The Great PayPal Debate

by Madison Stone

NEW from Paypal's Web Site:

Violating the Acceptable Use Policy

Notice Date: August 23, 2004
Effective Date: September 24, 2004
Violators of the Mature Audiences, Prescription Drugs and Gambling categories of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy may be subject to a fine of $500.00 USD and/or PayPal may take legal action against you to recover losses that are in excess of the amount fined.

The Good Old Days...

Way back when.... PayPal was the payment processor of choice for cam & phone transactions. They worked pretty well, allowing girls to process transactions for a minimal fee and while protecting the privacy of both the girls and the customers. It was fast & easy & it generally worked pretty well. Unfortunately, like most good things, it had to end.

The End...

Well, thanks to a whole bunch of lying, thieving wankers, PayPal pulled the plug on adult transactions back in June, 2003. Mr. Wanker would buy a show and then turn around and charge it back because he didn't want to have to explain the charge to Mrs. Wanker, or because he was just a mean spirited small man. The adult industry was a tiny part of their business and with Visa clamping down on adult transactions, it wasn't worth the aggravation for PayPal to continue to offer processing to adult sites. They changed their TOS and notified everyone who was processing through adult sites that they were no longer allowed to process through PayPal:

General Policy

PayPal may not be used to send or receive payments for any adult, sexually oriented, or obscene materials or services. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Any material or services suggesting sexual activity

• Any material or services designed to sexually arouse the viewer or reader

• Non-adult services whose web site marketing can be reasonably misconstrued as allowing adult material or services to be purchased using PayPal (e.g., a web hosting service that markets its services by displaying sexually explicit graphics and the PayPal button on its home page)

For information about this policy, please visit the PayPal web site and read their Mature Audience Policy.

One Year Later...

Well here we are a year later and some people still haven't gotten it through their thick skulls that PayPal is NOT an acceptable processor for adult transactions. Granted, a small number of people have no idea about their Mature Audience Policy. Generally speaking, this group is more than happy to use an alternate processor once they learn of the policy as they are not in the habit of breaking rules. The vast majority however, are just the type of person who think that the rules do not apply to them and/or who like to use PayPal because its easy to get away with fraud by using PayPal.

Con artists abound on PayPal. People posing as cam girls convince some poor guy to send money and then he never hears from 'her' again. I see this EVERY DAY:

johnuxbridge: i got ripped off twice tonight ;(
Madison: on paypal john?
johnuxbridge: yea
johnuxbridge: =(

pugga_20002000: i got scammed yesterday....1st time
madisonstonexxx: paypal?
pugga_20002000: yes maam

Ask Yourself Why....

Why would you trust someone who is taking payments illegally? You'll buy the show and then 'she' suddenly vanishes off the face of the earth. Or you end up watching a recording, not a live show. What are you going to do? Complain to PayPal? How much sympathy do you think they're going to have for someone who was defrauded while violating their Terms of Service?

PayPal is the scammers tool of choice.Without exception, EVERY SINGLE scam I've ever heard of was conducted through PayPal.

It takes 5 minutes and an email address to set up a PayPal account. Wouldn't you like a little more security than that? There are better options for everyone.

SO NOW WHAT?

Merchant Accounts

Purchasing through a site with a merchant account is the safest bet for customers because the process of setting up an account with Visa alone falls just short of requiring DNA samples & fingerprints. 30 pages of legal documents, a Limited Company, about $1000 and a month long registration & screening process are required. As you might imagine. It keeps the riff raff out. So if you choose to do business with someone who has chosen to go through all this, you can generally be assured that you are doing business with a legitimate, trustworthy individual. KEEPING a merchant account is bit of a science too. You cannot continue to process credit cards through your merchant account if you are not running a tight ship. Your credit card information is being processed through the most reputable adult transaction companies on the net. They have the budget to maintain the highest in security standards. Also, because the merchant (cam girl) has her own account and is paying the fees, there is nothing for you to join and no fees for you to pay over and above the cost of your show. For all these reasons, paying through an independent merchant account is by far the best option from the consumer perspective.

Just Say No...

Guys, you're just going to have to give up your PayPal addiction. Already most of the best girls out there will not accept it. Your available options are dwindling every day and your risk of getting scammed only gets greater. Choose to do business with girls who play by the rules. You'll get better shows and be at much less risk of running into a scammer.

I hope this has cleared up some of the misinformation floating around out there about PayPal & payment methods. The best thing we could do for this industry would be to eliminate all PayPal transactions as it would cripple the people who are out to scam us. Choose to do business with legitimate businesses who are operating above board and we'll all get back to doing what we do best.... having fun!