<p>Your best option is for the online shop to provide unique bitcoin addresses for each customer. </p>

<p>Bob clicks to buy item A and then fills out a quick form with his shipping information, after completion he is prompted to send 1 BTC to bitcoin address X. Alice at the same time clicks to buy item B and fills out a form and she is prompted to send her payment to address Y.  If address X receives funds, the shop owner will know that Bob paid, and Alice did not. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-25T22:04:00.513Z
Address reuse is bad in general anyway. Don't ruin your customers' privacy.
Jannes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-23T16:05:11.863Z
Or rather, when payment arrives on the address you gave to Bob, you know that Bob's *bill* was paid. You don't know (and shouldn't care) whether it was Bob himself who paid.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-23T18:35:24.523Z
Yes, that is an important distinction. All we care is which invoice/bill is paid, not which individual made the payment.
m1xolyd1an
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-24T23:31:09.647Z
2015-10-24T23:31:09.647Z
m1xolyd1an
<p>Let's imagine I am hosting an online shop. I sell five different items with a price of 1 BTC.</p>

<p>Bob buys item A and Alice buys items B. Bob is paying the bill by sending 1 BTC to my Bitcoin address. Alice decides not to pay anything.</p>

<p>Now here is the big question: How do I know that I have received the money from Bob and not from Alice (I don't know their wallet)? Is there some kind of optional order reference / comment field in a transaction?</p>

<transactions><payment>
Payment reference
einherjer
# Payment reference

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-10-24)

Let's imagine I am hosting an online shop. I sell five different items with a price of 1 BTC.

Bob buys item A and Alice buys items B. Bob is paying the bill by sending 1 BTC to my Bitcoin address. Alice decides not to pay anything.

Now here is the big question: How do I know that I have received the money from Bob and not from Alice (I don't know their wallet)? Is there some kind of optional order reference / comment field in a transaction?

**Tags:** transactions, payment


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-10-24. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Your best option is for the online shop to provide unique bitcoin addresses for each customer.

Bob clicks to buy item A and then fills out a quick form with his shipping information, after completion he is prompted to send 1 BTC to bitcoin address X. Alice at the same time clicks to buy item B and fills out a form and she is prompted to send her payment to address Y. If address X receives funds, the shop owner will know that Bob paid, and Alice did not.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Address reuse is bad in general anyway. Don't ruin your customers' privacy.  
> **username_3**: Or rather, when payment arrives on the address you gave to Bob, you know that Bob's *bill* was paid. You don't know (and shouldn't care) whether it was Bob himself who paid.  
> **username_1**: Yes, that is an important distinction. All we care is which invoice/bill is paid, not which individual made the payment.  

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