I dunno about others, but for me its painful...

1. Register coinbase
2. Register Xfers
3. Waited (forever) for Xfer's verification
4. Top up cash into Xfers account after verified
5. Buy btc in coinbase, as Xfers wallet is linked to coinbase.

In between, I paid a premium like 40% extra with localbitcoins. Needed to purchase miners so no choice but go to localbitcoins.

My sad story.