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Grex > Coop8 > #72: Should Grex take credit card payments? | |
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| Author |
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| 25 new of 70 responses total. |
aruba
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response 25 of 70:
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Jun 5 22:11 UTC 1996 |
How much are "chargeback" fees?
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srw
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response 26 of 70:
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Jun 6 03:39 UTC 1996 |
Chargebacks cannot happen if you get approval. It's only if you have a small
enough transaction that you do it without pre-approving.
Discover isn't used much outside the US, I believe. I think we should focus
mostly on VISA (and possibly MC). Overall it seems like an affordable
experiment for us to try, but I am disappointed that most Indian users won't
be able to use it.
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aruba
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response 27 of 70:
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Jun 6 05:10 UTC 1996 |
Yes, I have heard back from 3 Indian users now, and none of them can use it.
The deal quoted in #0 was for Visa and Mastercard; I got the impression that
no one does one without the other.
The lady at the bank suggested maybe having people wire us money. That would
cost our contributors money, rather than costing us. But it would probably
cost them *a lot*, so that fewer would contribute. I'll ask the three Indian
folks if they could do this.
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robh
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response 28 of 70:
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Jun 6 06:33 UTC 1996 |
It's worth looking into every option. Thanks, aruba.
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popcorn
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response 29 of 70:
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Jun 6 07:37 UTC 1996 |
Yes, thanks Mark for looking into this.
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tsty
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response 30 of 70:
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Jun 6 15:49 UTC 1996 |
hello? either rickyb or i (and i've volunteered before) can effect the
acceptance and transfer of $$ through our existing CC facilities.
setting up grex to do this independently is an exhorbitant rippoff, imnsho.
and some of those fees per transaction are another rip, imnsho. i have
yet to process my jillionth cc number, but a lot of that stuff is
for 'risky' business. i don not consider grex donations to be 'risky.'
thre is, though, a per-transaction cost that is absolutely unavoidable
however (despite my best attempts otherwise) although at this second
i can't report the amount/percentage.
as a generality though, i *think* it is feasable/reasonable to consider
something along the lines of $1-$1.50 per transaction as grex-cost if
cc were run through me. prolly the same (about) if rickyb were to
run interference for grex.
i would consider that only amounts in excess of $25 would be worth
the effort/grief/whatever.
what is your pleasure?
Oh, the cc folks aren't particularily in favor of this sort of arrangement
and whatever risk there is, is borne by the cc account holder (me or
rickyb, or other volunteers). i do not consider the risk unacceptable.
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carson
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response 31 of 70:
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Jun 6 16:13 UTC 1996 |
FWIW, Martin Wagner (of "Hepcats" fame) used a system similar to
the one TS suggests.
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srw
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response 32 of 70:
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Jun 7 00:55 UTC 1996 |
As long as it is legal, I can't see any disadvantage to availing ourselves
of such an offer on an experimental basis.
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aruba
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response 33 of 70:
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Jun 7 04:04 UTC 1996 |
I would suggest that we only accept credit cards for $60 membership payments.
What does everyone else think of that?
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ajax
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response 34 of 70:
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Jun 7 05:19 UTC 1996 |
32-33 sound good to me.
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rcurl
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response 35 of 70:
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Jun 7 07:29 UTC 1996 |
Me too.
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carson
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response 36 of 70:
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Jun 7 11:57 UTC 1996 |
re #31: ...although I understand the arrangement was illicit , which is
partly why he's no longer in the aforementioned arrangement.
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rickyb
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response 37 of 70:
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Jun 7 15:42 UTC 1996 |
#26: Chargeback fees vary from vendor to vendor, just as bounced check
fees do between banks. They can occur, however, even if an
authorization is approved. MAybe you put throught the charge, then
the person asks you to change it to a check. You put through a
credit on the charge account and get to pay a chargeback fee. Or,
my vendor _requires_ me to transmit all the approvals I get within
24 hrs period. If I wait until the next day to transmit my "batch"
I get a chargeback fee. Needless to say, this only has to happen
once to learn to avoid these fees, but they _do_ exist.
