PayPal's nice, don't get me wrong, but I can only guess that they charge Paizo a fee to subscribe to that service. (Again, I'm guessing, but in today's world, nothing's free, so...) On that note, if having PayPal's going to add an extra cost to anything I want from Paizo, I'd rather just use my credit card.
After all, a credit card's usually a sweet deal. Most of them give you something free when you sign up, and I've yet to see one with an annual fee.
Who doesn't have a credit card these days? Most financial institutions issue Visa or Mastercard Debits as well. I didn't know the whole world worked on PayPal already...
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Who doesn't have a credit card these days? Most financial institutions issue Visa or Mastercard Debits as well. I didn't know the whole world worked on PayPal already...
Don't get me wrong, I pay using my Credit Card, but PayPal would have been a nice option a couple of months ago when I had money in it and wanted to buy stuff. It wasn't worth the fees involved to take it out of PayPal & put it into the Credit Card, then buy using it.
Chief Technical Officer
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We looked into it, but it's not going to happen.
The problem is that PayPal's authorization system is designed for paying for items that ship pretty much immediately. As with credit cards, an authorization is opened when you place an order, and gets closed when the order ships. But unlike credit cards, PayPal expires payment authorizations quickly (in a matter of days, whereas credit cards authorizations can stay open for weeks), and they limit the number of times you can reopen them, and they limit the amount of time they can be reopened after the initial transaction. Worst of all, if you have too many authorizations that expire without being closed, they say they'll close your account.
In short, this means that subscriptions, preorders, backorders, and even some plain old out-of-stock items that we have to order from our distributor would take too long to fulfill for PayPal's authorization standards, so we can't use them until that changes.
However, if I understand correctly, PayPal has a credit card program open to US residents that lets you effectively use your PayPal account anywhere that accepts MasterCard.
We looked into it, but it's not going to happen.
The problem is that PayPal's authorization system is designed for paying for items that ship pretty much immediately. As with credit cards, an authorization is opened when you place an order, and gets closed when the order ships. But unlike credit cards, PayPal expires payment authorizations quickly (in a matter of days, whereas credit cards authorizations can stay open for weeks), and they limit the number of times you can reopen them, and they limit the amount of time they can be reopened after the initial transaction. Worst of all, if you have too many authorizations that expire without being closed, they say they'll close your account.
In short, this means that subscriptions, preorders, backorders, and even some plain old out-of-stock items that we have to order from our distributor would take too long to fulfill for PayPal's authorization standards, so we can't use them until that changes.
However, if I understand correctly, PayPal has a credit card program open to US residents that lets you effectively use your PayPal account anywhere that accepts MasterCard.
The PayPal credit card is available to Canadian residents as well. I used to play Mechwarrior with a guy who made a ton of money selling singles for CCGs and miniature games on eBay, and he liked to extol the virtues of using his PayPal credit card. (Don't ask me why this came up, but you need things to talk about during a 12 hour tournement ;-) )
Also, check out this thread (specifically the entries by Phil Lacefield and Gary Teter) for some more information on why it wouldn't make sense for Paizo to use PayPal as a payment option.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Not eveyone does have a credit card for whatever reason, myself included. Even accepting a plain bank debit card (such as Visa Electron) would be a major improvement.
You do know that any Debit card with a Visa or MasterCard logo on it COUNTS as a credit card for things like this, right? If it's got a 16-digit number and the logo, it's fine. I use my Debit MasterCard to buy things from this site all the time. Only rarely do I use my actual credit cards for purchases online (usually only when the purchases are over $150 or so).
We looked into it, but it's not going to happen.
In short, this means that subscriptions, preorders, backorders, and even some plain old out-of-stock items that we have to order from our distributor would take too long to fulfill for PayPal's authorization standards, so we can't use them until that changes.
Why not hold an order until all items arrive in, notify the buyer when they do come in, and then he could go purchase via Paypal? If an item is out of stock, or in pre- or back orders, we'd have to wait anyway...
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Chief Technical Officer
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Why not hold an order until all items arrive in, notify the buyer when they do come in, and then he could go purchase via Paypal? If an item is out of stock, or in pre- or back orders, we'd have to wait anyway...We looked into it, but it's not going to happen.
In short, this means that subscriptions, preorders, backorders, and even some plain old out-of-stock items that we have to order from our distributor would take too long to fulfill for PayPal's authorization standards, so we can't use them until that changes.
Because that would require we entirely rewrite how we process and fulfill orders, and because it complicates the user interface for ordering, and because it complicates communication of our processes to customers, all of which likely would result in higher incidences of customer service issues.
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You forget the non americans. :p
The debit cards used here in Europe are called Maestro Cards. It's a completely different standard (no 16 digit number on it), even though it is a MasterCard product.
And I personally am not that much of a Pay Pal fan...
Greetings,
Günther
Try VISA. I live in Norway and use my VISA Debit Card for this sort of stuff all the time...
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Chief Technical Officer
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could you at least expand on the cards you accept to include the UK/Europe's bank cards? There is a HUGE market out here that you could take advantage of if you were to do that small step :)
We looked into that a little bit, but it appears you have to set up a bank account in Europe to do that, and then deal with money transfers, currency exchanges, and foreign taxes, so we didn't get very far. (We'd also have to rewrite our credit card processing code to deal with more than one processor, and that can get a bit tricky.)
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Director of Narrative
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Credit cards are evil. Usury is evil. Don't spend money you don't have. Why pay interest? I use a debit card. Credit cards are supporting fiat currency and are contributing to wage slavery. Even gas cards are ridiculous because you are still paying for something that has already been used and is not permanent.
Just my thoughts.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Credit cards are evil. Usury is evil. Don't spend money you don't have. Why pay interest?
Properly used, credit cards are awesome. If you pay your entire balance each month, you don't pay interest. In fact, the money you've already spent is sitting in your bank earning you interest until your bill is due. Used that way, it's an interest-free 30-day loan from the credit card company.
I'm with Vic,
Properly used, credit cards are awesome. I work overseas and would be doomed without it.
I have never had a credit card debt.
Contributor
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Here's another CC benefit:
I don't own a car. I choose not to, in order to reduce my environmental footprint and my expenses. Occasionaly I need a car, so I rent one. Rental car insurance is ridiculously expensive, but I have a credit card that gives it free if I rent with that card. Now, i do have an annual fee, but I make it up just from car insurance. There's also no deductable, which many car rental plans do have.
If not for this, it would actually be equally cost effective for me to just buy a car, even though I only need one once every month or two.
In addition, I collect aeroplan points (like air miles) on every purchase. Because of this, I am getting a free flight to Origins this year, which means I can go and run demos of Stonehenge for Paizo.
That said, it's true what others have commented: Don't carry a debt load on you credit card! A good trick is that when you use your credit card in the manner that I do, make a payment right away. Helps you keep track of what you can really afford, and makes sure you don't get behind on your payments.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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That said, it's true what others have commented: Don't carry a debt load on you credit card! A good trick is that when you use your credit card in the manner that I do, make a payment right away. Helps you keep track of what you can really afford, and makes sure you don't get behind on your payments.
I live in Australia.
We (my Wife and I) have a Credit Card (Mastercard) and a VISA Debit Card. We use the Credit Card to pay for large purchases (and in a pinch if we get stuck) at a Hard Terminal and use the VISA Debit for any Online purchases. That way if (god forbid) anyone does manage to gain illegal access to our card through internet use they are only getting a couple of hundred dollars max instead of a couple of thousand.Used properly a VISA Debit is perfect for internet purchases. It is just like a regular bank account, so you put the money into the account straight before you pay for an item and you can use it like a credit card.