Bitcoin Payment Issues - Transaction Not Confirming
Yeah, this happens all the time with Bitcoin, especially when the mempool gets jammed up. Confirmations can literally take anywhere from ten minutes to half a day depending on how congested the network is and—more importantly—how much fee you attached to the transaction. Honestly, a lot of people don't realize that most vendors or escrow sites will show you a default fee, but it's often the bare minimum that could leave you stuck for hours. If you're in a hurry, I'd recommend using a fee estimator like the ones on mempool.space or even just bumping it up a few sats/vbyte. Some wallets let you do Replace-by-Fee (RBF) after the fact if you didn't set it high enough, which is a lifesaver for those "oh crap" moments.
As for pricing context, on a quiet day you might get away with paying 5–10 sats/vbyte and see confirmation in under an hour. But when everybody's sending at once, you could be looking at 50+ sats/vbyte to get into the next block. It's worth checking the current average fee before you hit send so you don't end up waiting overnight.
Also, real quick on escrow safety—always use a reputable escrow that makes their fee structure clear. Some services will take a cut both on the deposit and the release, and if Bitcoin fees spike, that can eat into your total cost more than you'd expect. Hidden fees are real, like some vendors or middlemen display a low base price but then tack on a "network fee surcharge" that's way above what the actual transaction cost. I've seen people pay almost double just because they didn't read the fine print. If possible, ask the vendor what their typical fee range is and whether they pass through the exact fee or add a markup. And seriously, never send funds directly to a stranger without escrow—Bitcoin is irreversible, so one wrong click and it's gone forever.
