# CREDIT FREEZE? Alternatives to taking CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Hi folks.. no matter what happens tomorrow with the vote (no political discussions on it... Pleeease) I thought it would be a good time to proactively plan....

How would you take payments if there are no credit cards available?

This is a good topic to discuss for those who do not want to deal with Credit Cards by choice, and want to look at the alternatives other folks use.

Also, for those already who choose not to accept credit cards, please share your payment taking methods. Thanks.

As I ordered something over the phone for out of state yesterday, I wondered, how would I do this without a credit card? My hub and I figured online sales could come to a halt.

_Please note: There may NEVER come a "credit freeze" out of all this, so let's stay calm in here, and cross bridges as we come to them. I am not looking to stir a bee's nest, , please, just to say, hmmm, what would be the game plan if that would happen this year, or if not now, even in a few years should the economy turn that way? After all, like the show must go on, we want to make sure business goes on as uninterrupted as possible._

_It's good to ponder all aspects of business life, and to prepare as much as possible for events may affect us, and our ability to be profitable._


I was thinking that Paypal might be a good solution, as they can draw payments directly from someone's savings/checking - bypassing credit situations.

I am also hoping that my debit card would work as that is a direct draw on the bank account as well. 

Please share you solutions for credit card free payment taking. Thanks so much!


----------



## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Paypal funded from a bank account, wire transfer, money order; the usual eBay payment methods (or at least the old usual before eBay got all totalitarian and banned them in favour of PayPal).

If credit cards stopped working the economy would grind to a screaming halt though. I'd be more worried about the riots on the streets than how I was going to take an online payment for a t-shirt.


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks, Solmu, and for the shiver down my spine. I'm trying to address this one little thing that maybe I can do something about, to help myself.  Whatever crazy folks do, can't do anything about that. I'd rather not think about it, and get everyone going on those things. Rather just focus on alternate payments methods. Thanks for your great suggestions....


----------



## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Well, looking at each option individually:

PayPal is great as a backup / alternative / additional payment method.

Wire transfer is popular in Australia, but I get the impression it's less commonly used in the US. PayPal pretty much does the same thing anyway (although with added fees, but also added security).

Postal money order is fine... but a little more effort.

Cheques... bleurgh. Dealing with bouncing cheques, will it/won't it clear, etc. isn't something I want to do.

If you're approaching it from a "be prepared" angle then PayPal is great. It gives an additional payment option now that some people might like (that is, there's a reason to be using it already) and then it's already there if you need it. Other methods you might only want to take if you have to, so you might not be as happy to add them now if they're not really _needed_.

Obviously some people have issues with PayPal (I sometimes forget, but I'm actually one of them ), but overall I think they're not too bad.


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

I was thinking last night that lucky Paypal stands to do well should other forms of payment be taken.

Checks, yeah, I agree, not so much, and they are not that instant kind of payment that a credit card/Paypal is. Money orders, cashiers checks = good, but again, dealing with snail mail. 

Using wire transfers isn't that common that I know of in the US, not obsolete, but not one of the ones you hear much of. I'm not sure I even see Western Union commercials much if at all, and they used to be pretty funny, some of them, back in the day.

Debit cards: Any idea where Debit Cards might come into play? Some debit cards have a Visa symbol on them. With those you can choose "debit" or "credit" when you pay for gas, groceries, at Walmart, etc. If available credit was to go bye bye at any time in our future, I wonder what place the plain old debit card would hold.  That one I can't seem to flush out. ? How would a merchant handle that? Does anyone take debit cards as payment?


----------



## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> Debit cards: Any idea where Debit Cards might come into play? Some debit cards have a Visa symbol on them. With those you can choose "debit" or "credit" when you pay for gas, groceries, at Walmart, etc. If available credit was to go bye bye at any time in our future, I wonder what place the plain old debit card would hold.  That one I can't seem to flush out. ? How would a merchant handle that? Does anyone take debit cards as payment?


The ones that have the visa/mastercard symbol can be accepted by those with merchant accounts just like a credit card.

The only difference is on the consumer side, where the money comes from. With a credit card, it's money loaned by the bank, with a debit card it is taken directly from their account (just like PayPal would).

Personally, I don't think it's something we would ever need to prepare for because it would be too drastic a move to be taken. The drawbacks would outweigh the benefits.


