Some friends and I decided to buy bitcoin becasue we want to buy into one of those ICOs. This task should be simple but we're almost giving up.

Localbitcoin or similar services want 4% commission (that's $160 at $4k/bitcoin). Sounds a bit high or is it normal?

We tried to use credit card on some websties but the transactions get declined by the banks stating they do not do business with bitcoin. We will have to do EFT @ $60 fee per transfer.

Then the question: bitstamp.net and wex.nz are $500 off per bitcoin, we can make money buying on one exchange selling on another.

What is the simplest most secure way to buy bitcoin and where is the best place to do so?