Everybody probably already knows this but, you can get an Amazon
credit card (really Bank One) and they will give a $30 credit. There
is no lower limit on what you can spend it just has to be at least the
$30 credit. I did it and will probably never use the card again. How
does a company make money doing this?

Steve

The truth is that the average credit card debt per American household is
about $8,000 with an average interest rate of about 18%. This amounts to
$1440 in interest per year. I would guess that most of the people who
bother to get the card actually will use it. Even if their interest rate is
only 10%, that means they only have to have an average annual balance of
$300 for one year to make up for the initial credit. Personally, having
hits on your credit report for these types of things is not really a good
idea, so I would never get a card like this unless I planned to use it.
That's why I only have one credit card and it is locked in my file cabinet
and only used in extraordinary cases.

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Everybody probably already knows this but, you can get an Amazon
credit card (really Bank One) and they will give a $30 credit. There
is no lower limit on what you can spend it just has to be at least the
$30 credit. I did it and will probably never use the card again. How
does a company make money doing this?

Steve

Steve xxx asks:
Everybody probably already knows this but, you can get an Amazon
credit card (really Bank One) and they will give a $30 credit. There
is no lower limit on what you can spend it just has to be at least the
$30 credit. I did it and will probably never use the card again. How
does a company make money doing this?

On your "probably" and the fact that probably 90% of people who get such cards
go ahead and use them.

Charlie Self
"Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity
has made them good." H. L. Mencken

Steve wrote:Everybody probably already knows this but, you can get an Amazon
credit card (really Bank One) and they will give a $30 credit. There
is no lower limit on what you can spend it just has to be at least the
$30 credit. I did it and will probably never use the card again. How
does a company make money doing this?

Steve


I dunno. Are you on the Federal do not call list, and did you read the fine
print? Tom

Work at your leisure!

In the last 8 years I have been paid back by 3 credit card companies about
$5,450.00 in rebates.
I average about 3% return on every thing I buy on my credit cards. The
trick is to always pay those cards off monthly. At the moment I get 1%
rebate on every dollar I charge and an additional 4% when I buy from a
grocery store, gas station, or drug store. And they love me.



"Steve" wrote in message
...
Everybody probably already knows this but, you can get an Amazon
credit card (really Bank One) and they will give a $30 credit. There
is no lower limit on what you can spend it just has to be at least the
$30 credit. I did it and will probably never use the card again. How
does a company make money doing this?

Steve

Well, Leon, you're using the credit card as it was originally intended - a
convenience NOT a chance for revolving credit. As long as you can maintain
that scenario you will be ahead of the game.

Vic

"Leon" wrote in message
. com...
In the last 8 years I have been paid back by 3 credit card companies
about
$5,450.00 in rebates.
I average about 3% return on every thing I buy on my credit cards. The
trick is to always pay those cards off monthly. At the moment I get 1%
rebate on every dollar I charge and an additional 4% when I buy from a
grocery store, gas station, or drug store. And they love me.



"Steve" wrote in message
...
Everybody probably already knows this but, you can get an Amazon
credit card (really Bank One) and they will give a $30 credit. There
is no lower limit on what you can spend it just has to be at least the
$30 credit. I did it and will probably never use the card again. How
does a company make money doing this?

Steve

On 01 Dec 2004 15:25:08 GMT, otforme (Charlie Self)
spake the words:

Steve xxx asks:
Everybody probably already knows this but, you can get an Amazon
credit card (really Bank One) and they will give a $30 credit. There
is no lower limit on what you can spend it just has to be at least the
$30 credit. I did it and will probably never use the card again. How
does a company make money doing this?

On your "probably" and the fact that probably 90% of people who get such cards
go ahead and use them.

Recently, I was offered a Bank of America business card. The annual
service fee was only $100. Needles ta slay, I turned it down.

