From one dinosaur to another,
All of what Jeff said is good information, Tim, but there's one thing I might quibble with, philosopically, if you like.
I would like/try to be an ethical person. [Snipe here.]
When it comes to the 3% "free lunch" that you can get by paying by "paypal as gift," I think it's great that I don't have to pay for once [like a free ride, peanuts at a bar, or a free drink once in awhile.] Of course, you can only do it [paypal as gift] for free when you pay by means other than a paypal credit card. You have to "pay by another method," such as transfer money from your own bank account. This can be a little tricky to do; I think paypal purposely doesn't make it easy--and the option comes up near the end of the transction, below the total.
Anyway, is this unethical? It's "personal" and to a "friend," in the language of paypal. I'd maintain that the Net54 forum is pretty personal and friendly [compared to ebay, e.g.], that there is a camaraderie here, reflected in the trust we have in trading/buying/selling, for instance--and it doesn't come with the commercial guarantees that buying on ebay and then paying by paypal would.
Is this all a rationalization for me exploiting the system/not paying? Maybe.
But I look at it as a corporate give-back, a perk, a service that paypal gives its customers. And surely it's good for their business--which they are encouraging me to do through them, rather than my paying by personal check. And now I become more cynical: Do you think that paypal doesn't know what it's doing?
Anyway, I wouldn't argue that Jeff is probably a more ethical person than I am. I'm probably more practical, but my conscience suffers if I ever do anything I deem unethical. As it is, this 3% off/no charge doesn't bother me; in fact, it makes me happy. Perhaps it's my mindset when dealing with a corporate giant. But don't get me wrong, Tim; I'm happy to use paypal.
I resisted at first, but became "verified" and started using paypal several ago, and now I couldn't imagine doing it any other way. There are all kinds of perks they give [like credit rewards], and there are other advantages, as well. Skeptical dinosaur that I am, I only signed up for a paypal credit card a few months ago, and it seems that there are advantages to using that, as well. Paypal also offers additional protection when buying on ebay, and they've been first-class whenever I've had to deal with them.
Enough from me,
Doug
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