Why?

I*m sorry, but I read this a bit like someone walking into a real shop down the street and asking "Why? Why don*t you take sand dollars. Not everyone has those modern dollar bills you know."



I don*t what it*s like over there in luddite-land where you seem to live, but a branded debit card isn*t even hard to get. They usually come with bank accounts if you simply ask for one. You have one of them don*t you? Bank accounts I mean. A branded debit card has the VISA or Mastercard brand on it, and it connected directly to your bank account, so while you may shop with it much like you could with a Visa Credit Card, you don*t actually have a dime in credit. You can only shop for the amount currently residing in your bank account. I*ve had one of thse since I was fifteen, and that was back in 1987 so it*s not even a partricularly new invention as far as plastic goes.



Oh I get it, you want us to work with the devil and take Paypal right? Paypal sucks. Here are only a few examples.



Wired News PayPal Freezes Out Katrina Aid





Salon.com Aggressive anti-fraud tactics at the first widely used online payment company are spurring a consumer backlash.



Paypal settles customer class action lawsuit "will pay a total of $9.25 million to settle the federal class-action suit" The lawsuit was from customers angry about their random freezing of peoples accounts (which means they lock the money in it).



Oh yeah, and they froze our account since we*re porn-peddlers. This image of a perfume ad made them shut down our system without warning, nor explanation right before the superbowl, our busiest time of the year. All we got was automated mails in replies to every question, and no human was reachable over the phone (in the states too, mind you. The extra long distance dance with the waiting tune on was not fun money wise, as we were kept waiting a good 30 minutes just to get a human to say "sorry can*t help, email X".) We lost mucho money there, and it hurt the site not just monetary, but also our reputation. So pardon me for not trusting them anymore.



Also see Paypal Sucks.com & About Paypal.org

Are there any forms of alternate payment? A credit card is not an option for me, but your resource is precious to me.



I*m in Canada, and we miss out on a lot of great ads, including all of the real Superbowl commercials. Canada*s marketing more mirrors political agenda than demographic fact, and man does it ever show! Feeds from American shows have their ads substituted with Canadian targets, many of which are ads for shows that only exist because of Canadian cultural grants, and not because of market demand or approval.



In short - I hope I can find an alternate payment method.

Just curious.



I can understand that not all younger students have gotten a card with their bank account yet, in cases where their parents are still taking care of their childs economy for example. But once you*ve reached adulthood - how can a plastic card be "not an option"?



I*m sure I*m missing something here since I have no problem getting a bank-attached branded debit card like Dabitch describes. I have no credit myself, but I have both a VISA and a Mastercard that I can shop on the net with. Is this not a possibility in North America?

The first ever Prepaid MasterCard® that you can buy at the Coinstar Center in your local retailer and then use anywhere worldwide that MasterCard® is accepted, including ATMs.



That*s perfect! This might be the solution for y*all, casnig do they have this in Canada?

It is frustrating that plastic is the only real option, when it*s so expensive to keep both for vendors and buyers. Processing fees on plastic are a real killjoy on the dream of micropayments.



http//www.bitpass.com/ is a nice idea but again, one has to buy a larger amount at bitpass before one can drop some small change to listen to a podcast for example - like this one here where caffeinegoddess is on the David Lawrence show. If all websites had bitpass this would be great, as getting a 10-dollar "pre-pay" there could come in handy often.. But I*ve only seen it on a few sites.



And in the end, in order to fill up your bitpass, you need plastic. Or at least a Bank account - in the United states. Back to square one!



*headache*

Geez...I wish I had this much good advice when I was building my garbage-bag parachute...



I*m definitely looking into the pre-paid card, which, only a few short years ago was reputed to fail on (embarrassing) occasion.



Thanks for the help, guys. I look forward to this site.



john

I*m not sure it is fair to insist on alternate forms of payment, HollywoodGirl. With each method are new costs or fees - and some forms have very high minimum-use settings (if the merchant doesn*t do at least $xxxx of business each month, they get cut off the service).