I tore up another credit card offer last week. Their interest rate
was 28.94% ! When I was growing up, I took a Business Law course in
high school. Back then, 28.94% interest was called "usury" and the
bank would have been keel hauled for it. I wonder if a certain group
of old-line Sicilians runs the CC companies now.

I keep one CC tied to my bank account for general purposes and one for
the business. The rest of my cards were cut up by me years ago and I
don't miss any of that interest payment crap at all.


-------------------------------------------------------------
give me The Luxuries Of Life * http://www.diversify.com
i can live without the necessities * 2 Tee collections online
-------------------------------------------------------------

They make money by suckin' folks who live off of credit into their web.

18% and up.

"RonB" wrote in message
news:k_mrd.80241$EZ.11943@okepread07...
They make money by suckin' folks who live off of credit into their web.

18% and up.

and by charging a percentage of each purchase payable by the merchants.

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message

bank would have been keel hauled for it. I wonder if a certain group
of old-line Sicilians runs the CC companies now.

No ... they're in Congress.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 11/06/04

Larry Jaques responds:


Recently, I was offered a Bank of America business card. The annual
service fee was only $100. Needles ta slay, I turned it down.

I tore up another credit card offer last week. Their interest rate
was 28.94% ! When I was growing up, I took a Business Law course in
high school. Back then, 28.94% interest was called "usury" and the
bank would have been keel hauled for it. I wonder if a certain group
of old-line Sicilians runs the CC companies now.

I keep one CC tied to my bank account for general purposes and one for
the business. The rest of my cards were cut up by me years ago and I
don't miss any of that interest payment crap at all.


Ya want great interest rates, come to Virginia. This state is overrun with car
title and check lenders. Give them a lien on your car, and you can get a grand
or so. Interest rate, according to the local news, is 360% per annum. Same deal
with checks. If you're tight for cash, write them a check for up to $500.
Interest rate is 361% per annum.

And it is legal.

It is also known as screwing the already poor consumer badly.

Why the assholes in Richmond passed this one is anyone's guess, but my guess
has something to do with asshole politicians lining their pockets at the
expense of John Q. Public.

Charlie Self
"Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity
has made them good." H. L. Mencken

Charlie Self wrote:
Larry Jaques responds:


Recently, I was offered a Bank of America business card. The annual
service fee was only $100. Needles ta slay, I turned it down.

I tore up another credit card offer last week. Their interest rate
was 28.94% ! When I was growing up, I took a Business Law course in
high school. Back then, 28.94% interest was called "usury" and the
bank would have been keel hauled for it. I wonder if a certain group
of old-line Sicilians runs the CC companies now.

I keep one CC tied to my bank account for general purposes and one for
the business. The rest of my cards were cut up by me years ago and I
don't miss any of that interest payment crap at all.



Ya want great interest rates, come to Virginia. This state is overrun with car
title and check lenders. Give them a lien on your car, and you can get a grand
or so. Interest rate, according to the local news, is 360% per annum. Same deal
with checks. If you're tight for cash, write them a check for up to $500.
Interest rate is 361% per annum.

And it is legal.

It is also known as screwing the already poor consumer badly.

Why the assholes in Richmond passed this one is anyone's guess, but my guess
has something to do with asshole politicians lining their pockets at the
expense of John Q. Public.

Charlie Self
"Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity
has made them good." H. L. Mencken

Well, we have you beat here in SC. Or we did a while ago. Out
investment counselor, while in the navy a while back, said there
was at least 1 company in the Charleston area charging 1000%, yes
that's 3 zeros. Since there is no usury law in SC as long as they
tell you how much the interest is they can charge what they want.
Probably doesn't say what size type they have to use to tell you
in though.
Joe

On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 15:41:10 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:

In the last 8 years I have been paid back by 3 credit card companies about
$5,450.00 in rebates.
I average about 3% return on every thing I buy on my credit cards. The
trick is to always pay those cards off monthly. At the moment I get 1%
rebate on every dollar I charge and an additional 4% when I buy from a
grocery store, gas station, or drug store. And they love me.


