Trying to buy food with Bitcoin
So recently I set out to actually purchase a good with bitcoin. I've been saving bitcoin for a while now, just taking a smidgen whenever it's comfortable to buy with. I heard about a service called Pizza For Coins from a friend of mine a while back, and recently thought I'd give it a try. It went terribly.
Fool me once...
The model of Pizza For Coins seemed pretty straightforward to me; I send them bitcoin, they place an order at a local big-name pizza chain near me, I get to eat. They do charge a bit on top of the price of the food and they offer no option to take advantage of discounted combos or special deals that are perpetually offered by pizza places. Because of the inflated price tag, I decided to be cheap and order carryout instead of delivery. I send my coins, get confirmed in not too long, and wait a generous hour and a half before going to the pizza place. When I arrive, I find that there's no order placed with my information! I beat a surly retreat home, and promptly Email Pizza For Coins about a refund. Luckily this was processed relatively quickly and in just a day or two I got my coins back.
Fool me twice...
The story probably should have ended there, but it didn't. I read a little bit online about the service and found some stories of people actually getting their food and read that others have had trouble with carryout from the particular pizzeria I used, so I concluded Pizza for Coins probably isn't an outright scam and decided to give it another go round. This time I picked a different vendor, one that people said they've successfully ordered from, and placed a delivery order this time. I sent my funds, and held my breath for two hours. Still no pizza. I called the pizza place to confirm there was no order placed, and sent an Email demanding a refund. I'm still waiting on that one, but it hasn't been very long and last time I got refunded quickly so I'm optimistic.
Ever ordered food with crypto?
If you've used this service or another similar one I'd like to hear about it. I'm definitely still interested in trying to get this to work out, but I really don't want to get burned. Perhaps it's still to early to pull this off reliably or maybe I'm just using a bad route. Either way thanks for reading my sob story, and let me know if you have any insight.
They are starting to sound scammy.
No, I have never tried to purchase everyday items with crypto. The tax rules involved are just a nightmare and I'm not about to hop on that train.
I know it's super old, but I have a relevant update and I didn't see this comment at the time.
Since this debacle, I have successfully purchased a pizza with bitcoin. It also happened to be my first experience with the Lightning network. There's this new website I used https://ln.pizza and the transaction went off without a hitch, delivery and all. I even got %10 off the best deal they had at the pizza place thanks to a promotion.
You're right about the tax rules being obtuse though.
How much did it cost?
A little over 400k Satoshis. At the time it was worth right around 15 USD. I spent a little more than that fumbling with the Lightning Network though, and lost a few thousand Satoshis trying unsuccessfully to get my change out of LN.
All considered, I'd say it wasn't a bad deal. I did buy back my coins pretty promptly too. I probably lost about what the promo saved me through incompetence, but that's my own fault.
Would recommend ln.pizza. It's better if you already know how to do the whole Lightning Network thing. I spent a little extra trying to educate myself, but I'll pay for my autodidactism. Seems like a worthy expenditure to me.
I'm not a super techy person, so I think I will wait for things to be a bit more user friendly. lol
"...not a super techy person..."
Never too late to start!
;)
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