Neither am I. But we are in the minority now.Originally Posted by Dan Fromm
Steve.
Neither am I. But we are in the minority now.
Steve.
When you trade financial assets, the trades are valued in dollars and any profits made by either party get reported as income. The Treasury, in particular the IRS, tends to view any sort of alterna-cash scheme as tax avoidance. For instance, in various times and places, communities have tried to set up barter-based systems, where participants get credits for providing goods and services to other participants. Theoretically the trades are of equal value, but the IRS sees this as a form of black-market trading. They don't like being cut out of the loop.
Even value trades are still tax avoidance. Does not matter if I pay you for a $10 haircut with a $10 dollar bill or $10 dollars of labor.
Over the years, I have had a lot more problems with banks screwing up accounts than Paypal. I appreciate having Paypal between the morons at my bank and folks I send money to from my bank account. I think my bank has changed hands 4 times in the last 5 years.
Ed Richards
http://www.epr-art.com
I just bought something from a guy on ebay and he informed me that paypal put a 21 day hold on the money he received (in case I file a dispute, though it does get lifted if I file positive feedback - maybe). Now I'm all for their buyer protection measures, but this is pretty ridiculous - clearly a case of passing on the entire risk to their customers. Sure, banking institutions are not infallible as we've seen the last couple of years, but the potential rewards are enormous and with that should come some acceptance of the risks. Perhaps by legislation. To be licensed as a bank (or whatever) I think these institutions should have certain service standards that they are forced to adhere to - like not holding money from people (perhaps with the exception of obvious bad-credit basket cases... but even that is troubling, because what you have in those cases are financial institutions holding poor people's paycheques so that they have to go to these huge cheque-cashing-fee places like Money Mart, probably owned by the same damned people anyway).
Count me in, too. In my case it's disgust with the Canadian cell-phone pricing structure. I've shopped for phone plans several times over the last few years, and every single time I've found that there's pretty much no way to get a phone and use it regularly without it costing you upwards of $60 a month (perhaps $100), and I'm just not socially active enough to justify it. Besides, I can sit down in a coffee shop with my laptop and phone people with google calling for free if I really need to contact someone.
Yes, that's what the IRS says.
I for one am not looking forward to touchless pay systems. I still like to pay cash for stuff whenever possible--I don't see any reason for anyone but me to keep track of what I'm buying. And let's face it, if it's not already obvious, "innovation" in financial services is generally not for the benefit of the individual, it's about generating as much transaction activity as possible for the bank.
Where does the desire for anonymity come from? I'm not sure that it is what everyone wants.
Within Sweden, most people pay with direct bank transfers, free of cost. The recipient can see which account the money came from, but so what?
I have not had any problems with PayPal, they offer protection when dealing with people I don't know. It would be nice with smooth and free international direct bank transfers when dealing with known companies or trusted sellers.
It's not the recipient knowing where the money came from that is the concern. It's the ability of 2 parties to conduct a transaction without going through another, 3rd party. That's what cash does, and that's what I mean by 'anonymous', but that was probably not the correct word. What is needed is the ability of Party A to pay Party B without being forced to go through (and typically give a royalty to) Party C.Within Sweden, most people pay with direct bank transfers, free of cost. The recipient can see which account the money came from, but so what?
Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a computer. Art is everything else we do.
--A=B by Petkovšek et. al.
I'm buying a camera right now. Could have used PayPal, but the seller agreed that a cashier's check sent certified mail would be acceptable. Cashier's check was free, mailing was $7.50.
I was glad not to use PayPal.
Was a great show, and trust me, I'm way far from the npr crowd.
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