Question

[yagirlnicki]

Why are there no other options for paying for lindens other than with a cc or bank info? Why they want my personal billing info? I'm just playing this for fun, I don't want my RL (especially personal billing info) connected to this. 

Yes, I know there are jobs in sl. Most of them are dancing/escort jobs, which I personally don't feel comfortable doing. Besides, you have to spend tons of lindens to have a look that they define as sexy. -_-

So, am I basically screwed and doomed to either leave, or just keep a default avatar? I've seem some freebie avatars, and well, I would much rather just keep one of the default avatars xD. I can't really express my style and look without lindens. le sigh

Yes, I am a newbie. I'm honestly curious about this lol.

 

[steph Arnott]

International banking laws now reqiure proof of residence, for the reason of money laundering and terrorism financing. You can use paypal and a few others but they will still need you bank details.

[yagirlnicki]

Oh ok. Thanks for answering.

[steph Arnott]

BTW, Linden Lab have no choice on that matter.

[Rhonda Huntress]

yagirlnicki, if you are in the states you can use a GreenDot card.  It has monthly fees and also requires personal info to register but it does not have to be tied to a bank account if you are worried about that.

 

However, I have had no problems with letting LL have my card numbers.  You can also delete the CC info immediately after using it so it will not be stored.

[Chaser Zaks]

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Rhonda Huntress wrote:

yagirlnicki, if you are in the states you can use a GreenDot card.  It has monthly fees and also requires personal info to register but it does not have to be tied to a bank account if you are worried about that.

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I'd be careful with GreenDot cards. Before I got paypal, I tried using a GreenDot card. When I went to use it with SL, it requested my SSN. Needless to say, I'd trust people with my address and name before I trust them with my SSN.

If you want to give LL the most minimal of information, you can use PayPal(You will need to link your credit card there). When you link your PayPal to SL, LL will only see your email(Which you have already gave them). Here is a snapshot if you want proof:



Yes I am aware my L$ balance is visible. I don't really care that it is.

For the most part however, regardless of your choice(Either giving LL your CC info, using paypal, or even skrill), ALL the billing information is encrypted on the server side. If there is ever a problem, LL has a 24/7 billing support team that accepts phone calls even if you are not a premium member(You can use support tickets as well): https://support.secondlife.com/billing-support/

[Alwin Alcott]

about your look/ avatar.... join hunts, stores .... sales events.... it will take a little longer, but a free /nearly free skin shape and clothes really doesn't show if you spend a little work on it.

Lots of people using free things look even better than the "high society" ..because they are ugly by their showing off...too much of everthing...

[Tari Landar]

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Rhonda Huntress wrote:

yagirlnicki, if you are in the states you can use a GreenDot card.  It has monthly fees and also requires personal info to register but it does not have to be tied to a bank account if you are worried about that.

 

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Not all prepaid, including greendot, cards work, most don't work at all. A few sometimes work for some people, but that number is decreasing every year. 

[Diskomo]

Could you not use a Load and go pre paid Visa that you can top up? Im not sure you have them where you are, but in Australia we can get them from the post office you can also do it online. It works just like a credit card but its a top up siuation and more private I've never tried it myself but i don't see what that wouldnt work.

 

 

[steph Arnott]

They do not work.

[Rhonda Huntress]

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Tari Landar wrote:

 

Not all prepaid, including greendot, cards work, most don't work at all. A few sometimes work for some people, but that number is decreasing every year. 

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 Most do not.  GreenDot does.  At least it did in December.  Unlike other pre-paid cards, it is tied to personal information AND it can take refunds from merchants. 

 

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Diskomo wrote:

Could you not use a Load and go pre paid Visa that you can top up?

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 Unfortunantly no.  When you enter a new credit card, LL will run a verification process where they will charge 1US$ to the card and the refund that dollar back.  Gifts cards cannot process the money going back on to the card and thus the card fails.  The vast majority of pre-pad cards work like this.  GreenDit does not but then again, it has its risk as mentioned above.

