A friend Domina friend of mine recently introduce me to a service that allows her to accept credit card payments (Obopay).

The service is convenient, mobile (yes you can send & receive from your phone), easily accessible, instant transfer wih nominal fees. $.25 to send $$ // 2.25% to upload funds on your virtual card.It's worked well for her and she says customers utilize it regularly. So I wondered if the same wold apply in the PFP community.

Gents: Do you currently use credit cards or payment of your dates? If not, would you like to be able to?

Ladies: Have you ever used a credit cards service to accept payment? What has been our experience?

Hmmm...

~Bella

p.s - I've included a link to the Obopay site.

Post edited by Mod to take out the link and reference to the site in order for the post not to be considered advertising other services.


-- Modified on 5/19/2009 6:41:12 AM

Yes I take cc's but it is a different method....it shows up as my clients paid for a 90 minutes business seminar. A webinar is actually sent to them via the net.

I have no interest in charging my time with ladies.

There are a couple main reasons for this:

No paper trail. If there are no financial-related records, none can be found.

No defecit spending. If you look at how the average American manages their money, it is horrible. People can't keep on top of their cashflow and obligations already. Hobbying is a luxury item that shouldn't be indulged in if it is beyond reach, and many people would max their credit cards and get sunk in debt with something as tempting as the hobby available on credit.

Personally, I am just fine with the hobby being a cash-based economy.

Mines is set up to also take a debit card and again it comes up on a statement as a business seminar...

All of my clients are traveling or local businessmen...no one is going to think twice about that...it really is a very well put together webinar that is sent to my clients.

I often get clients who pay for an hour then decide in the middle of the hour that they need to book an overnight.....if I dont have anyone else booked for that night (which I never book more than one client per day) it is often way after banking hours in my town....they can use their debit card and so far so good.

the funds.They always side with the client.

I agree about using cash for the time we spend with a beautiful lady. A hobby credit card is nice when taking that special lady on a trip with you though.

You do realize by using a credit card you are creating a paper trail.

For guys - gives wife/SO a trail to your activities, as well as LE if gal get busted

For gals - gives LE paper trail and if they find that it was for illegal activities you have then provided them a ton of evidence

I use CC's for pretty much all my purchases.  Hobbying is one thing that I pay with cash.  I agree with the others, there's too much risk with the paper trail for LE or SO to follow.  In addition, for the provider, you also give the taxman an easy way to calculate your income.

I cant speak for all my co-workers....but I pay taxes. The IRS does not care where the income comes from....THEY JUST WANT THEIR CUT.

Also, there are other ways for "services" to show up on an invoice.

In my experience I've had clients of mine who would load money onto my greendot card to put down their deposits, pay my travel expenses and so forth.

I think it is incredibly convenient because you can reload them just about anywhere (cvs, walmart, etc) so since the client pays in cash to load the card, it saves him a paper trail, I receive the funds instantly and there is no interest to be charged.

trust me, when you need to book a pricey international flight these things are awesome.

They also work really well if you have an ongoing relationship with a client. I have some regulars who will load me up at the beginning of the month and then I see them throughout the month. Our dates can be much more GFE this way since the business portion has been taken care of. It's great because if he just calls I can drop what I'm doing and meet up.this takes a bit of organization

I would never pay for anything like this with a credit card.   I never even use a credit card wherever I would not normally be.   I do not even use the prepaid toll system when going places that I normally would not go.   Never even get cash from an ATM where you are not normally.

Never leave a trail, and you will have less chance of being caught.

There are too many smart enterprises that use cc thru 3rd parties...transaction goes in tainted, comes out clean.  Cash is very dangerous...the smart way is for the transaction to be processed beyond the arrangement and then legit payment is made to the provider.  In other activity that occurs is a non issue.

At first blush, I'd agree with the group and say run like hell.  However, I think that if done correctly, there's a huge market there.

What guy, traveling on business, wouldn't love to put an hour with a lovely companion on his expense report?  What business owner wouldn't consider buying a little time for his special (potential) client?  From a paper trail perspective, some cover work needs to be done.  The income is clearly traceable, but if a lady pays her taxes, I don't see that as a problem.

Plus I have heard from a number of ladies that after the fact, the client will dispute the CC charge and then she is left with nothing - yet he still got his appointment.

Credit cards, in my opinion, no matter how it is listed is a bad way to go...
paper trail
evidence for LE
can be refused and funds taken back

good ole fashioned cash is the way to go, at least in my opinion

Phil is spot on.  Cash is old school, risky and a lot of it is hard to justify.  If a provider freelances for an book publishing company and is paid commissions based on the number of orders she sells....you end up with well "read" happy hobbyist and well compensated sale rep who just happens to provide!

Whatever you do, don't use PayPal. Just had a friend whose account was frozen for "illegal activity" and they flat out said it was because she was an escort. They are not discreet, not reliable, and it is just a pain in the ass to use them. Now I have my name out there because I sent a payment through...ahhhh.

All others pay cash.  It way better for me to save my spending money for a nice time...  no risk of deficite spending.  No paper trail.

I can see traveling expenses...  but that's not an option in my circumstances.

Be careful out there,
skb

I appreciate the concurrence, but how is cash risky?  Engaging in illegal activity is somewhat risky, but the trail of cash seems to be the easiest to blur.  I just think that CC's can be blurred as well.

Can you prove or disprove the recent ATM withdrawal was spent on items here or there without a receipt? I can show my receipt and product for my purchase and time.  Plus I did not "engage" in a illegal activity.  I just met with a "sales rep" for drinks (wink).  An LE can construe cash withdrawals and deposits.  But a legitimate cc purchase for a tangible product from a reputable company is bullet proof.  Ask any LE or banking officer...cash is a red flag.  

small business owners using a business cc (no SO issues) to pay for seminars.  The CPA that does the tax return is none the wiser.  But, if the lady gets caught, it could get real interesting with the paper trail created.