Round 5 and Round 6 kits for sale!

[Wodan]

Yey for Ali!

Finally got time to find me a blue backspace an capslock now

Anyone else binge on the new extras?

[zslane]

Our hero! All hail Ail!

[rominronin]

Did PMK took off Status page from their website?:)

You're the first to mention it here, but I noticed that too...

[Wodan]

Not like that status page was ever much of a help. Incomplete, often outdated and badly structured...

[Ail]

BTW: These keys look so great, everybody who jumps off right now is totally stupid!

You say this like any of us have a choice!

And we have a lucky winner!


Ail is located in the USA and will collect money until December 31!

Lol, Dammit!

I honestly wish I had the time to do it I truly would.

[gnmar2723]

Not like that status page was ever much of a help. Incomplete, often outdated and badly structured...

But I mean it was more than nothing.

[Boxx]

So should I refund the payment I made to SL89 in October (invoice still showing as unpaid) and make a new payment to Ail?

[zslane]

I think 7bit was only joking about Ail.

[7bit]

Totally right, because zslane finally gave in and will now collect money.

[Boxx]

If enough of us pretend that he wasn't joking, then Ail will start taking payments though right???

[7bit]

What about gnmar2723?


You have time and can do it!!!


Come one! Someone must!!!

[phinix]

I don't think waiting till someone volunteers is a good way to do it - we need a new solution for it.
We can't just wait till someone says will collect money.
Any ideas how can we do it without a volunteer?

[7bit]

Yes, we must force them.

[vinnycordeiro]

Yes, we must force them.

1. Forces someone to be a PayPal collector
2. Person collects money
3. Person disappears with money

I'll endorse what phinix said: there must be a new solution for this dead-lock. My suggestion would be making a partnership with some company, like ZealPC or any other company that have the community's trust.

I know, that betrays the spirit of a community-driven group buy, but realistically speaking we are running out of alternatives here.

[7bit]

Never heard of ZealPC.


However, I will ask SP again. Maybe they change their mind.

[phinix]

Never heard of ZealPC.


However, I will ask SP again. Maybe they change their mind.

Please explain them that we hit a wall - there is nobody who will collect more payments and this way they cannot continue and finish this order.
They must agree on something.

[Wodan]

I cannot imagine SP will agree to this unless they find a way to avoid buyer protection.

Pretty sure they will also NOT deal with any refunds ...

[gnmar2723]

I mean I would really love to but right now I'm very busy with school, and I don't think being 17 helps me get that job either :O

[Boxx]

Not sure if it's been mentioned somewhere in the 400 pages of comments but what exactly is involved?

Does the person have to be from a certain country?
Precisely what would they be doing and how?
How long would they have to do it for?
Aside from super good feelings for getting things rolling again, is there any incentive for him or her to do this?
Are there any risks involved?

[zslane]

Not sure if it's been mentioned somewhere in the 400 pages of comments but what exactly is involved?

This is a question best answered by previous collectors, IMO, but none of them are around to tell us their tales of woe. Which I sort of feel is part of the problem.

Does the person have to be from a certain country?

No, but it helps to have a PayPal account linked to an account in USD because you will be using that account to pay Signature Plastics, and they will want payment in USD. Buyers will eat the cost of the currency exchange fee when their currency is converted to yours (Australian dollars?), but you'd be eating the cost of conversion from $AUS to $USD.

Precisely what would they be doing and how?

You would accept payments from buyers and report each payment to 7bit so he can keep track of who has paid and for what (which means you may end up reporting for the same buyer several times as they make payments piecemeal). Then, after accumulating enough money from payments ($2500 or $5000), you use it to make a payment to Signature Plastics for Round 6 Phase 2 keycaps.

How long would they have to do it for?

It sounds like it is a 6-8 week tour of duty. But ultimately it lasts as long as it takes to accumulate enough funds to pay SP for phase 2.

Aside from super good feelings for getting things rolling again, is there any incentive for him or her to do this?

None at all.

Are there any risks involved?

Sure. PayPal could become suspicious of all the foreign payments and shut down your PayPal account in the belief that you are running a business without a business account. You will also have to deal with refunds, which could get potentially messy. If there were no potential consequences, 7bit would be able to do this with his own PayPal account.

