Founder Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,526 October 5, 2012 Founder Share October 5, 2012 Just in time for the 20% sale on subscriptions, I'm pleased to announce that an alternative payment method to PayPal for subscriptions and other goodies in our forum store is now available. As a result of Stripe's recent expansion to Canada, along with their rules actually permitting a minor to use their service, you can now make a direct payment with your debit or credit card without ever leaving MLP Forums! Now, our ability to accept credit cards directly does raise some obvious questions about security. As mentioned above, these payments are processed through Stripe. But here's where it gets interesting: although you enter your card's information in a form on mlpforums.com, said information is actually sent directly to Stripe - your credit card details will never touch MLP Forums' servers. As for Stripe themselves, they are a certified PCI Service Provider Level 1 - the highest possible certification for secure handling and storage of credit card information. It's safe to say that they can be trusted. For more information on Stripe's security measures, check this out. Finally, MLP Forums' checkout screen, billing information area, and all login and registration mechanisms are now served via HTTPS. The billing info that MLP Forums does store - like your name and address - is sent over an encrypted connection. SSL-secured payment pages are part of Stripe's requirements, but this additional layer of security is also a plain good idea. Things to be aware of! Stripe payments are unavailable for one-off donations. They are handled through a system entirely separate from the forum store, which only supports PayPal. In an effort to standardize things, we may soon look into phasing out one-off donations in favour of subscriptions entirely. PayPal will continue to be an option for making payments in the forum store. I can empathize with the fact that PayPal is the only option for many people to send money over the Internet, so rest assured that the option to pay via PayPal is not going anywhere. If you do have access to a credit or debit card, however, please consider using Stripe instead as they incur fewer fees and are a much better company to work with. Payments made via Stripe will appear on your credit card statement as charges from "FELD0.COM". 21 Avatar credit: robinrain8 Signature credit: Kyoshi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilshy 5,090 October 5, 2012 Share October 5, 2012 (edited) (read: I want your money, so I made it easier to give it to me. Oh, and it's only easier for large amounts, so get out those magic, plastic money cards ) Anyway, It's good to know, but I've never had a problem with Paypal. Edited October 5, 2012 by Evilshy 4 Signature now 99% less edgy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
---------------------- 1,645 October 5, 2012 Share October 5, 2012 I think I am still going to have to donate through paypal, But I think this it grate that you may be able to get the forums more money, I notice that paypal takes a decent chunk out of the money I donate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AegisReflector 886 October 5, 2012 Share October 5, 2012 This is actually pretty convenient considering my credit union encourages direct online payment, and I think with the addition of Stripe, a lot of users will find that this will reduce a lot of stress over financial blues lol. I HATE using PayPal, to be honest, so I'm glad an alternative is finally implanted! Thanks, feld0! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halfblood 364 October 6, 2012 Share October 6, 2012 I too do not enjoy PayPal, especially after they updated their policy to ridiculous levels. I am kinda sad that you guys might phase out the one-off payments, but it's for the good. Subscriptions are more sustaining than the single chance someone decides to donate the monies. Anyway, a good change! Adding Stripe as an alternate option for payments is definitely wonderful. 1 If you wanna see, go on and tear it outta me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnightive 458 October 6, 2012 Share October 6, 2012 This is kind of cool! It's good for the people that don't have paypal! Shame they take a chunk out of what people donate with if they use paypal though! Ivy, Sakura, Pixie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FedoraMemes 582 October 6, 2012 Share October 6, 2012 Shame I'm not old enough to have a credit card, nor am I able to have a PayPal account. Other than that, this is great for the forums, because those who don't have PayPal can now donate in a really easy way. The Anime Thread: http://mlpforums.com/topic/20661-the-anime-thread/page__hl__the%20anime%20thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abstract 832 October 6, 2012 Share October 6, 2012 I'd personally prefer if the one-time donation option was kept around. I try to donate every month, but money can often be tight for me, and sometimes I unfortunately cannot spare the cash to do it. Unless there was some sort of suspension option available within the subscription plan, I probably would not be able to make that commitment. But whatever works best for y'all, I understand if it's just too much of a hassle. In either case, I'm glad this new option is available I have no issues with PayPal, but if it makes it easier for other members to donate, I'm all for it. "Let the steel of my resolve be not bested by the sum of my fears." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Awesome One 1,315 October 6, 2012 Share October 6, 2012 Well, I'm too young to have a credit card or debt card or anything and can't currently donate to this forum but when I can, I'll be sure to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,526 October 6, 2012 Author Founder Share October 6, 2012 This is kind of cool! It's good for the people that don't have paypal! Shame they take a chunk out of what people donate with if they use paypal though! Shame I'm not old enough to have a credit card, nor am I able to have a PayPal account. Other than that, this is great for the forums, because those who don't have PayPal can now donate in a really easy way. In either case, I'm glad this new option is available I have no issues with PayPal, but if it makes it easier for other members to donate, I'm all for it. It's a good option even for people who do have a PayPal account. (if you have the choice of using a credit card or PayPal, go credit card). I'd just like to reiterate that Stripe's fees are a bit lower than PayPal's for international payments (which is the case for anyone outside of Canada), and that the company is a pleasure to deal with. Their policies are clear, their staff quickly reachable, and they understand that not everything is a physically sold and shipped product. If you do have access to a credit or debit card, however, please consider using Stripe instead as they incur fewer fees and are a much better company to work with. I too do not enjoy PayPal, especially after they updated their policy to ridiculous levels. I am kinda sad that you guys might phase out the one-off payments, but it's for the good. Subscriptions are more sustaining than the single chance someone decides to donate the monies. Anyway, a good change! Adding Stripe as an alternate option for payments is definitely wonderful. Yet another good reason to add to my pile of reasons I'd rather not let PayPal be the sole lifeline of MLP Forums. In addition to their policies getting stranger and more specific with each passing year, they offer no merchant protection whatsoever for anything that does not involve the shipment of a physical good and stack an additional fee for international payments. I'd personally prefer if the one-time donation option was kept around. I try to donate every month, but money can often be tight for me, and sometimes I unfortunately cannot spare the cash to do it. Unless there was some sort of suspension option available within the subscription plan, I probably would not be able to make that commitment. But whatever works best for y'all, I understand if it's just too much of a hassle. Phasing out one-time donations (at least as a method of gaining the associated perks) and refocusing on funding the site through subscriptions is, at this point in time, only a direction I would like to move towards. It isn't something that is going to happen overnight, and calls for some heavy research before any decisions can be made. Just wanted to make that clear. With that said, there is nothing wrong with getting a subscription for one month, then letting it expire the next if a consistent recurring contribution is something you're unable to commit to. There are no fees for not renewing a subscription, and no fees for reactivating it or getting a new one. As usual, if you run into any issues or hurdles with this new feature, just open a support ticket and we'll have it straightened out. 2 Avatar credit: robinrain8 Signature credit: Kyoshi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One 498 October 6, 2012 Share October 6, 2012 (edited) So about $4 per year for URL and $3 per year for WhoIs guard (if I'm correct) Then looking at DDoS protection I take it back... That's more expensive then I thought.. Edited October 7, 2012 by One This is a signature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoop 8,384 October 6, 2012 Share October 6, 2012 and $300 to upkeep the site every month? Sounds like a scam to me... I'm going to guess that you're not terribly familiar with dedicated server hosting. This site gets entirely too much traffic for any cheap shared hosting plan to be anywhere near practical - if you were around early on during the community's life you'd be well aware of just how slow things started to run when we quickly outgrew all of the inexpensive hosting options that were available. That said, I would advise against visiting websites that you believe are attempting to scam you. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
---------------------- 1,645 October 6, 2012 Share October 6, 2012 Yay! But I'll never give you my money...never... and $300 to upkeep the site every month? Sounds like a scam to me... But what ever, do what you want... Zoop more or less summed it up (you ninja..) Feld0 makes no profit from reciving donations for the websites. As you may or may not be aware, feld0 runs another forum as well as a blog based around the wiiu, not to mention that MLP Forums gets a lot of traffic so we need servers that can keep up with them, and let me tell you, I have seen the price of some of them and they are not cheep in the slightest, MLP Forums has gone through about...what 8 server changes? Just to keep up with what's going on :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modphase 1,271 October 7, 2012 Share October 7, 2012 (edited) Thank you so much Mr. Feld0! I always try to avoid using payenemy whenever I can. For your gracious act expect one of the donations/subscriber purchases you get to be mine. Cheers! Well, I'm too young to have a credit card or debt card or anything and can't currently donate to this forum but when I can, I'll be sure to do so. I'm 13 and I have my own debit card.....try Bank Of America. Edited October 8, 2012 by Modphase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts