Credit Card Payments? If you take them - what service do you use?

To process a credit card transaction you need a special kind of bank account called a 'Merchant' account. You will have to give up any information you would normally give up to get a normal bank account. It also costs about $30 a month. The other way is to go through a service that let's you processes the transaction through their merchant account for you. They will usually charge a small per transaction fee. Paypal, Google check out, and Square a good examples of this type of payment gateway. Square is convenient because of the smart phone interface. Other wise, you would have to carry around another type of POS (point of sale) system.

One other quick way would be to set up a 'Yoga Instruction' or similar web site and set it up to accept CC payments. You would either have to get prebooked and paid or have a laptop with a net connection available at the time.

Wow, I step away from the computer for a day and look what happens - you gals and guys rock!!! Thank you.

I am going to look at all the options, but seems to make more sense to me for my business.

Keep your options open as far as accepting . They get really picky about how the money is used and will shut down your card without notice. Then you pretty much have to fight them to get your money back. The same goes for WalMart prepaid cards too.

I am going to look at hand held POS equipment that does not need to interface with a PC or if so, what kind of interface it needs for uplinking to complete transaction. Some I have seen in the past used basic cellular tech which is nice, some needed a cable to a PC and software to uplink.

Certainly a merchant account is going to be needed but it does open up a set of client that prefer to use credit cards. Take The Mens Club. during the day you see a lot of businessmen in there with heavy plastic. Ever see what those "dance tickets" are made out for? When I worked at Leg's when it was on TC Jester, I seen some for 50 a dance pre made out and signed. Some guys would go in and get 20 made right off then open a bar tab.

Their night was set

While I would like the convenience of using a CC I would not want the electronic trail

Been looking at hand held stand POS terminals and have seen some that connect via their own internal GPRS, wifi or ethernet connection. What this means is it can connect to the server for CC processing like a cell phone, use the wifi in the hotel room or an ethernet connection. Unfortunately the cost of these types is about 500 dollars or more. Plus you will need a merchant account etc..

The positives would be you would carry something roughly the size of a slim line phone, some are recharchable with a 4-5 hour run time. So all you would have to do is grab it and go to your outcall with it... or use it in the incall

As for hiding what type of service.... go look on BP at the ads in the body rub section and compare some of them to the escort section.... a lot appear in both...

I use GD cards because a few of my friends will purchase the reload paks and have no trouble b/c they can do it with cash. It keeps them from walking about with hundreds in their pockets. As for GD finding out what you're using it for and shutting down your card, that's something that can be easily combated. Once a gentleman sends me the reload pak number, and I add the balance to my card, I simply withdraw the funds at an ATM. I don't actually swipe it for anything I can't buy in a regular retail store. When I go to purchase ads, I simply purchase a prepaid credit card (as the lovely MsElena mentioned above) and use it to pay for my ads. There is no name on it, no proof of who purchased it because it was done with cash, and it gets tossed once used (they can't be refilled). Works well for me with Eros and other sites. So far, no problem at all. Just a suggestion for those who feel apprehensive.

I also don't see the logic Charles mentioned about purchasing and using GD for the hobby. To purchase a reload pak, you simply do so with cash and tell the cashier how much you want to load onto it. She gives you a receipt that is trash once the lady loads the number (and therefore funds) onto her GD card. Her name is on HER card, sure. But that is linked to HER, not you. Your purchase was with cash, and therefore you are free from connection to the entire transaction. It sounds like your post earlier was referring to you purchasing an actual GD card, but that you read the instructions and it said you needed to register it in your name. That was the wrong product. What you needed was the reload pak. Either way, this is really only an issue for gentlemen who can't carry or need to send that kind of cash (i.e. for travel deposits).

But back to the OP, I still think credit cards are not a great idea...at least not for me. I agree that they are not discreet, and I prefer not to be linked to anyone on paper in RL...through a credit card or whatever. If it works for you...cheers! But please be careful.

Any stories about Pay Pal and why it's so bad? Just curious....they may not be adult friendly but if you're not processing every single transaction through them would it really matter? One thing I have never liked about pay pal is that it simply takes too long to get the $ transferred from Pay Pal to your bank...