----------



## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

It depends what is causing the problem with credit cards. As far as I know, the payment processor can't tell the difference between a Visa debit and credit card. They both have numbers, expiry, etc. and are processed the same way. I even had to pass a credit check to get a debit card, even though it has zero credit capacity on it. I've asked some banks and vendors about it before, and as far as I know they are treated as the same thing (except at their end point of what happens with funds, obviously).

So if, for example, Visa shut down - they'd take their debit cards down with them. But if credit was just unavailable for some reason (unpopular, intervention, whatever) then the infrastructure should still be functional, and debit cards should work.

Maybe I'm out of the loop (I've been watching the bank bailout thing a bit, but not closely), but I didn't know there was anything on the table that might kill credit cards? (other than people voluntarily tightening their belts and cutting back - which Visa et al will always find a way to ride out)


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

So unless Rodney is right on the debit cards (and you sound like you know what you are talking about), then the debit card thing is a tough one to call.

And, true, we may not need to use these other forms, but I always think an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

What's being explained about the credit card is that if one has a credit card, and has a $5K limit and a $3K balance, the other $2K available credit would go bye-bye. Someone would go to use their card and the charge will be rejected.

That is what is being said would happen - if a credit freeze came about, which we have no idea if that will ever come about. This is just a discussion on Alternates to Credit Card payments, spurred by talk about a possible credit freeze, which is trying to be avoided, and hopefully will be.  (_please?!)_


----------



## jamaspea (Oct 15, 2007)

I think you also would have a problem on the other end, rather not just the customer buying from your site, but i know when we buy supplies we buy them on credit, and hope to get the sales quick enough to pay it off. Rather than spend the capital we have. 

I guess make sure your suppliers take paypal, not for the credit side, but then you wont have to wait for checks to clear, before you get your products.


----------



## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Girlzndollz said:


> What's being explained about the credit card is that if one has a credit card, and has a $5K limit and a $3K balance, the other $2K available credit would go bye-bye.


Gotcha, I get it now. Thanks.

Well... _in theory_ if that were to happen... people would be out of credit, which means the available payment methods would be actual funds. Which means in order to purchase they'd need actual funds. Which means any potential purchaser can pay down some of their credit card debt. Which means they'd have credit they could use. Which means any person in a position to purchase, is in a position to use their credit card, even in a freeze. _In theory_.

But if that was the way people actually approached their personal finances, those getting frozen wouldn't have been buying t-shirts anyway. But chances are they are.

In the event of a credit freeze, the credit card companies would still be making a lot of money. Which means debit cards would be unaffected.

More to the point, those living within their means would be unaffected. Depending on what market segment you're targeted at, that can be most customers anyway. The credit lines would be re-drawn so that those who shouldn't have been extended credit in the first place would no longer have it - it's not like all credit would disappear completely.


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

jamaspea said:


> I think you also would have a problem on the other end, rather not just the customer buying from your site, but i know when we buy supplies we buy them on credit, and hope to get the sales quick enough to pay it off. Rather than spend the capital we have.
> 
> I guess make sure your suppliers take paypal, not for the credit side, but then you wont have to wait for checks to clear, before you get your products.


Yes, a credit freeze would hinder businesses abilities to buy Supplies on credit as well. Great idea to suggest that folks not only look at how would they take payments, but how would they purchase their supplies so that their business could continue to function as smoothly as possible (in the event that credit was not available for whatever reason).


----------



## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

If there is a credit freeze on cards then we will more than certain not have any business at all because that would and other problems plunge us into a depresion of likes we have not seen,, the last one would be childs play compared to the one that we could face because it would not only be the USA but world wide.


----------



## prometheus (Oct 19, 2006)

I would think that a person trying to buy something on a credit card, would be depending on that credit. If the extra credit was not there, then they probably would not be buying then, cutting back to necessary purchases. If they didn't need the extra credit, then they would be using their debit card. Now some people do purchase things on their credit card for the kickbacks and such, but still, I think it would end up not puchasing extra things like t-shirts.


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Solmu said:


> Gotcha, I get it now. Thanks.


No prob. 



solmu said:


> Well... _in theory_ if that were to happen... people would be out of credit, which means the available payment methods would be actual funds. Which means in order to purchase they'd need actual funds. Which means any potential purchaser can pay down some of their credit card debt. Which means they'd have credit they could use. Which means any person in a position to purchase, is in a position to use their credit card, even in a freeze. _In theory_.


Huh? What? Haha, just kidding (I think). The credit available: It seems not really. As people pay down the debt, the available credit would be reduced by the payment amount, to whatever the current balance is. Pay off $500 of the $3K, and the available credit would then be $2500, supposedly. _Of course, I am a firm believer that there is no way to know for sure, nothing is certain until the day arrives, but that is predicted as the likely procedure. And this may never come to be._

For those who use the cards and pay them off each month, I suppose the available credit would go bye bye at the end of the month. 

For those who use their CC's for gas, groceries, meds, dr bills, untilities, and pay only the minimum payments each month, because they can't/don't make ends meet on what they bring in... they will lose the credit that enables them to go month to month. 



> More to the point, those living within their means would be unaffected.


Pretty much, in the sense that they can still afford the things the need, but changes to the economy all around them (which likely would be significant), would affect them, that and figuring out how to pay for things if credit cards are not available. 



> The credit lines would be re-drawn so that those who shouldn't have been extended credit in the first place would no longer have it - it's not like all credit would disappear completely.


We'll have to wait and see. Nobody wants to lend to anybody right now. 

This article reflects alot of what I hear:
Until fear is checked, credit freeze up will not ease - BloggingStocks


Well, are those the only suggestions of how to pay or take payments if for some odd, whatever crazy reason... a credit card couldn't be taken? 

Whatever happens, or doesn't, well just all end up going thru it together anyway. We'll have some stories for the grandkids, or not... ya know?


----------



## EntropyGuy (Jun 5, 2008)

A lot of my purchases come via PayPal. Especially from younger buyers.

R.


----------



## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Kelly... get a beer and relax...the circumstances you layout...just will not happen in my opinion...the world runs on credit...it will still be there...you may not get a home loan with 5% down and 5% interest BUT you ..with decent credit buy a house with 20% down at 7.5% as my neighbor did last week..it just means more upfront... as to using debit cards...I use them some but mainly will use either of the major credit cards for money back etc....and protection in case the product(s) are defective...you can protest and they will help BUT with debit there is no protection...you make the purchase and you own it...in fact..legally if someone hijacks your account you might on the hook...most banks have stood behind the customer but.....

The use of wire transfers in US will never go very well. Just last week I had to make a wire transfer to Germany and because of short time...and the other end did not know of paypal..I had to use...the wire transfer was only $110 but the bank charge for the transfer was $40! that is the fee for any fund transfer under $150..

I use paypal quite a lot and so far I am happy


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks, Charles, _and no worries, I am relaxed, thanks for thinking of it. I really am, that's one of the first things I made sure to say up front in the first post. _These are the things we are all seeing on the tv these days, and I totally believe: don't worry until you have something to worry about. 

Who knows for sure if it ever would happen or not, but it seemed to spur a good topic for discussion, since it's the central topic of the day, and what would happen if credit cards in fact for some reason did become unavailable.

I was thinking Paypal would be the way, but I wanted to ask since others might be using other non-credit card payments. So kind of looks like paypal would be the main go to. Hm.

I guess we now know why wire transfers aren't too popular in the US. I didn't know any of that, thanks for the info. If WT comes up with anyone, I'll let them know to look into the fees, bc that could really hurt profits if it's not built in... thanks alot, Charles!


----------



## AustinJeff (May 12, 2007)

I think it's more likely that cash (American cash, at least) will "stop working" before credit cards do.

Moreover, the potential problem is with the credit that backs the cards. I don't think many of my customers -- regardless of the form of payment -- are actually buying shirts on credit, i.e. using money they don't have. I certainly hope not. But if so, it won't matter what kind of payment arrangements you have because those customers won't have the funds to use them.

And although there are reports that many American Express and some other issuers customers have recently had their credit lines cut, this is not happening with all card issuers. In fact, I have received two unsolicited card card line increases this week alone. And even my WaMu card still works just fine.


----------



## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

I use credit cards extensively...but pay IN FULL each month...never a unpaid balance..makes life cheaper. I can have several cards with hundreds of dollars due..thousands in some cases..but again..paid in full when due..I have Amex, discover, Visa and M/C..and have had no indications that my limit has been touched..


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

I still get half a dozen pieces of junk mail every day for credit cards and mortgage refinancing but my credit is golden.

