I work with PCs and use PayPal to conduct my financial transactions. I recently sold some hardware for $800 and tried to transfer the money into my bank account only to be told I can only move $500 a month due to the Patriot Act. After fuming over this for an hour, I realized the ramifications of my true hobby...high end audio. So now, if I sell my amp, preamp, voltage regulator, etc... in an effort to upgrade my system, I will be affected by The Patriot Act. Has anyone else noticed this? I can only question how much more control we will allow our government into our daily lives before we say enough. I'm still pi$$ed that I can now be pulled over for not wearing my seatbelt...when the seatbelt law was passed, we were told we would NOT get pulled over for this violation. I ask you, what value is there in wearing my seatbelt as I drive to the gas station to buy a carton of cigarettes? I’m not some bleeding heart liberal, but am close to my fill of crap I can take from my government. Am I alone? Will I be investigated for this post?
I haven't experienced dollar limits with PayPal. One of my dealers told me that, using their "friends and family" feature too often, he was nailed by PayPal (not the government), as they caught on to him being a dealer, so I started sending him personal checks.
I have had two potentially bad experiences, someone local contacts me as a result of an ad I've placed on Audiogon, but don't make a formal offer, say they will pay cash and do "local pickup". One guy was a good way into the hour+ drive to my home when he called again to tell me he was offering me $600 less than the price we agreed upon ("no deal"). Another clown actually had a similar conversation when he arrived in my driveway! So, when I sell on Audiogon, I don't do "cash, local pick up" anymore. Once someone makes and offer and pays using PayPal, I'm protected and the buyer is protected as well.
these systems are corrupt, to say the very least. I would never use any "pay" service. What happened to using straight up CC, check or money order?
Another thing, most people are too stupid to manage their own business affairs, so it is rather easy for so-called services like paypal to seize the opportunity.
it's only temporary or till you verify paypal account with bank. i use prepaid cards for bank verification. they are person-less and ID-less. once you verify with prepaid card(you can purchase them in WalMart $4 or simply order them via internet free). i use accountnow.com for paypal verification, for HULU trial membership or NetFlix or for any trial membership and usually keep balance $0.00.
Bought and paid for, Schubert. Ted Cruz's wife works for one of "them" (Goldman Sachs I believe). You think he's going to "fix" Wall Street?! Hillary made $600,000 in speaking fees last year from one of them. They're her "peeps". You think Trump is gonna bust the guys he does business with?! I say let Bernie have at 'em!
EVERY economist in power in 2008 swore nobody saw this coming etc ............... uh, except everyone who reads the "Economist" which had been saying its coming for about a decade prior .
I'm NOT an economist but once interest only mortgages was created, I knew it's a matter of time so I SAW it coming.
Well, phd -since uninformed is a shoe that fits 90 % + of Americans things aren’t looking too hot . EVERY economist in power in 2008 swore nobody saw this coming etc ............... uh, except everyone who reads the "Economist" which had been saying its coming for about a decade prior .
An uninformed populace is a populace enslaved. Example 1.8 million Americans marched on Washington DC (May 14th 2014) and not one news network covered it. Do I hear the twilight zone theme playing at this point.
Name something you've done about it. I have no holds on my paypal account no matter what the price is. Wonder why that is? If you like tweeks or ss better than tubes, great, buy them. Just not in my system. Stay out of trouble, someone may be watching. Guess I'll have to play my Paranoid album twice.
"Anyone that is worried about Big Brother or Cameras either has something to hide or is doing something against the law. Like telling people that tweeks work or that SS sounds better than tubes. "
Bullsh(@#*&(!!!
This is about a government overstepping the bounds upon which it was built, the NDAA being the latest egregious example.
If you ever do anything that someone or some monitoring program finds suspicious, you may find yourself with a gloved hand up your @ss, so to speak. Every person who's rights and personal liberty are trampled upon will not be genuinely guilty of doing something wrong and suspicious.
FedEx 'inspected' my iPhone in the package and one of the employees 'misdelivered' the item due to the Patriot Act that is actually a mechanizm to go against all our constitutional rights. It's an extra coverage of our precious arses obviously for extra extra fee that needed to justify expenses on our measurable crusades in Middle East.