 

If you have cash and want to buy L$ without the money going through your bank, you can do this with PayPal.  Create your account, add your bank or credit card to fully activate the account and then use PayPal Cash to load up the PayPal account.

 

Use PayPal Cash.  PayPal has started a new system which you can sign up for on their site that allows cash transfers to your PayPal account. The process is all electronic and fairly straightforward.

• When you log in to PayPal, you can pick a retailer to refer to when using PayPal Cash. There should be a list of retailers on the website and you should be able to use the site to find a location in your area.[2]
• After selecting your retailer, PayPal will send you a barcode via email. You can either print out this code or display it using a smart phone.[3]
• Take your code to the retailer you selected. Bring the cash amount you want added to your PayPal account. There will be a $3.95 service fee. The cashier should be able to transfer your money to PayPal.[4]
• Your money will appear in your account instantly. You will also a receive an email notification confirming the money was received.[5]

 

And there you have it.  An account tied to real world assets and people as required by law and also discrete and independent of those other assets.

[Venus Petrov]

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yagirlnicki wrote:

Why are there no other options for paying for lindens other than with a cc or bank info? Why they want my personal billing info? I'm just playing this for fun, I don't want my RL (especially personal billing info) connected to this. 

Yes, I know there are jobs in sl.

Most of them are dancing/escort jobs

, which I personally don't feel comfortable doing. Besides, you have to spend tons of lindens to have a look that they define as sexy.

So, am I basically screwed and doomed to either leave, or just keep a default avatar? I've seem some freebie avatars, and well, I would much rather just keep one of the default avatars

. I can't really express my style and look without lindens. le sigh

Yes, I am a newbie. I'm honestly curious about this lol.

 

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Sure, there are loads of those 'jobs' in SL but you don't have to be beholden to someone else for your income if you have or learn a skill.  There are a ton of free classes offered by many groups inworld.  Do a search under Events > Education and you'll find many.  Good luck!

[Tari Landar]

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Rhonda Huntress wrote:

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Tari Landar wrote:

 

Not all prepaid, including greendot, cards work, most don't work at all. A few sometimes work for some people, but that number is decreasing every year. 

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 Most do not.  GreenDot does.  At least it did in December.  Unlike other pre-paid cards, it is tied to personal information AND it can take refunds from merchants. 

 

 

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I have one too, and a different prepaid, the GreenDot one does not work for sl consistently. It has worked in the past, and has also failed to work in the past. It did not work this month, yet it did in November, lol(the error is alwys the same and neither the issuing company, nor LL, can apparently figure out what the issue is-or rather, neither *wants to actually figure out where the issue is). That's why I said they are hit or miss, they really are, lol,(as are most prepaids, though there do seem to be some that have never worked). If you look through other threads about this topic, you'll see most have had similar experiences, even with GreenDot cards. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. It's best to not count on them working, though. 

[steph Arnott]

Can not figure ot the issue, lol. If the fund request is  not answered in less than one second, it is denied and thats why. it fails.

[Tari Landar]

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steph Arnott wrote:

Can not figure ot the issue, lol. If the fund request is  not answered in less than one second, it is denied and thats why. it fails.

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Well, yes, there are at least a few reasons it *could* fail, that doesn't help the issue that *both parties will blame the other, for the failure, lol. Their answers tend to make you go back and forth between the two parties until both finally "resolve" it by saying "well, we don't know why it's failing". That's almost always the end result, if one chooses to do the whole back and forth game in the first place, which most probably don't/won't, it gets old real fast, lol.

Regardless of the reason for the failure, prepaid cards(of any type) are not a reliable source for folks to use in sl, even if they can be reliable for nearly anything else for which one might use them, because of the quite common occurrence of "failures"

 

[steph Arnott]

Welll it not really LLs fault, prpaid cards are just brokers.  When LL try too take the funds, the request goes too the brokers server then too say the visa server then back to the brokers server and finally to LL. By that time the LL server has timed out or just got fed up waiting. I use paypal which i need not have done, but my bank charges a stupid rate for currency change and a fixed charge for doing it.