The people I hear complaining are people who were iffy to begin with. There was a woman on the radio yesterday morning complaining that the bank wouldn't loan her husband money to build more houses until they sold some of the houses they've already built. It's not fair she said, they can't pay themselves and have no income.  Well their income is supposed to come from selling houses, not paying themselves from bank loans.


----------



## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

rick...what a novel idea....make money by selling what you make ...jeez...maybe I have to rethink my business plan


----------



## jamaspea (Oct 15, 2007)

I guess its a good thing i sleep on a pillow full of money!!!! LOL 

It really seems like a credit freeze will hurt the people that realy need it. rather that people that dont. 

If you dont really need a loan you can go to the bank and get a loan no prob. But if you really need the loan, then start jumping through the hoops.


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

I've also heard complaints that some businesses may not make payroll if they don't get credit. Maybe I'm naive but if you're using credit to make payroll then your business has already failed. It just seems like most of the noise is coming from people who shouldn't have been getting credit all along.


----------



## knifemaker3 (Sep 8, 2006)

Rick, I agree. If you need a loan to make payroll you'd be much better off to just close the doors cause you ain't making it anyway. Why go further down in debt. Or, and this is a novel concept for some, let some of your employees go and do more of the work yourself!!!!!!!!

I myself do not accept credit cards. I use cards to buy supplies, but do not accept for payment. On ebay I use Paypal. In the store, check, money order, and CASH IS KING!!!!! I've never had a check bounce YET..... next one probably will since I said that..... But I do require 50% down on the order if I don't know them personally or am working with schools, churches, government entities, etc. When working with school get a PO. For that matter with gov. agencies, towns, etc. most will issue PO if you ask for it.

I may be stupid, but the only online presence I have is a small ebay store. I try stay away from the whole website stuff as I don't have time to properly take care of a website myself and don't trust someone else to do it for me.

Anyway, I don't think it will get to that point. But, good topic for theory anyway.

Craig


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Well, okay I agree that if you need credit to make payroll, sounds silly. But I worked in the accounting department of a $40M a year business. There is something called a Line of Credit (LOC) that most companies I worked for had. For that company I mentioned above, it was my job to "pay down the line" daily. 

Growth takes money. Sometimes that money comes in the form of a Credit Line. It's a gamble for any business to take loans for growth, but those gambles pay off. Buying that piece of equipment to win a bid paid off in getting the bid, helps pay down the line that equipment was bought on, and future revenue continues to pay that line down. But most growth focused companies continue to roll the available Line over into more new equipment, and the pattern repeats.

A well managed company with a good line of credit can work out well.
Just another view.


----------



## sMecKs (Feb 27, 2008)

I currently work for a large company that deal with merchant accounts. For a small biz like people have here what we typically do is lease them a wireless credit card possessing machine that will take anything from debit/credit or keyed in accounts. How it works is we give you a monthly payment for the lease of the machine, a low qualified rate 1.59%. I currently use one myself whenever i go out to an event. We also handle shopping karts. For the karts the fees are 2.00%, 0.15 cents of each transaction
and a $15 a month for the service.Compared to Paypals 2.9% + 0.30 cents off every sale. We do not use paypal, we do use authorize.net.


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

Girlzndollz said:


> A well managed company with a good line of credit can work out well.
> Just another view.


Absolutely, a loan for company growth is a legitimate use for credit. A loan to make payroll or to build houses you can't sell isn't, in my opinion. I think the so called credit crisis is nothing but a short term disruption in loans caused by the major chaos in the banking industry which is in the process of being sorted out rather quickly. Today we saw two healthy banks literally fighting one another to buy Wachovia. The problem is that so many lending institutions have failed or are on shaky ground, they have no money to loan and that isn't going to change until they change ownership. Companies became used to being handed loans like free drinks at a craps table and those days are over.

Clark Howard said today that credit card companies are targeting people whose credit scores have dived from the housing failures.


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Right on, Rick! I've been out of touch today and some of yesterday, but I'm hearing you in that post.


----------



## knifemaker3 (Sep 8, 2006)

The closest town to where I live (yes I live out in the sticks) has @ a 3000 person population. It also has 7 banks!!! Tell me there hasn't been big money made in the banking industry in the last few years.

I look for all but a coupl of those banks in town to fold, mostly the newer ones that haven't been around awhile and Bank of America cause it's a bigger chain.

