Silk Road forums

Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: BubbaD123 on June 12, 2013, 07:57 pm

Title: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: BubbaD123 on June 12, 2013, 07:57 pm
Hello everyone, new user here. Before I make my first bitcoin purchase, I'd like to know what percentage over the purchase price of the SR item I've got my eye on should I buy, in order to cover all associated costs with both purchasing bitcoins and buying through SR?

So.. if I'd like to buy a 1/4 of top-shelf bud for $100(including shipping), should I purchase ~$115 of BitCoin to reasonably expect it to cover all fees? I realize it will vary from BitCoin reseller to BitCoin reseller and my method of paying for that BitCoin, but just assume I have plenty of time and am willing to hunt for the cheapest(and yet honest) reseller I could find. As a rough estimate, how much of the purchase price do YOU usually pay to cover all of those fees?

I appreciate any information. Thanks guys!
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: mcguire39 on June 12, 2013, 08:02 pm
Add in for the price of shipping of course. It's always good to have a bit extra than not enough!

Another factor is market volatility. You might buy just enough BTC but by the time it gets into your account if the price of a BTC dropped $30 you might not have enough to make the purchase. There's also the hedged/unhedged thing which I didn't fully read up on.

You don't have to worry about processing costs through SR I don't think; that is borne by the vendor. But you do need to know how much fees all your various exchanging will take to get it into BTC and into your SR account.

For my first transfers I paid up to 20% fees but that was because I wanted it _now_. If you have time to wait you can do a bank transfer to some sites and then use that to buy BTC at very low %age. Though of course that is not 'anonymous' but I'm not sure with BTC that is super critical.
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: RS7FI8ZRkm on June 12, 2013, 08:11 pm
never hurts to have a few dollars laying around in the account :P having more is better then not having enough ;) if you're looking to spend around 100, exchanging  115-120 should be safe :)
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: Thirdplace on June 12, 2013, 08:59 pm
I'm going to risk being redundant here, but I'll add a different perspective.

I wouldn't just pick an amount of money to add like $20 or something, what I generally recommend is that you put in an extra 10-15%.  In the case of only 100 or so maybe closer to the 15-20% mark.  The smaller the amount you're purchasing, the larger the % of additional funds I'd add.  The thing is you're gonna have a flat fee to acquire the btc, then probably an additional $3.95 for the payment processor(often zipzap) that's just added on top.  then you have to account for the potential for btc to fluctuate in value between time of btc acquisition and order initialization. 

For example, if I wanted to make a purchase that came out to about $100 with shipping, I'd initiate a transaction for $115, then an additional $3.95 for zipzap I'd end up paying ~ $118.95.  After fee's I'd net ~$108-109.00

Then, if the price dropped 8%(not uncommon)you'd still be able to make your purchase and not have to go through the process of putting $20(the minimum deposit amount) in and waiting for it.  If it increased in value that much, you'd have an extra 5 or 10 bucks that you could spend on something else or save for the next purchase.  Better a little to much than not quite enough.

Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: Pigstick on June 12, 2013, 09:02 pm
 :o
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: britkid55 on June 12, 2013, 09:13 pm
yea id say 115-120 and you will be good! like others have said better to have more than less than you need..good luck!
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: WonkaLaffyTaffy on June 12, 2013, 09:19 pm
Get $500 worth, you are going to want more drugs in the future and bitcoins might cost more then.
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: smokingUK on June 12, 2013, 09:34 pm
+10% should be safe but can't hurt to get 20% more and just leave what you dont spend for next time!
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: mcguire39 on June 13, 2013, 12:51 am
Right on just get some extra now, I mean, you know you're going to order more later anyway. Biggest risk I can see in that is the volatility of BTC price. It's obvious there's likely a group or groups heavily trading in BTC at the same time, when you see huge volume spikes for price manipulation.
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: BubbaD123 on June 13, 2013, 06:47 am
Hell yeah! Thanks for all of the responses.

Do any of you have success stories.. from, say.. you buying 5 bitcoins a few months ago when it was sub-100.. and then it shooting up to 130 or so? I'm not looking to speculate or anything, I just think it'd be neat to wake up one day and realize your SR bitcoins have 100% more purchasing power than they did a week ago.
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: GardenPimp on June 13, 2013, 06:56 am
Hell yeah! Thanks for all of the responses.

Do any of you have success stories.. from, say.. you buying 5 bitcoins a few months ago when it was sub-100.. and then it shooting up to 130 or so? I'm not looking to speculate or anything, I just think it'd be neat to wake up one day and realize your SR bitcoins have 100% more purchasing power than they did a week ago.
When I started bitcoins where $17. It shot up to $250 and dropped down. Its been chillin around $100-$110 for a minute.
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: smokingUK on June 13, 2013, 12:51 pm
My first BTC cost $3.  Oh if only we knew.  A gram of hash in the UK was around 7BTC.

During the rise I had 3 transactions of $250ish where I gained $100 or more each time when buying and waiting a few days before purchasing.  The last one during the storm I lost about $35 in 2 hours but can't really grumble.

I know of a few vendors who had it off in a nice way simply by having 100 or more BTC swilling around.  One very good vendor looks to have reached their aim and packed up on here and although annoying to lose a top vendor I say good luck to them on having such a swing of good luck.
Title: Re: How Much BitCoin Should I Buy to Cover All Associated Fees?
Post by: myfriendhasamoped on June 13, 2013, 05:08 pm
I shorted myself on my last deposit by $.23 and couldn't place my order. Woke up the next day, BC went up a little and was able to make order. I use the 15% method. Will be 20% for now on.