What PP did, in bending to some very overreaching, onerous and draconian efforts was deplorable, to say the least. But the power behind those motives could have put them out of business: they could have fought but they wouldn't be enjoying the same markets they do now. Such is the price of doing business.
I just closed my PP account last week but was told it would take 4 day to a week....I protested and said I wanted it done now. They asked why and I explained that I thought their ceo was an asshole and that PP would not allow me to support J. Assange and Brad Manning and my paypal money should be allowed to be sent there at my request. After a slight pause they closed my account...I urge others to dump Paypal
We simply have no where to go on this but to hope that with a dilution of safeguards, in their wording, and meaning, will come to be of no consequence as long as sane people are in charge.
@ nonoise In medicine it is often repeated that drastic problems require drastic solutions. What is a truly drastic problem is ours to be debated, and and the solution cannot cause undo harm and thus may not even exist. Imagine of the cure for a highly aggressive brain malignacy is to remove the brain entirely, what have we achieved? A second common phrase I was taught went like this.. A therapy that kills the patient is not a therapuetic triumph. So we are left with a number of difficult questions. Is there a cure for the problems supposedly addressed in the Patriot Act? And does that therapy destroy the foundation upom which this country stands being Equality Justice and Indivual Liberty. I don't know if I personally feel any safer. I can only hope the sacrifices we endure are worthy and function the way we would want and anticipate to function. I don't know at this moment. I think most of us love this country warts and all. P.S. to the governmental scanners I am not the enemy. Just excersizing my right to free speech.
FedEx had maintained that right prior to the Patriot Act. They were known for very lax enforcement which for awhile made them the preferred carrier of illicit materials. Homeland Security strongly encouraged them to put more effort in their package checking.
Patriot Act, Homeland Security -- someplace George Orwell is smiling.
Here's a link to a recent book outlining the absurdity and futility of much of the homeland security efforts.
Anyone that is worried about Big Brother or Cameras either has something to hide or is doing something against the law. Like telling people that tweeks work or that SS sounds better than tubes.
Good point, but considering that there are now over 850,000 more private contractors than before 9/11 with the highest security clearances one can have and that they greatly benefit from having no real oversight, all of that data was intended to be mined from the get-go, be it government oriented or not. There is no real bright line between government and business in a lot of cases.
With Google, Oracle, and one other company (for the life of me I can't remember) behind Stuxnet and Flame doing their thing over in Iran, just how exacting are the comings and goings of we, the people, being tracked?
On another note, I tend to laugh at the conundrum about leaks on Stuxnet when it was an American security company that discovered it and brought it to light. It would be nice to have the right hand know what the left hand is doing.
As it turns out the government's use of personal info is somewhat benign. They're looking for data that points to unusual activity. What's scarier to me is the deep data mining by commercial companies that are interested in our normal everyday activities. It directly effects you financially as a consumer, employee, borrower and investor.
Ah, the Patriot Act. I can't believe this thread wasn't several pages long and shut down by the moderators considering the strong feelings and beliefs we all have.
Naomi Kleins 'Shock Doctrine' pretty much sums things up. It goes something like this: ideas are debated and laws envisioned that would never get passed in the light of day. They are shelved until something shocking happens and presto, chango, some huge, voluminous doctrine is trotted out and sold to us as the only way to set thing right.
It's generally too big to read and great amounts of pressure are taken to ensure it's passed lest you are some kind of traitor, commie, or leftist. The situation is dire, or made to seem so, and drastic programs are touted as the only answer. It's only after the fact that as things take a turn for the worse, strange or completely absurd that one asks why are you doing this and the answer is, "The Patriot Act".
Looking back, it was just one big excuse to do massive amounts of data mining on the citizenry: their buying habits, trading, communications, etc.
This revelation was withheld from the public by the New York Times a couple of months after Bush won his second term. Had that info been made public, he wouldn't have won re-elction.
Go figure.