Can you imagine, 7 banks in a town that small? And that is not counting the drive in branch of 1 of those banks.

GEEZ!!!


----------



## knifemaker3 (Sep 8, 2006)

Sorry about the last post getting a little of topic about alternatives to credit cards. Just thought I'd share part of the reason why this country is in such a credit crunch to begin with. Between bankers loaning more than they knew the person could pay if they fell on hard times, and people borrowing more than they should to keep up with the jones. It's finally payday and now people and banks are in big trouble.

Oh well, I still refuse to take credit cards in my business because of the high fees they charge. Bigger orders they aint' too bad, but for a $10.00 shirt you'd just as well give it to the customer by the time you pay all the fees. About like selling on Ebay, which I'm very seriously considering dropping.

CASH IS KING!!!!! Or gold or silver  

Craig


----------



## DTFuqua (Jun 26, 2008)

Credit card? whats a credit card? We don't need on stinking credit card. I pay cash (debit for long distance transactions) and I sell for cash. If I am gonna let someone have something that they can't afford to pay for now, I might as well give it to them. (thats why I quit doing computer repair)


----------



## greyhorsewoman (Jul 19, 2007)

Another alternative is 'prepaid credit cards' (I know that is really a oxymoron). Our system has worked hard over the last 20 years to turn us into a 'cashless' society and has been quite successful.

Personally, I use my debit card for most every expense, makes keeping track of business expenses much easier. (and verifiable in case of audit) ~~ don't have to worry about somebody not taking a check or having enough cash on me.

In the 'old days' ... we got catalogs and wrote out our orders and paid with checks. Delivery times were longer and we thought that was just the way of things. Now we can can instant payment and have item in mail same day for delivery in 2-3 days. 

Wholesale merchants did phone orders and offered 'net 15' or 'net 30' to their regular customers. Merchants are reluctant to do that anymore, even if it saves them credit card fees. They want their money NOW.

We take credit cards online (can't imagine getting much in orders without it). Our vendor booth sales used to average 30-40% credit cards, now it's more like 50-75%. 

Merchant fees are crazy. But the more volume you do, the 'less expensive' they are. I don't care WHAT they quote me, each month I take the total of what I'm charged and the total of what I processed and see what my REAL percentage is. On slow months, it can get up to 7% ... busy season more like 4%. I generally figure it averages out to $1.00 out of every $20 I make goes to credit card processing.

Oh, and while we still say it, only one out of about 20 customers will elect DEBIT when we ask Debit/Credit on their credit cards. Yet the difference to me is 25 cents flat fee as opposed to $1.00 per $20.


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

knifemaker3 said:


> Can you imagine, 7 banks in a town that small? And that is not counting the drive in branch of 1 of those banks.
> 
> GEEZ!!!


Bank of America is still rock solid, far as I know; ditto for BB&T. But Wachovia, WAMU along with others are history.

One reason, maybe THE reason you see so many small banks is it has become a business to open a bank, offer incentives plus the customer service of a small town bank then sell out to a larger bank. Because in the banking industry the large banks don't compete, they just buy you.


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Our local community bank put an article in the local paper saying they are liquid, unlike the investment banks. They made sure to print they won't be loaning, and have not loanded money, to folks who don't have the means to pay it back. 

They relayed the message particularly to small businesses and folks needing a mortgage, that they'll be there, and not to worry, they aren't a part of that whole mess, and since they didn't mess up during it, they are fine (for now.) It's all quite interesting as more and more of the smaller puzzle pieces are revealed. 

So thanks everyone for the suggestions to alternate methods of taking payment if not by credit card, doesn't seem to be a whole lot of variety or options out there. I was most intrigued by that post by the person that offered an alternate to Paypal. Thanks again... see you later.


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

I read today that only 13 banks have failed, yet 47 banks failed in 1986 and I don't remember there being such a crisis.


----------



## AustinJeff (May 12, 2007)

wormil said:


> I read today that only 13 banks have failed, yet 47 banks failed in 1986 and I don't remember there being such a crisis.


Yes, but in '86 the largest failure was about $30 billion. WaMu was over $300 billion.


