The three major credit cards will no longer allow payments to Backpage
- Thread starter Banacek
- Start date
PayPal is the leader in making sure they are not being utilized for adult services, so doubt they would allow themselves to pay for BP ads. Only thing I can think of is Red Dot cards or the like.
Looking at BP now, they don't appear to be hurting for ads, so not sure when this credit card ban is in effect.
Looking at BP now, they don't appear to be hurting for ads, so not sure when this credit card ban is in effect.
It will be a little annoying, but far from the end of the world. As anyone who plays poker online can tell you, there are other ways to pay for things besides those credit cards.
I think backpage is doing some promo to help people post ads until it's resolved...
https://twitter.com/YourMarissa/status/616750394669035520
I think backpage is doing some promo to help people post ads until it's resolved...
https://twitter.com/YourMarissa/status/616750394669035520
LMAO. Just saw this ad on Backpage.
"How to Buy Bitcoins Guide for Escorts with No ID, Fast and Direct - How to Guide - 21"
http://manhattan.************/Femal...h-no-id-fast-and-direct-how-to-guide/60842762
Now that's smart.
"How to Buy Bitcoins Guide for Escorts with No ID, Fast and Direct - How to Guide - 21"
http://manhattan.************/Femal...h-no-id-fast-and-direct-how-to-guide/60842762
Now that's smart.
I think letting people advertise for free is a good idea for backpage so they dont lose market share while they try to resolve this. But it's not exactly great for their revenue stream. The idea of people switching over to using bitcoin is, in my belief, a bit of a pipe dream. Plus even if people start using bitcoin to pay for their backpage ads I think backpage will find out exactly how hard it will be for them to monetize the very large amount of bit coins they will be getting, they will flood the market for selling bitcoins and the bitcoin market value will plummet.
As someone who has run adult websites I can tell you that losing credit card payments has always been a death knell.
As someone who has run adult websites I can tell you that losing credit card payments has always been a death knell.
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I wonder if prepaid credit cards from the majors are included in that ban. And what about Green Dot? If so, look for there to be a mad influx of hos at your neighborhood Walgreens or Rite Aid. You'll be able to tell them apart from the civilians when they pop up to the register with their arms full of baby wipes, condoms, cigarettes, and prepaid cards.
All these alternative ideas sound great, but from personal experience I can tell you that getting anyone to start usimg an alternative method of payment just to use your site, you are fighting an extremely uphill battle. We here have tried on several occassions to introduce new methods to escorts to pay for ads which were actually superior to their existing options and they went nowhere fast. If BP cant get credit card processing from the big 3 I highly doubt they are going to make significant inroads getting their customers to use alternative payment methods. Perhaps I am wrong and time will tell.
Even though you offered superior options, they still had a way that worked ok for them and that's what they would stick with.
Although UG and other sites of this type are useful to escorts, BP has several major advantages to escorts that may require them to find alternate means to get on BP.
Off the top up my head:
1. sheer size - I'm guessing but maybe a couple of orders of magnitude more "purchases" of escort related services generated than the sex sites.
2. Not blocked - many places offering free internet access will block sex sites. This happened to me recently when I was out consulting at a company and wanted to look for a lunchtime "snack". Didn't allow UG but did allow BP access.
3. Legitimacy of visiting BP or CL: I know of some grandmothers who use it. No problem with BP or CL showing up in autocomplete suggestions that pop up on a computer's browser that may be shared by other non-mongers as there are many legit reasons for going to BP or CL.
Just for perspective: when UG was doing a request from site users fund raiser a while back I sent mine in via a totally untraceable way (forget if it was cash or money order) as I do with my burner phone minutes even though it is 5% cheaper to buy minutes via my Target credit card (I may be paranoid but doesn't mean they aren't out to get me). I would think if I was willing to do that for, ahem, solely altruistic reasons, someone (both BP and the escorts are in the category) whose very livelihood depends upon it have strong incentives to find a way.
