Disconnect. I guess I misunderstood the original requirement. I thought this was finding "Joes custom pc boards" on the internet and not trusting them to put through additional charges, or sell your number to people who would. I don't understand using one credit card to buy a gift card, as the gift card does not track back to the original, the person redeeming the gift card has no access to the card I purchased it with. And I was thinking a VISA gift card, which should work any place a visa card works, not a "Sam's Boutique" gift card. you can buy the visa gift card at the checkout line in a store with cash if you are that worried about being tracked. you can scrape off the paint on the back and use like a debit card online. I agree with reservations on paypall, but there are alternatives like venmo that many places will take. i'm not feeling that guilty about PayPal because this would only be a small purchase. If I don't trust the vendor, I'm not buying a $ 2,500 gaming computer from them. For in--person..well for in person I'd use cash. For online it might be possible to use a check. not a personal check, but a money order from your bank. often some number included free, especially if you maintain a balanc to avoid other fees. granted they are also companies I wish to avoid, google pay perhaps? remember still, if I don't trust the store, this is a SMALL purchase. most of my paypal purchases are under $5, maybe 6 at once, as in 6 kinds of seeds at $1.50 through $3.50 each on one day from 6 vendors on ebay. Carey
On 01/30/2026 9:19 AM CST Giles Orr via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org mailto:talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
I love this list. A few replies and some follow-up:
Carey: unfortunately, gift cards would only cover a few use cases. I'm thinking of small online companies that usually don't accept them. And to purchase the gift card ... you usually have to use your regular credit card, which is what I was aiming to avoid. Paypal has been mentioned elsewhere and would cover quite a few use-cases - but I've been a bit uncomfortable with them (owned by Thiel and Musk, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal#Criticism_and_controversies ).