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

True, WAMU was a whale but there are web articles dating back three years warning of this exact thing happening so it wasn't exactly a surprise. I still believe Wall Street has been playing Chicken Little to pressure the government into a ill begotten bailout package. The bailout package won't restore the money lost in my IRA due to panicked selling and so has no real benefit to me and I'm guessing to the majority of Americans. The sure clue is that the 'crisis' has steadily evolved over the last two weeks. It was a sub-prime mortgage crisis, then a banking crisis, then an insurance crisis, now its a credit crisis. What will it be next week? Probably nothing because the bailout plan passed.


----------



## Earl Smith (Sep 30, 2008)

Hi,
I`m a little out of touch over here in Germany. When you guys over in the USA use a credit card to buy something, how long do you have to pay it off? Over here if I buy stock or material I have a maximum of 31 days to pay it off. ON every 15th of the month my card is cleared to zero from my normal bank account. No interest charged. That way everything is under control. We dont live on too much credit here and our world works OK. 
Earl


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

If you pay your balance at the end of the month you'll avoid interest charges; otherwise, you have forever to pay it off as long as you continue making the minimum payments. Credit card companies make money from people who carry balances so they are in no rush to _make _you pay it off.

Many responsible people do pay off their cards at the end of the month, some carry a balance but then others bury themselves in debt.


----------



## rrc62 (Jun 2, 2007)

wormil said:


> What will it be next week? Probably nothing because the bailout plan passed.


I think it will be a market crisis for a little while. The lack of faith in this bail-out plan is reflected in the market right now. I think once investors see that the market has reached a bottom, they will start buying again. Every day seems to end with another report of a market sell-off which tells me that investors feel that the bottom is still a ways off. A lot of people just don't trust the system anymore. That trust will take time to get back.

I think you're right in that the bail-out won't help restore what has been lost and it won't create jobs. It will basically keep these large investment firms and banks afloat until the bail-out money is gone. The system needs money to function. Without it we get what we have now. That money can either come from working Americans putting money back into the system and paying taxes or it can come from huge federally funded programs like the bail-out that just passed.


----------



## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

*Thread note: *some posts were moved out of this thread. 

As the original post states, please, let's _not_ focus on the political aspect of the question posed. To keep things on topic, let's try to focus on the alternative solutions to using credit if such a situation arose.


----------



## screenprinter1 (Jan 5, 2008)

I hadn't really thought about the possibility of a credit card freeze until reading this thread. I would be pretty shocked if something like that happened. I agree with some of the others that if it does happen we will probably have more to worry about that how to get paid. 

I know that my partner who has been in the contract embroidery business for 25 years has not taken credit card/debit cards until last year. Surprisingly she still got paid for every job. For long term customers that have terms, she simply requests a check every 15 to 30 days and they send it. New or low volume customers, are simply due on receipt. They do not take nor does she ship until she has a check in hand. To her, credit card processing is just a perk, an easier way to get paid. In fact she's mad that she loses money on the deal because of credit card fees.

I have adopted many of her policies, and they are very effective.

I'm worried about two major things right now. I may not get paid from the customers who currently owe me money (I have a few of the bigger ones on terms). Second, those who do pay by credit card could contest charges for whatever reason and then I would be doing work for free.


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

The only sure way to get paid is cash, cashier's check, money order or traveler's check. Paypal, credit cards and some debit cards can be disputed, checks can be canceled.


----------



## CUSTOM UK (Jun 28, 2008)

This credit crunch thing looks real serious at the moment, but the one thing I really don't understand though, is when they talk about industry grinding to a halt.  

Everyone I know in business, is still busy making a buck. People are still working overtime and there are no big lay offs in industry yet. 

Some days, it truly does seem like parallel worlds exist side by side.

Cash would be great, but those of us with online businesses and global trading, really wouldn't want a wad of foreign currencies arriving in a tattered envelope.


----------



## knifemaker3 (Sep 8, 2006)

I still think that the old tried and true methods are still the best. Cash is still king and just because you don't have a website doesn't mean you ain't going to make it big in this or any other industry.

I will still continue to take personal checks even though I realize that someday I will get hung. But, as long as I take 50% on order and collect the other at delivery, I will (or at least should) weed out people who will be a problem to begin with. Someone who is going to bounce a check usually will not do so without having the product in their hands. At least that has been my experience.

I will also continue to buy supplies online with credit cards simply because that is about the only way to buy from most of the suppliers I buy from. I don't like debit cards as the security isn't as good as with credit cards.

And Rodney, sorry for the bad post. I'll try and not get political in my post anymore.

