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| Author |
Message |
| 23 new of 191 responses total. |
srw
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response 169 of 191:
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Feb 18 20:53 UTC 1999 |
yeah, perhaps, if we didn't track the billing address, but I think we
should be asking for the billing address along with the card number, and
should use it as part of the supplied ID. So I don't think there's a
problem even WRT voting rights and membership, at least not worse than
what we have today in accepting personal checks.
Re Joel's worry about crackers -- I'm not worried about being fooled by
people using stolen CCs. That is a problem for the bank. They will
notify us of hanky-panky, and we can turn off membership, if it comes to
that.
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dpc
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response 170 of 191:
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Feb 19 21:18 UTC 1999 |
I'd really like to see us get off the dime and make credit cards
useable for Grex. These security issues won't arise 999 times out
of 1000 if we just do what regular merchants do.
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tpryan
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response 171 of 191:
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Feb 19 22:45 UTC 1999 |
Nice conversation, wish I had the time to follow it.
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janc
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response 172 of 191:
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Feb 22 01:30 UTC 1999 |
David, every web site I've ever bought anything from uses a secure
server. Doing this reasonably well requires buying a Verisign key,
which is from our point of view expensive. The whole point is that what
regular merchants do may not be within our reach.
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dpc
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response 173 of 191:
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Feb 24 20:01 UTC 1999 |
We're sellers, not buyers. The risk of an unsecure transaction is
on the buyer, not us, it would seem. That risk is set by law at
$50. We should act to accept credit cards *without* a Verisign key.
We should accept credit card numbers by e-mail. We should do this
now.
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krj
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response 174 of 191:
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Feb 24 20:50 UTC 1999 |
I agree with Dave here. "Just do it." I would put up a warning
suggesting that people who are at insecure locations such as
university microcomputer labs or internet cafe's not email us
their credit card number from such a location; packet sniffing is
just too easy in that environment.
But I have sent my credit card number in e-mail more times than
I have sent it through a secure server. Nothing bad has happened yet.
I do this because I am buying CDs from dinky little companies
who probably can't afford the Verisign stuff. Like Grex.
And if we get started without a verisign key: we could still get
memberships from paranoid :) overseas contributors who could send Grex
their credit card number in paper mail and vanquish the currency
conversion issue.
We only need six extra memberships to pay for the
basic credit card service, right? We can drop it in a year if it doesn't
pay for itself? Let's go for it.
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krj
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response 175 of 191:
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Feb 24 21:02 UTC 1999 |
And if we need a fundraiser to underwrite a trial period, let's do that.
And if we're worried about stolen CC numbers buying tangible merchandise,
let's limit our acceptance of CC numbers initially to memberships and
donations.
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aruba
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response 176 of 191:
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Feb 24 23:34 UTC 1999 |
I don't think we'll get any new members at all unless we have a way to accept
cards over the web.
At the board meeting last night, dang volunteered to look into ways we can
accept credit cards.
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arthurp
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response 177 of 191:
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Feb 28 23:51 UTC 1999 |
I don't think we'll win on this. It's a nice idea to help with people like
the three or four that have asked about it (3-4 I know of). I don't think
it will go much beyond that, though. Don't forget that when counting how
great this will be we have to discount all the people who currently donate
and say they will switch. That doesn't win us anything. We need the get (I
guess the number was 6 yearly memberships) 'never before' memberships.
Accepting CC would be a membership vote, tight?
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aruba
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response 178 of 191:
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Mar 1 03:59 UTC 1999 |
I don't think it would have to be, but if a member proposes we vote on it,
then we will.
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devnull
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response 179 of 191:
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Mar 1 04:48 UTC 1999 |
I'm unconvinced that a vote is the right way to determine this; I tend to
be skeptical that accepting credit cards will be a win.
Is there a list of six people who will contribute if credit cards are accepted
and will not contribute otherwise? (Alternate question: are there people
who would actually benefit from membership perks whom grex could better
serve by accepting credit cards?)
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jshafer
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response 180 of 191:
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Mar 1 17:32 UTC 1999 |
Um, I'm not going to issue an ultimatum or anything. But, with
an easy way to contribute, I will when I can. Otherwise, I'll
probably end up contributing elsewhere where it's easier - other
causes I believe in and so forth.
I have a feeling that, with grex's continued growth, not accepting
credit cards may be shooting ourselves in the foot. If I'm
wrong, great.
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steve
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response 181 of 191:
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Mar 1 19:46 UTC 1999 |
Joel, it isn't that people have said "take my plastic or take nothing",
but rather, that we'd snare more people who like us, and are willing to
give us something, but only if its easy. Putting a check in an envelope
and finding a stamp isn't easy (not that I personally agree). This is
a part of the trend of paying for things electronically. If we have the
ability to take credit cards we'll see people contribute who we would
not have to date.
For me, the question isn't if people will contribute, but how many.
This could still fall flat on its face.
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aruba
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response 182 of 191:
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Mar 1 20:12 UTC 1999 |
Boy that would be a relief - I'm tired of dating everyone who contributes.
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steve
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response 183 of 191:
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Mar 3 22:49 UTC 1999 |
<whack>
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rtg
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response 184 of 191:
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Mar 11 07:13 UTC 1999 |
I've got a membership due in a few days, and I don't have a checking
account. I can pick up the phone a lot sooner than I will probably
cross paths with Aruba again. I say take it one step at a time. get
the account. Then work on setting up html forms, then look into
securing it with verisign. It may be a moot point, or it may take off
and make its worth obvious. We'll find out sooner, and at less expense,
by getting the basic account, than we ever will by discussing this to
death. We haven't gotten any new information in the past two months.
We're just trading our opinions back and forth. It's time to take
steps. The first one's cheap and easy enough, so I say lets go for it.
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aruba
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response 185 of 191:
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Mar 11 14:08 UTC 1999 |
Well Rick, I'm really not sure what the first step should be. What step do
you mean when you say it's "cheap and easy"? My understanding is that getting
a merchant account is neither of those, but I'll be happy to be corrected.
dang has been doing some research on our options, I know, and I think he's
going to present his results at the next board meeting. (Is that right, Dan?)
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keesan
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response 186 of 191:
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Mar 30 23:39 UTC 1999 |
I copied this entire item and emailed it to another nonprofit which supports
overseas agricultural work and is considering setting up a way to allow credit
card donations. I also suggested joining the discussion in grex. They email
out some technical information now and are just learning about the internet
aspects of things. They post part of their paper newsletter at their website.
Do a lot of work in Africa where mail is slow.
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rtg
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response 187 of 191:
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Apr 6 17:22 UTC 1999 |
I thought this discussion started with a comment that we could get a merchant
account for only $30/yr. At that rate, we're foolish to spend months
arguing, when we could be reaping benefits.
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aruba
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response 188 of 191:
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Apr 6 17:51 UTC 1999 |
That was $35/month.
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rtg
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response 189 of 191:
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Apr 10 04:01 UTC 1999 |
Oh, well, what's an order of magnitude between friends? ;-)
Is there a minimum commitment? What's out bail-out cost if we haven't
used it sufficiently after a few months? I think it's worth a $100
gamble. That'll give us 3 months to advertise it and see how much
business we can drum up.
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aruba
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response 190 of 191:
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Apr 10 04:16 UTC 1999 |
Dan (dang) should have some details for us at this month's meeting.
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lilmo
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response 191 of 191:
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Apr 13 02:31 UTC 1999 |
If Grex starts taking CC's, I *will* join. That's one for the list of six.
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