Bitcoin payment question - price changed during checkout
Yeah, that's totally normal — Bitcoin's price swings like crazy, so vendors pretty much have to do that time-window thing or they'd eat the volatility. The 15–30 minute window is standard across most shops. Some give you a full hour if you're lucky, but don't count on it. The key thing is to pay the exact amount shown on the checkout page when you hit that payment screen — don't try to convert it yourself or wait for a "better" rate, because the quote will expire and you'll have to start over.
One thing I'd add: always double-check the network fee. Most checkout pages show the total including a miner fee, but some vendors bake that into the conversion or add a separate "processing fee" that isn't always obvious. You gotta watch out for hidden fees — like a small percentage on top of the BTC rate. 3-5% isn't unusual, but if it's over 10% you're probably getting ripped. Also, if your wallet lets you adjust the transaction fee, don't cheap out — a few extra satoshis ensures your payment confirms in time. Stuck in the mempool for hours? You risk the vendor closing your order and having to re-quote at a worse rate.
As for escrow: if the site uses escrow, verify that the funds actually land in the escrow wallet address, not directly to the vendor. Some sketchy shops skip proper escrow and just take the BTC straight. Always copy-paste the payment address from the checkout page, don't type it manually. Use a wallet that supports SegWit to keep fees lower and confirmations faster. And tbh, for higher-value orders, I'd recommend splitting the payment into two smaller chunks — just in case something goes wrong, you're not out the whole amount.
Pricing-wise, you'll generally see a 15-30 minute window for the BTC conversion rate. The actual price in USD or your local currency will vary by vendor, but the markup usually covers their risk and the exchange overhead. For cheaper novelty IDs under $100, the window might be shorter because margins are thinner. For premium stuff $200+, you might get a full hour. Just pay what it says, confirm in your wallet, and don't panic if the final BTC amount looks slightly different than when you started — that's just the market moving.