It looks like you value this site as much as I do, and we both have similar barriers. But we can*t tell the site how to do its business - it*s none of our business! We can only try to work something out, respecting the fact that there is a price one must pay for an (ironically) advertising-free website.



I*m reading up on the debit cards, and so far, some are termed "Gift Cards". I think there are fees for these cards from what I*ve seen, though that may only be here in Canada, the Land of Fees, Surcharges and Taxation. Visa debit cards, for example, have a $2 loading fee and a $25 minimum value. Though these specific cards can be used anywhere, some Internet transactions are not recommended, I am told, especially those that require the cardholder*s name in the credit card form (these cards are anonymous, which somehow can foul things up).



Anyway, HollywoodGirl, I hope we both can rise to become Master Grunts, however different the steps we may need to take.

HollywoodGirl, what is it that you dislike about the pre-pay card solution presented to you here? It sounded ideal - not just for gaining access here but also for shopping on the net in general. i don*t quite understand why you have such an aversion to all forms of plastic, be they pre-pay anonymous ones or credit-less debit card variations.



I get not wanting to have credit though, I don*t own a "credit" credit card either. Monthly bills freak me out and the interest can run away from you. However I don*t have an irrational fear for using plastic online, I shop online al the time with my card. Number hasn*t fallen into the wrong hands yet.

aw poo. frown

Could this be what we in Canada have been looking for...?



www.moneymart.ca/titaniumcards/prepaid_mastercard.asp



It*s new! I*ll call *em tomorrow!

>> It*s new! I*ll call *em tomorrow!



That*s what I like about you, you won*t be discouraged that easily! hehe!



But oy, that loading fee sounds like a new version of robbery.

The loading fee smacks of high demand and low competition.



A regular no-fee credit card can be used for free, provided you pay off your charges quickly - therefore the credit card company makes enough from the gouge they take out of the retailer, even when you factor in the short term interest on the money they are effectively lending to the cardholder. To charge the loading fee each time money is added is Superhighway robbery. Nothing less.



By both title and terms, the "Titanium Mastercard" is for boobs. rolleyes



Thanks for the supporting words, folks. On to Plan H Playing with my cat until I come up with Plan I.

Though I probably know someone happy and willing, I*d like a permanent approach - hopefully one that suits other unplastinated folks like me, too.



I could break down and get a prepaid card, but I simply can*t justify contributing to the delinquency of a miser by paying that ridiculous loading fee.



I*ll call their competition.



_________________

The metaphor reminds us that the universe is full of cousins.

I understand that. Just thought maybe it could tide you over in the meantime. smile



Good luck! It*s rather insane that there is no simple fix.



But more power to you for sticking to it and I*m sure all others who are looking for another option will call you their champion!

haha more like the connection so crappy...it made me do a double tappy

lol

If I*ve read this right, according to the Federal Trade Commission (U.S.), if fraud is committed using a credit card, a cardholder is only liable for a maximum of $50 per card. If this is so, the "better safe than sorry" policy is of far greater potential benefit to the credit card company.



If you find a working option, shrinkingmanad, please drop in a post on this thread!

"it turned me down" .... You know, if the payment doesn't go through here it's because your bank rejected it in the first place - silly huh? I had a Swiss pal go through the same problem when he made several upgrades within an hour (one month, + two months, + two more = presto card closed for "suspicious activity"!)

I think we all agree that plastic is a lot of hassle (the fees for being able to use the system runs very high in comparison to what I get to keep some months, it often seems like you are paying more to them than to Adland when I pay two different companies the Credit-card peeps and the internet-CC-charger guys each month [not to mention for the secure connection which is a third bill on top of that] - this also why we don't take American Express, they have an entire different set of monthly fees plus commission and we're trying to keep costs low here)

But until a teleporter can pop bills through space and land in the tip-jar over here, we're gonna have to get used to it.