How to buy XRP Ripple as most Exchanges are pausing signups!

Hi new buyers for ripple

As Bitstamp, BInance, Anycoin Bittrex and more are having huge backlog and Binance have temporarily stopped new members for the same reason, I have been seeing this question a lot the last weeks. So I thought It would be good to write a short guide on how to buy Ripple given the current predicament a lot of you are in! I have two options laid out for you. Both involve Coinbase as that is pretty much the only way you will be able to use your Fiat currency (USD/EURO) to buy cryptos. I'm wondering why poeple say they have no problems with Bitstamp, I see bad reviews and still it takes along time and people are missing their buy in point for ripple:

http://www.bestcryptoexchange.com/bitstamp-review
www.ccn.com/bitstamp-advises-customers-of-longer-service-response-times-as-demand-increases/

So people want solutions for buying XRP or other altcoins without exchanges.

So here we go:

First things first, Coinbase will get you verified fast (within a couple of hours to a day) since their verification process is automatized. So these guides will be based on you buying Eth or Litecoin by paying with fiat (USD/Euro) on Coinbase either through creditcard or bank wire.

OPTION 1:
*********

1.Open Coinbase account and get verified.
2. Buy ETH or LTC on Coinbase. (Credit card seems disabled so ATH or Wire is your only bet now)
3. Open Toast Wallet (Wallet for Ripple on your phone) and read the Toast Wallet FAQ carefully
4. Go http://bitcoinchange.org and transform your ETH/LTC to XRP.
bitcoinchange / changelly does not require an account/verification for transforming your funds. All you need is BTC or any other altcoin ETH/LTC to send to them to convert, and a Ripple Wallet for the destination of the funds.

OPTION 2: Or indirect via Coinbase and shapeshift (multiple steps)
*********

4.1. Choose your conversion currencies (Eth or LTC to XRP for instance) and amount you want.
4.2 Enter your destination adress (This is the adress you have on your Toast wallet for XRP on your phone.)
4.3 Shapeshift will then prompt you with an ETH or LTC adress and the exact amount of funds to pay so your conversion can occur.
EDIT: Make sure that you input your refund adress as well so that the LTC/ETH you sent can be refunded to your wallet on Coinbase in case transaction at shapeshift fails for whatever reason. EDIT2: Several people have pointed out that the destination tag should be 0 if you are sending the XRP from shapeshift to a personal (non exchange) Ripple wallet such as Toast.