[Griffy]

I do still believe collecting and sending in USD can be done no matter what your own account is.

But another thing......does this mean that all money already payed is gone with the old collectors?

[andreas1337]

I am situated in Denmark, but my paypal account seems to have separate balances for DKK and USD. I have a yearly receive limit at USD 2500. The limit can be lifted by verifying the account which includes uploading a copy of a passport.

I don't mind collecting USD 2500 and sending them directly to SP. But is it anywhere near enough? And does SP have a paypal account they can be sent to? It would be rather expensive (and time consuming) to transfer the USD out of PayPal to my own bank account, which is in DKK, then paying exchange fee and international wire transfer fee on top of that for sending the money to SP.

International transfers via PayPal from Denmark to the US in USD is 3,4% + $0,30 USD as far as I can tell from the PayPal fee list.

[andreas1337]

But another thing......does this mean that all money already payed is gone with the old collectors?

Yes, what happened to the money already collected on paypal?

[zslane]

I do still believe collecting and sending in USD can be done no matter what your own account is.

Yes, of course. But you may incur extra fees; I expect there would be a fee for each currency conversion performed. So if there is a conversion coming in (e.g., from Euro to $AUS), and a conversion going out (from $AUS to $USD), you get to pay two fees. After all, receiving payment and sending a payment (after accumulating $2500 or whatever) are two separate transactions, each with their own fees.

But another thing......does this mean that all money already payed is gone with the old collectors?

Gone? The only problem with previously paid money is that 7bit doesn't know who paid, and how much they paid, and who was refunded. Not until he gets the latest update from SL89.

[Ail]

If enough of us pretend that he wasn't joking, then Ail will start taking payments though right???

Totally right, because zslane finally gave in and will now collect money.

If he just randomly picks enough people located in the U.S. someone is bound to just do it, right?

[Griffy]

I do still believe collecting and sending in USD can be done no matter what your own account is.

Yes, of course. But you may incur extra fees; I expect there would be a fee for each currency conversion performed. So if there is a conversion coming in (e.g., from Euro to $AUS), and a conversion going out (from $AUS to $USD), you get to pay two fees. After all, receiving payment and sending a payment (after accumulating $2500 or whatever) are two separate transactions, each with their own fees.

But another thing......does this mean that all money already payed is gone with the old collectors?

Gone? The only problem with previously paid money is that 7bit doesn't know who paid, and how much they paid, and who was refunded. Not until he gets the latest update from SL89.

Everyone that payed have their own records so announce the last recording and collect screenshots of the rest?

[Tyr]

Yes, of course. But you may incur extra fees; I expect there would be a fee for each currency conversion performed. So if there is a conversion coming in (e.g., from Euro to $AUS), and a conversion going out (from $AUS to $USD), you get to pay two fees. After all, receiving payment and sending a payment (after accumulating $2500 or whatever) are two separate transactions, each with their own fees.

From the horse's mouth :
"PayPal lets you choose what currencies to accept and how you would like to accept them. When a buyer sends a payment in a currency you hold, the funds will automatically appear in your account in the balance of the given currency. When a buyer sends a payment in a currency you do not hold, you will be asked to Accept or Deny the payment as shown below

Accept the payment and open a new currency balance
Accept the payment and convert it to your primary currency
Block the payment"

So receiving the funds doesn't incur a fee because it stays the same currency (Paypal will still charge a fee just to collect though). Then if SP is willing to make an invoice to that Paypal account there's no conversion fee either, since it will be paid in USD.

[zslane]

You will presumably be collecting in multiple currencies. So I guess you will be opening several currency balances. And then making a payment in USD, pulling from all those currency balances. Somewhere along the way there will be a conversion fee. I just don't see any way to get around it.

[caligo]

You will presumably be collecting in multiple currencies. So I guess you will be opening several currency balances. And then making a payment in USD, pulling from all those currency balances. Somewhere along the way there will be a conversion fee. I just don't see any way to get around it.

Wouldn't the setup be that people pay you in USD, and that each buyer thus pays any conversion fees? Same as when I pay 7bit in EUR through a bank transfer, and pay the conversion from SEK to EUR?

[zslane]

There must be other fees because I made a PayPal payment once, and I paid in USD. The collector collected in USD. Why then did I pay a fee?