I had considering making my green dot account my verified account on pay pal and going that way -not that I would advertise in a big way taking this type of payment but just having it available to someone who really needs to use a CC.

I personally think if it's not overused, and you keep in on the DL, why would Pay Pal care? I have used pay pal for all kinds of black market stuff without having any issues..

Curious to hear what the issues are for pay pal with others.

Of course I have and will continue to file my taxes as I do want to be treated as a real citizen...

Pay pal and use the extention of 'Pay Later site' Very cool to do if your provider has a simple e-bay/ pay pal account. The paper trail is ziltch and the American express online paperless option is the best.
Your provider needs to set up an account much like the cheating wives sites. Charges show up as some bland charge. And what I'm more concerned about is the old lady find some mailed to bill. So these go to my junk yahoo account that no one has acess to. Now if my provider winds up dead and the CSI guys pull the private info some how, then hows really safe? But that ain't ever gonna happen.
With paypal you two can sit there in her room on her laptop and transfer right there on the spot. She gets a comfirmation and you log off with all your sign in safe. Of transfer from your phone into her paypal. Just brainstorming. I paid my illegal mexican help this way. I'd get them all prepaid CC cards and worked great. No paper trail and no F'n taxes to screw with Risky? Yea about being an active gent.
The pay later site is very cool. The provider gets messed up when payments start hitting over $10K then big brother will be notified.
Best thing to do is get a prepaid card from Walmart.

Pay pal and use the extention of 'Pay Later site' Very cool to do if your provider has a simple e-bay/ pay pal account. The paper trail is ziltch and the American express online paperless option is the best.
Your provider needs to set up an account much like the cheating wives sites. Charges show up as some bland charge. And what I'm more concerned about is the old lady find some mailed to bill. So these go to my junk yahoo account that no one has acess to. Now if my provider winds up dead and the CSI guys pull the private info some how, then hows really safe? But that ain't ever gonna happen.
With paypal you two can sit there in her room on her laptop and transfer right there on the spot. She gets a comfirmation and you log off with all your sign in safe. Of transfer from your phone into her paypal. Just brainstorming. I paid my illegal mexican help this way. I'd get them all prepaid CC cards and worked great. No paper trail and no F'n taxes to screw with Risky? Yea about being an active gent.
The pay later site is very cool. The provider gets messed up when payments start hitting over $10K then big brother will be notified.
Best thing to do is get a prepaid card from Walmart. Originally Posted by Bigfatrat

I like this idea.. and why use her PC? There is a PAYPAL app for Android phones, I am sure there is one for BB's and Iphones....

I have a client whose client claimed the expense on his expense account which was on a government reimbursable cost fixed fee contract. He got caught, she got caught as well as several others he was seeing. Undeniable paper trail which opened up pandora's box. Of course, the provider did not claim the income either.

Sweep the cash and put it in the safe or go to the bank. If you have security issues, then you must not have screened well? Or am I missing something?

I have a client whose client claimed the expense on his expense account which was on a government reimbursable cost fixed fee contract. He got caught, she got caught as well as several others he was seeing. Undeniable paper trail which opened up pandora's box. Of course, the provider did not claim the income either. Originally Posted by HoustonLawyerNow

I know about those... I did Tech support for a consulting firm for the government.
Believe me.... they want to know about that 1 penny gumball you bought

Wait... What is it that some of you don't get...?

Paypal is illegal for adult transactions. They don't even need proof. If they suspect that something fishy is going on they will close your account. I know people that have had non adult accounts and had their account shutdown from out of the blue. You do not want to use paypal for anything adult related. You're only asking for trouble. They are holding $2,500 of my money. Wanna take credit cards? Consult with a CPA and get a merchant account. There is some paperwork that you'll have to fill out. It's not that hard. While on my little vacation I learned a lot. As an escort you're a sole proprietor of your business, If you want to do things the right way: Register your business, get a business bank account and sign up for a merchant account. Ibill is a damn good one.

Spirit, I've said it before.. I like ya!

Very true about Paypal. After months of basically spam stalking me to put their logo on my site and use their service, they send me an email saying "Your account has been closed due to suspicion of illegal transactions." DUH!