Bitcoin Merchant: Price Drove 20.4% Growth in Black Friday Sales

Figures following Bitcoin Black Friday 2015 look to have quashed fears the event is losing its appeal in the international Bitcoin community. Meanwhile, a Bitcoin merchant reveals a noticeable correlation between bitcoin price and sales.

Also read: Overstock.com to Take the Bitcoin Blockchain Public in ‘Matter of Weeks’

No faith required

In a post championing the financial advantages of accepting Bitcoin, one merchant noted year-on-year sales had increased 20.4%, with Black Friday leading the trend among its customer base. “Bitcoin isn’t going to make a huge impact on your business unless you leverage it to gain widespread media attention,” clothing retailer ThatShirtWasCash wrote Monday. “For us, it has still been worth it for the marketing opportunities and ability to service a group of people we identify ourselves with and love.”

The company has recorded $7,400 USD worth of bitcoin sales since launching the payment option, and like many experimenting with accepting the currency highlights the savings possible over fiat payment processors such as PayPal.

“The fees are at least half (or zero if you accept it directly without a third-party service) of standard payment processors,” the merchant continued. “We have Coinbase integrated into our website and our fees are only ~1%,” adding:

“I was shocked […] earlier this year after completing a full financial analysis of our revenue and expenses. I learned that Paypal was charging us ~5%.”

Modest figures fuelling major enthusiasm is a common phenomenon among merchants that engage with the Bitcoin process. What is increasingly apparent, however, is that faith in an ideal is becoming less necessary, with sales figures having begun to speak for themselves.

What Bitcoiners Bought

Purse.io, which allows customers to buy goods with Bitcoin at a discount, recorded an eleven-fold surge in sales during Black Friday 2015, personal computers and DIY tools experiencing the greatest demand with 60% and 74% increases respectively. Toys, video games, and kitchenware also saw considerable growth on the day. Of the 47 states, Purse serves, California generated the most sales.

In a Reddit post revealing the internal figures, Purse CPO Kent Liu added that individual sales varied from a minimum of around $15 USD up to $3,000 USD.

In addition to buoyant growth, it would appear the idiosyncrasies of handling Bitcoin are becoming less of a barrier in and of themselves. ThatShirtWasCash added:

“We have noticed a dramatic difference in the number of sales from bitcoin based on bitcoin’s current price. When the price is ‘undervalued’ or people are down on their initial investment, they spend less. When the price is up, especially during price surges, we see bitcoin sales almost daily.”

Did you take part in Bitcoin Black Friday 2015? Share your thoughts and experiences below!

Images courtesy of Purse.io, a16z.com