Overstock.com's First Day Accepting Bitcoin Brings in Bucks
Wait, can we refer to bitcoins as "bucks"? Are those only used in reference to American dollars?
Anyway, popular consumer retail site Overstock.com just started accepting bitcoins to purchase all sorts of home and electronic goods. How did they do in their first day? Wired took a look:
In its first 22 hours accepting the digital currency, Overstock tells us, it accepted 800 orders in bitcoin, and they were worth a total of about $126,000. The company nabbed $5,000 in bitcoin orders in the first 30 minutes alone, and about $10,000 in the first two hours. That's not an enormous haul, but judging from the company's yearly revenue, it could be as much as 4 percent of its average daily sales, and it shows there's a vibrant bitcoin community that's interested not only in using the digital currency as an investment, but in actually spending it. That will be crucial to the future of this still very young technology.
Certainly, some just wanted to try out the new Overstock system. Others wanted to show the company how pleased they were that it had made the move. But all were uploading real funds, and many are interested in regularly spending their bitcoins, not just hoarding them in the hopes that their value with continue to rise.
Ben Doernberg, a 24-year from New York City, bought a screen projector for his cell phone just after Overstock flipped the bitcoin switch. "I wanted to express my appreciation to them for stepping up," he says. "[And] I thought I might be the first one to buy from them, which would be cool." But he aims to spend his bitcoin more often, having invested in the digital currency since May of last year.
Read the full story here.
Wired reports that one customer even used bitcoins to purchase a $2,700 13-piece set of patio furniture. I wonder who will be the first to furnish an entire home with goods purchased with bitcoins, assuming that hasn't already happened.
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