the wallets should check but most don't. Bitcoin on lightning is instant and costs almost nothing. Everyone wants to be a crypto billionaire so they start a new coin. Most of the money they make comes from the uneducated investors that want to become rich as well.