As you say "Perhaps I am wrong and time will tell" - wouldn't be the 1st time I've been naïve in terms of the supply side of the sex business.
Should be interesting to see what pans out.
Although UG and other sites of this type are useful to escorts, BP has several major advantages to escorts that may require them to find alternate means to get on BP.
Off the top up my head:
1. sheer size - I'm guessing but maybe a couple of orders of magnitude more "purchases" of escort related services generated than the sex sites.
2. Not blocked - many places offering free internet access will block sex sites. This happened to me recently when I was out consulting at a company and wanted to look for a lunchtime "snack". Didn't allow UG but did allow BP access.
3. Legitimacy of visiting BP or CL: I know of some grandmothers who use it. No problem with BP or CL showing up in autocomplete suggestions that pop up on a computer's browser that may be shared by other non-mongers as there are many legit reasons for going to BP or CL.
Just for perspective: when UG was doing a request from site users fund raiser a while back I sent mine in via a totally untraceable way (forget if it was cash or money order) as I do with my burner phone minutes even though it is 5% cheaper to buy minutes via my Target credit card (I may be paranoid but doesn't mean they aren't out to get me). I would think if I was willing to do that for, ahem, solely altruistic reasons, someone (both BP and the escorts are in the category) whose very livelihood depends upon it have strong incentives to find a way.
As you say "Perhaps I am wrong and time will tell" - wouldn't be the 1st time I've been naïve in terms of the supply side of the sex business.
Should be interesting to see what pans out.
The accessibility is also the problem for BP as it was for CL. Prosecutors, LE, etc. Have made them a target because of the ability of people (especially kids) to "wander" into sex related business areas when they are naively surfing these sites.
My guess as to why the big 3 pulled their processing is twofold: 1) becuase they were getting pressure from outside to stop participating in "human trafficking", but 2) that doesnt really explain it becuase they still process for all sorts of adult sites. But the difference ismthat they charge adult sites HUGE rates as compared to "normal" commercial sites (about 500 percent more). They probably were only able to charge BP normal commercial rates and figured if they could force the same business to an adult site they would make a lot more money off of the same charges.
As far as hookers being wedded to BP, dont forget how staggeringly fast the migration was to BP from CL when they stopped taking adult advertising. My guess is that as soon as someone steps in to fill the vacuum which accepts credit cards you will,see an extremely rapid migration.
My guess as to why the big 3 pulled their processing is twofold: 1) becuase they were getting pressure from outside to stop participating in "human trafficking", but 2) that doesnt really explain it becuase they still process for all sorts of adult sites. But the difference ismthat they charge adult sites HUGE rates as compared to "normal" commercial sites (about 500 percent more). They probably were only able to charge BP normal commercial rates and figured if they could force the same business to an adult site they would make a lot more money off of the same charges.
As far as hookers being wedded to BP, dont forget how staggeringly fast the migration was to BP from CL when they stopped taking adult advertising. My guess is that as soon as someone steps in to fill the vacuum which accepts credit cards you will,see an extremely rapid migration.
As I mentioned before, that is a smart stopgap measure to retain market share, but it's not a solution. As far as I know, backpage gets almost ALL of its revenue from escort ads because it doesn't charge for the other ads. So how do they stay in business by giving away free ads and having zero revenue? I couldn't find current numbers but this article will give you some idea of their revenue:
http://aimgroup.com/2013/04/01/backpage-raises-rates-again-escort-ad-revenue-jumps-55-percent/
http://aimgroup.com/2013/04/01/backpage-raises-rates-again-escort-ad-revenue-jumps-55-percent/
This whole CC issue will flush out all the escort advertisers with very few left standing , those who figured out a way to pay. These few will be rewarded since they no longer have to share viewer time with hundreds of others. They will garner much more attention of readers than b4 which will generate more business. Others will see this and then try to get back on BP. This will continue until all parties are diluted again.