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Don't be surprised to learn that cameras are all over the place. Almost every business has them and there are the Police cameras at intersections. With the advent and explosion of servalliance Drones, our privacy is pretty much shot. I guess we either have fight it or accept it as a necessary evil.
Ever notice the results of the Patriot Act when attempting to purchase cold pills? The big time meth guys buy this stuff in 55 gallon drums not little cold capsules.
Does anybody remember the standard 7 day hold on all bank deposited checks back in the 80's?
Congress finally busted them for the practice called "float". Banks would process your deposit that night, then collect the interest on the money in short term accounts until finally making your funds available to you.
In a concession, the banks then went to 3 day holds. Finally, they had no excuse and had to make the deposits same day except in certain circumstances, like not enough money in the account to cover the check in case of NSF or fraud.
Looks like PayPal (and their owner eBay!) have brought back "float" as a way of making short term profits and force everyone to upgrade to a paying account. Killing two birds with one stone.
And it's all legal since PayPal is not a bank and probably not beholden to the "float" regulations.
Your absolutley right, they have your money in an account for the period of time - they have aleady extracted their fee. Frankly I consider using Paypal a learning experience, will never use them again. I also have this uncomfortable feeling that giving them bank account number, etc., leaves one open for further privacy risk. I wonder if they are guilty of some compliance issues.
Paypal amazes me. If I transfer from paypal to my bank account, it takes 4 days to clear. But if I buy something and transfer from bank acct to paypal, amazingly enough, it goes RIGHT through! The 4 days is nothing more than a way for them to make some interest on your money.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety" Benjamin Franklin
Well that pretty much says it all these days, how much further will we slip?
On the eve of 2002, I ordered a Kerry Audio F2 endstub, and had it shippied "Express". This is itself was enough to have it set aside for inspection. In order for it to make it through customs I had to answer questions on it's source and function. "What's it for?" A turntable. "Who's turntable, is it? Mine "Anyone else have access to it other than you?" Come on, is this really necessry?
SO, I take that most of the posters here don't believe that official story of 9/11 either if you don't think that $500 can do any damage. How, much does a box cutter cost anyway? Better stop I here the Black Helicopters over head.:)-~
Personal Account Receiving Limit. If you have a Canadian, U.S., or U.K. Personal account, you are limited to receiving no more than the equivalent of $500.00 USD each month, based on the primary currency of your PayPal account. Only eBay, auction, and Website Payments (e.g. Buy Now Buttons, PayPal Shopping Cart, or Subscriptions payments) will count against your Receiving Limit. The equivalent Receiving Limits are as follows:
Currency of Primary Balance Receiving Limit
U.S. Dollars $500.00 USD
Canadian Dollars $650.00 CAD
Euros €400.00 EUR
Pounds Sterling £250.00 GBP
Yen ¥56,000 JPY
Australian Dollars $1,250.00 AUD
This $500.00 USD cap is based on the account sign-up date, and is reset each month. Once you have reached your monthly limit, the payment will have a Pending status, and you will need to upgrade to a Premier or Business account to accept the payment. If a payment is Pending based on your having reached your Receiving Limit and your limit is reset, the payment will remain Pending until you have upgraded your account or denied the payment. If you refund a payment, your Receiving Limit will not be reset for the amount of the payment.
The webpage is here under under Section II, subsection 3 "Personal Account Receiving Limit". I could not find any language pertaining to the Patriot Act.
The only ones out of control here are the ones who werent "wise" enough to realize that Paypal is the one to blame and that includes squirrels who come sniffing around calling the United States government "criminal" and then claim to be a Republican. Yeah right, this citizen is wise enough to know better!
Besides, even if the Patriot act were limiting Paypal transactions to $500.00 it would'nt be an infringement on a Civil Right. The fact that you can transfer money is merely privilege. One that, even limited to $500.00, you should be thankful for.
I believe that $500 is the transaction limit on a personal (free) PayPal account. My premier account, which costs ~3% per transaction, does not have a $500 limit.
That's my understanding, too. It's the only reason I upgraded to a Premier Account, and it's the way Paypal encourages users to upgrade (and pay the higher fees...)
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