Since purchases from all countries are not allowed from the most reputable exchanges such as : Coinbase, Bitstamp, Bitfinex and many other exchanges. Bitcoin enthusiasts flock to other trading platform such as LocalBitcoins, Paxful,etc... that allow payment methods such as WesternUnion, MoneyGram, Perfectmoney and many other .In addition, sometimes better deals can be found on those platforms.
There are plenty of reviews on LocalBitcoins and i have used it for month and it is amazing, one of the most secure trading platforms.However the competition is big since the platform was established in 2012 and the early birds took advantage.In case u have not used PaxFul & LocalBitcoins before give it a try, look for the most reputable traders and for the best deals:
[PaxFul]( https://paxful.com/?vr=apDY8D1WRYG )
[LocalBitcoins](https://localbitcoins.com/?ch=ce8w)
However the newer exchange which is PaxFul and which was founded in 2014 and which has some nice feature and analysis tools for your portfolio such as how much money you've made from ur trades and etc....
I won't be talking only about how amazing PaxFul is but how dangerous it is also and will showcase some examples from my own experience.
I started using Paxful a couple of weeks ago since the competition is fierce on local bitcoins and i wanted to expand my trading on such platforms.
The Advantages:
1- User Friendly platform with hundreds of payments methods
2-Paxful's analytical vendor dashboard which allows you to have a better overview on number of sales,overall closing ratio, $ amount sold with many other features.
3-Helpful support team which responds to tickets within a couple of hours.
The Disadvantages:
1- PaxFul is full of scammer trying to take your money.Although the platform is similar to LocalBitcoins it seems that scammers prey on Paxful. Below you can see one of the scammer or Cyber-beggar that targeted me.
So this guy actually wanted me to send him 10$, when i said no he marked the transaction as already paid and blocked my funds for one hour.Let's say you had 10 BTC on hand, scammers can withhold them for an hour+ and disrupt your daily trade.To solve this issue you should let your advertisement appear to people who:
1- Confirmed there e-mail address
2-Confirmed their phone number
3- Have previously traded (which might lower your target audience however increase safety and security)
My mistake was that i only required e-mail address confirmation, so i urge you to take all listed measures above seriously.
Another disadvantage is that you can find bitcoins price at 20,000$ and other unimaginable rates.You do not find such trades on LocalBitcoins and i believe most of them are scams and they are effecting the integrity of the website.
So be careful when dealing with bitcoin trading online, double check everything, make sure u receive your money (physically) and enjoy your gains.
Anyone got scammed out there, kindly share your experience so people become more aware and therefore we would be contribution to the success of bitcoin.