The Ebay Paypal Agenda

There has been a recent change in the policies of Ebay. Apparently, you can no longer use alternative online payment processors to do business on Ebay. You can only use Paypal. NO e-gold, no Stormpay, no e-Bullion. In fact, if you so much as offer this as an alternative, your Ebay AND Paypal accounts could be frozen.

This was actually announced way back in Oct 2005, but has only been implemented since January 2006. From Ebay's viewpoint, it is just a way of killing a few birds with one stone:
1. Reduce fraud by eliminating alternatives.
2. Reduce competition by eliminating alternatives.
3. Increase profits by eliminating alternatives.

Sound familiar? Think Microsoft.

Compare the policies on Ebay's country-specific sites (use an online translator if necessary):
Ebay US
Ebay Canada
Ebay UK
Ebay France
Ebay Netherlands
Ebay Italy

Ebay Germany
Ebay Germany hasn't been changed yet, but I'm guessing it's probably because of strict antitrust laws and other business regulations.

So what is the average Ebay user to do?
Of course, you can always stick with traditional payment methods: debit/credit cards, cheque, postal orders, etc.

We all like alternatives. We yearn for it. So, if you really need to use something other that Paypal, perhaps you should be on the look out for alternative auction sites.



Other sources:
GoogleRumors

No-Scam.com Forum Referral Contest!

This is a follow-up to my earlier post

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Here are the details of the contest:

1. Earn 1 point for each valid unique hit to your referral link.
2. Earn 25 points for each valid Registration via your referral link.

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Ponzi Gains and Losses

Ponzis are dangerous. Still, people join them, because of the lure of quick bucks. And yes, they do pay... for a while, and not everyone gets a slice of the pie.

When you gamble in ponzis, you've got to know when to cut your losses.
Most ponzis last less than a week, although a few good ones (not good ethically, but they've got a killer publicist) last as long as 3-6 months.

What I really hate, are all these scammers calling themselves HYIPs when they are basically ponzis. Just ONCE, I'll like to see a ponzi with some REAL honest information.

e.g.

xxx-ponzi is founded by a group of ponzi MLM experts. We are devoted to distributing your money to our various e-gold accounts. You can be certain that your investment will be handled by a group of qualified con artists. With us, the online investors can share in the experience of losing their life savings. xxx-ponzi is a short term high loss private loan program, NOT backed up by Forex market trading and investing in various funds and activities. We however do a lot of online betting for kicks at your expense.
Customer support is non-existent.

What are you waiting for? Give us your money now. Now Dammit!

Following my recent articles, 'Are HYIPs worth the risk?' and 'HYIP Strategy for the Cautious', I decided to share my recent ponzi 'adventure' with the online community.

My ponzi gambling attempts thus far...
(note: 5 of the 7 ponzis listed are now defunct, within the space of 3 weeks!)

Win2Cash
Spent $11, earned $20.46, e-gold Fees $0.61, Profit/Loss +$8.85

MediaHYIP
Spent $1, earned $1.45, e-gold Fees $0.09, Profit/Loss +$0.36

SontisInvest
Spent $1, earned $0, e-gold fees $0, Profit/Loss -$1

RushHYIP (This one closed down within THREE days!)
Spent $7, earned $2, e-gold fees $0.09, Profit/Loss -$5.09

Investmentboss
Spent $3, earned $5, e-gold Fees $0.21, Profit/Loss +$1.79

Cycle-HYIP
Spent $3, earned $3.89, e-gold Fees $0.17, Profit/Loss +$0.62

Profits4investingtoo
Spent $2.12, earned $1.32, e-gold fees $0.07, Profit/Loss PENDING (StormPay)


Final Tally = +8.85+0.36-1-5.09+1.79+0.62 = $5.53
Total Spent = $35.12
% profit = 5.53/35.12 = 15.7%
This was over a period of 3 weeks.
monthly profit (potential) ~ 21%

Now, it will be foolish to believe that this sort of results can be repeated with larger amounts of money. Lots of factors to consider:

1. The site may close down before you withdraw your initial spend.
2. Since it is basically a gamble, it's a matter of luck which ponzi you pick.
3. Greed sets in, and you forget to stick to a plan.


Update 11 Feb 2006
Please note that all of the above sites have since gone offline. Ponzis are risky, ponzis are illegal (in many countries), ponzis should never be treated as investment opportunities.

Get Cheap PTP Ads for January 2006

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