#30: yes, tsty or i could do this, but i have a bookkeeping problem
with doing so. Any charge i take in gets direct deposited into
my corporate account. I'd then have to pay out the amount from
my corp to grex...which would look like an awful big increase in
charitable donations as far as the IRS is concerned, not to mention
that I'd have to pax corp tax on the income, and/or pay my CPA more
to keep the monies straight. In short, I do not wish to co-mingle
Grex money with my own. My terminal and phone connection is
available though, if it can serve more than one merchant ID#.
Also #26:
Discover (Novus) puts you in touch with the company that actually
processes the $. _They_ permit you to accept Visa, MC, AmEx,
Diners Club, Carte Blanche, etc in addition to discover. The
Discover "agent" merely assures you of the lowest % per transaction
fees.
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kaplan
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response 38 of 70:
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Jun 7 22:40 UTC 1996 |
I'm surprised that Indians can hold a card with that familiar Visa or MC
logo on it which does not work in the USA. How sure are those Indians
that their cards are no good here?
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aruba
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response 39 of 70:
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Jun 8 12:10 UTC 1996 |
They sounded pretty sure, but I'll confirm.
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rcurl
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response 40 of 70:
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Jun 8 19:25 UTC 1996 |
Money has to be exchangeable between the involved banks. That works
between some countries and not between others. I don't know about India.
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adbarr
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response 41 of 70:
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Jun 9 00:54 UTC 1996 |
Any objection to contacting the US State Department about this? They have
been helpful in the pass about details of international money transfers.
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popcorn
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response 42 of 70:
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Jun 9 06:08 UTC 1996 |
Go for it, Arnold.
Re 40: My Visa card from the US worked fine in Bombay. But that's the
opposite direction, I guess.
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srw
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response 43 of 70:
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Jun 9 07:04 UTC 1996 |
Yes, I would think that this problem is the same as the problem that they
cannot get US money over there. It's just another manifestation of what is
probably a tight control of access to foreign currency by the government.
They are happy to allow dollars into the country, but not out.
I think we should see what the state department has to say, but I don't expect
much satisfaction.
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aruba
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response 44 of 70:
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Jun 9 14:54 UTC 1996 |
I bet Steve's right. Arnold, please do contact the state department, or let
me know how and I'll do it. That sounds like a great idea.
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adbarr
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response 45 of 70:
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Jun 9 17:42 UTC 1996 |
It has been awhile but I have received very helpful information from the
State Department in the past about transferring funds to Communist countries.
There must be in-place regs/treaties/accords about monetary transfers
between India and the US. Grex would want to have its bank understand those
agreements and agree to honor them in the transfers. BTW, the transfer of
funds to a Communist country was perfectly legal, aboveboard, and not
a subversive act. The State Department just wanted reasonable assurances
from the government in question that the lawful recipients would actuall
get the money or its equivalent. The State Department maintained a list
of governments with approved assurances. If not the State Department,
then Commerce should know. Aruba, help me frame the question, please.
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davel
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response 46 of 70:
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Jun 10 00:42 UTC 1996 |
(Shouldn't be any harder than moving the radish onto the kumquat, Mark.)
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aruba
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response 47 of 70:
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Jun 10 06:23 UTC 1996 |
<g> (Not sure everyone will get that, Dave :)) I guess I would frame it,
"What ways do you recommend for a small business in the U.S. to receive
money from customers in India?" (And please, Rane, I *know* we have
"donators", not "customers", I'm just trying to keep the question simple.)
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davel
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response 48 of 70:
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Jun 10 14:17 UTC 1996 |
(Tough. They should have been there, then.)
8-{)]
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rcurl
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response 49 of 70:
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Jun 10 15:30 UTC 1996 |
Still better to say "contributors" than "customers". That would keep our
non-profit status clear, and there may be some advantage in that. Correct
terms are important in this international dealing. I recall the time I
went to give a seminar at McMaster (Canada) and said to the border person
that I was also going to do some "consulting". They whipped me out of my
car and made me sit around for four hours and fill out an application for
a Canadian "work permit" (or whatever) card....and then they never sent it
to me. *Never* mention "customers", which implies trade, when its not.
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