HRCE closed?

Say it ain't so?!

http://hankramos.com/index.html

I hope Hank didn't get chargeback-scammed. That sucks more than I would care to describe.

Official word, Hank? Just got tired of it, or are we soon to see HRCE's unstoppable twin, Mecha-HRCE coming over the horizon?

Yes, I recently closed my L$ currency exchange for the following reasons...

1. It was difficult to keep a constant supply of L$ being sold to me. I would frequently run out of L$ stock. Even though my overall prices allowed people to sell L$ to me at more USD$ than they would have received from GOM, it wasn't enough to compete with the prices IGE sells at. I would need to have sold and bought L$ at IGE cost levels, but I wanted to keep my prices inbetween GOM and IGE. I would have had to had invested at least USD$10k to properly have enough supply of L$ to really make it work.

2. I've gotten only one chargeback so far, hopefully that'll be the only one. That's the cost of doing business, and all e-businesses suffer from this type of thing equally. It could take 2 months before that happens.

3. It was fun coding the ATMs, doing all the tech work. But in the end, it was taking more time out of my life to maintain than I thought was worth it. It's a totally inworld code redemption system.

I had fun doing it, but it's time to put the expierment to bed. I may be putting the inworld database and distributed code up for sale soon, if anyone is interested in it.

I thought this was a useful system but I'll tell you why I didn't use it, again and again.

It wasn't only because of the cap of $5000.

It's because you essentially forced me to use PayPal. I'd try to loop it around to get it to take my other credit card, but it meant punching through so many menus and forcing me to deal with PayPal in the end of that credit card was in fact on my paypal account.

I wonder why you had to use PayPal, which takes so many fees out, and couldn't use direct ties with Master Card or Visa as other websites do.

Why didn't you tell me? I am so kicking your butt.

With a direct CC processor, the fees wouldn't likely be any less than what PayPal takes. In fact, having looked into this *extensively* for GOM, I can say with near-certainty that most CC processors will take ~1.5x what PayPal currently does.

Of course, that also assumes you can *get* one of them to give you a merchant account. That, in and of itself, is a highly non-trivial exercise as soon as virtual currency is involved. Nearly every one of the processors we contacted dismissed us outright, and the others wanted to charge usurious fees to handle our business. Now, with a solid year of financials behind us the story may be different, but for someone in Hank's position (i.e. just starting out) I'm sure getting a merchant account and direct CC processing was absolutely not practical. I agree that it kind of sucks being forced to use PayPal but, like it or not, it's really the best option for most small-ish web merchants.

Ricky is right, the processors can be quite difficult to deal with when you are an emerging organization, and they will often demand personal financial guarantees, thus sabotaging the whole point of incorporating to limit liability in the first place.

In one of my previous ventures, I dealt with CardService International, who was more willing than the big banks to risk working with startups. It was less than pleasant.

This is a great shame - I loved the fact that I could buy and sell L$ <-> pound sterling almost effortlessly

Maybe you needed to advertise the fact that you bought currency more?

This is crap - I hope someone else brings out a system that doesn't charge non-US users a fortune and takes paypal...

I know GOM takes paypal, but with currency conversion fees being as they are it sort-of puts you off selling anything. Hank did a lower spread - and told me what I'd get in a currency I know the value of.

This is meant in love, and not as an attack:
Why should the sex act be seen as nasty, instead of beautiful?

The act of sex can be beautiful. Just not in the back of your SL jeep.

I agree Kasandra.. but it sure could be in the back of a bangin' Benz.

Hey did you really say that or did I edit it?

Lol

Sorry to hear this didn't work out. Be glad you got out relatively unscathed...

Hope your next project is more successful!

I miss Hank's service already. I miss being able to sell any amount. Handling it all in world (from my own lot no less!) and the speed in which he posted my money. I want Hank back! /cry

If it isn't nasty, you're not doing it right!

Thank you for all of the thoughtful insights folks.
I can see what you mean and agree with many of you. I don't like for sex, (or most sex practices) to be called "nasty", because the calling the act itself "nasty" is misleading. I totally agree with you, though that calling the *context* "nasty" (as you've kindly and thoughtfully pointed out) can be perfectly appropriate.

Well said Forseti.

You give a tiny lesson in running an RL business, for those who have never tried it.
To the naive, limited liability seems just too good to be true, doesn't it? That's because that's exactly what it is.

It is the norm, in any small business start-up, that if you insist on a limited liability company, your bank will demand personal guarantees (eg charge on your home) so that the limited liability doesn't touch them. Scares the wife rigid (in my case at least).

You will also find your suppliers want cash up front for the first few months (3? 6? 9?) until they have reason to trust you.

When we started it took us nearly three years before we could bully the bank to eliminate their hold over our children's homes, and then only with difficulty and by threatening to take our highly successful business elsewhere. That's how things are in the real world.