The decision by Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, to accept Bitcoin in exchange for its products has turned out to be a very savvy business decision for the online retailer. While the pace of Bitcoin sales has dropped off significantly from the tremendous $130k recorded in the first 24 hours, the sales have continued to come in. Only two months into the experiment, the retailer has now surpassed $1 million in BTC sales. More importantly, Mr. Byrne estimate 60% of these sales came from entirely new customers.
From TechDirt:
“We did not expect to hit this milestone so quickly,” states Overstock.com Chairman and CEO Patrick M. Byrne. “Bitcoin customers are good customers, and we’re pleased to provide them this service.”
Overstock.com started accepting Bitcoin in early January by partnering with Coinbase to process the payments and handle the conversion of Bitcoin into U.S. dollars. Since then, Overstock.com reports 4,300 customers paid for over $1 million worth of goods with Bitcoin. The retailer estimates almost 60% of those are new customers to Overstock.com.
Up until Overstock.com started accepting Bitcoin, only small retailers and services were accepting the currency. It was originally an experiment for the retailer but today’s press release clearly shows that Overstock.com is happy with the results.
Other retailers should pay close attention.
Full article here.
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
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Did you catch what Buffett said about Bitcoin? That it is not a “currency” and he thinks it might not be around in 10-20 years. Somebody please save me from this takeover. I’m not going to put all my money in Berkshire and prey Yellen and all the crony capitalists take care of me.