Have a good day all!!!

Craig


----------



## knifemaker3 (Sep 8, 2006)

Will,
You posted while I was writing mine!!! I do realize that for some it will be impossible not to take credit cards. And for those like you I really don't have a good answer for you. Just hope that it doesn't come to this scenerio.

I really don't think this country is overall in as bad a shape as they are letting on. Yes, it's not going to be business as usual, but, it doesn't necessarily mean the sky is falling either. Just be patient and everything will work itself out and then we will positively know what we need to do as business owners to adjust our practices to keep afloat and in business.

Craig


----------



## CUSTOM UK (Jun 28, 2008)

I really think it is all the scaremongering that is creating this situation Craig. Sooner the papers find another story to focus on, the better off we'll all be.

Worst case scenario, is that I'll actually get some time to build the dtg machine I keep putting off.


----------



## prmgr (Oct 9, 2008)

DREAMGLASS said:


> I really think it is all the scaremongering that is creating this situation Craig. Sooner the papers find another story to focus on, the better off we'll all be.
> 
> Worst case scenario, is that I'll actually get some time to build the dtg machine I keep putting off.


 I think without a doubt some of it is fear mongering. But let's face it the average person and politician has no idea what just happened and most economists are in the same boat. The market for these products was such a shadow market that it's nearly impossible to trace the money. Meanwhile the market is down another 1000.

Make sure you're shipping only to the billing address of the card in question in this climate.


----------



## Earl Smith (Sep 30, 2008)

I dont know if this is true in the USA or UK but here in Germany and I think the whole Eurozone Cheques are handled differently. If I am paid via a cheque and the cash clears into my account I thought that was it. The money was mine. So I can give the goods to the customer. Not the case. The person who gave me the cheque can take the money back out of my account, via his own bank account where the money was origionally issued, within the next 6 weeks. 
This scam has been going on for the online car sales sites and they are warning us about it. 
Thats why we work with Cash, Credit cards or bank transfers. All cleared within 30 days...
How is it over there??
Earl


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

In the US, for a fee you can cancel a check before it is cashed. Apparently this doesn't work with stores that take checks electronically which is becoming more common.


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

Got a letter from my credit union along with my statement reassuring me that they don't own any shaky investments and that they have plenty of money to lend if anyone needs a loan. 

Considering how bad the car dealerships are doing I might just go in and twist their arm to see how low they'll go before yelling UNCLE!

I got something from Chrysler-Jeep that if I trade in my Chrysler for another Chrysler or Jeep they'll give me the original MSRP as my trade-in value; but in the fine print they state the trade-in value won't exceed NADA retail value so basically they are lying. 

They also offer $.99 gas for the rest of the year (limited to $348 in the fine print). 

$10,000 off select new vehicles (limited to Jeep Grand Cherokee in the fine print).


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

rcarder said:


> We do alot of on site printing and have had several request to take credit cards. With PayPal we could not do that.


Actually I think you can with their virtual terminal. Doubt it works with cell phones though.

I'm using Paypal for credit cards but so far everyone local has payed by check so I've only used it for distance orders.


----------



## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

How does the cell phone thing work?

What are their rates?


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Here is some excellent information to be aware of if you do want to leave your current credit card processor... if you are deciding to leave credit cards behind, and use an alternative, make sure you get out of your contract without this happening:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/business-finance/t74922.html


----------



## CardPaymentServ (Feb 19, 2009)

The Credit freeze will never happen entirely. Not only the US economic infrastructure but the global economic infrastructure is dependent on card acceptance. 

Also the credit card processor are able to tell if a cad is a debit or credit card based on the card number itself. With out getting in to too much detail some transaction are processed like credit cards and some are prodcessed as debit cads. They should also have a lower processing cost.

But what has been happening is an erosion of available credit. If you have not check your credit limit on a rarely used card in a while you may notice a decrease in your limit. This has been happening a lot. 

An effective method to processes payments electronically without credit cards is to use ACH. This is an electronic debit of a person or business bank account. The benefit is it is less expensive than card payments The problem with this is the funding can be slower and you may end up with payments that reject. ACH, like card payments also have a charge back option to consumers but unlike credit cards they only have 60 days in which to do so. For those of you using Authorize.net you have this option readily avialbe to you at a lesser cost than PayPal.


Ryan Morgan


----------