They don't love you, they keep hoping you'll become a
revolving credit junkie.

"Swingman" wrote in message
...

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message

bank would have been keel hauled for it. I wonder if a certain group
of old-line Sicilians runs the CC companies now.

No ... they're in Congress.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 11/06/04


Actually, you can blame the Supreme Court and the former Govener of South
Dakota for letting loose the reins on credit card interest rates. There was
an interesting program on this a couple of days ago on PBS (maybe
"Frontline"?).

Supreme Court ruled that the usury laws of the state where the person making
the credit decision was located ruled. So if an Ohio employee of a New York
bank makes the decision to grant credit to a customer in California, Ohio
law rules. Then SoDak's govenor, in exchange for the promise of jobs from
Citibank and other big banks, led the charge to repeal SoDak's usury laws
that capped interest rates on credit cards. Banks moved their credit card
ops to SoDak and other states soon followed in repealing usury laws.

Tim

"GregP" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 15:41:10 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:

In the last 8 years I have been paid back by 3 credit card companies
about
$5,450.00 in rebates.
I average about 3% return on every thing I buy on my credit cards. The
trick is to always pay those cards off monthly. At the moment I get 1%
rebate on every dollar I charge and an additional 4% when I buy from a
grocery store, gas station, or drug store. And they love me.


They don't love you, they keep hoping you'll become a
revolving credit junkie.

LOL. After all these years and the thank you notes for being a good
customer, the sure sound like they love me. I do generate a lot of revenue
created by using their cards. I am of no risk and they get a percentage
form the vendor every time I use the card. this would probably be
considered the gravy end of this type business. Steady in come little by
little that is of little risk.

In article ,
"Mike in Mystic" wrote:

The truth is that the average credit card debt per American household is
about $8,000 with an average interest rate of about 18%. This amounts to
$1440 in interest per year. I would guess that most of the people who
bother to get the card actually will use it. Even if their interest rate is
only 10%, that means they only have to have an average annual balance of
$300 for one year to make up for the initial credit. Personally, having
hits on your credit report for these types of things is not really a good
idea, so I would never get a card like this unless I planned to use it.
That's why I only have one credit card and it is locked in my file cabinet
and only used in extraordinary cases.

You watched Frontline this week dincha?

And, to top off the great offers, the banks can raise rates by any
amount at any time for any reason with just 15 days notice.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____

"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long

In article ,
"Tim" wrote:

Actually, you can blame the Supreme Court and the former Govener of South
Dakota for letting loose the reins on credit card interest rates. There was
an interesting program on this a couple of days ago on PBS (maybe
"Frontline"?).

Excellent show. Frontline is on my list of shows that I often arrange my
schedule around or tape.

Supreme Court ruled that the usury laws of the state where the person making
the credit decision was located ruled. So if an Ohio employee of a New York
bank makes the decision to grant credit to a customer in California, Ohio
law rules. Then SoDak's govenor, in exchange for the promise of jobs from
Citibank and other big banks, led the charge to repeal SoDak's usury laws
that capped interest rates on credit cards. Banks moved their credit card
ops to SoDak and other states soon followed in repealing usury laws.

Yeah and at the end he said that although the increase in S. Dakota's
economy was a great step forward, he felt uneasy with the realization
that he helped release the beast on consumers who are least likely able
to afford the tactics.

BTW, did anyone believe the head of the Comptroller of the Currency vs.
the SF district attorney concerning Providian? Or that guy who's the
head of the lobby organization for the credit card industry? He
certainly looked uncomfortable with the line of questions.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____

"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long

Same governor who later killed a motorcycle rider after blowing a stop sign.
I believe he was sentenced to 6 months probation. Courts decided he was on
"government business" so the victim's family now has to sue the state to try
and recover their loss. In that program, and it was "Frontline" he says he
doesn't regret selling his soul to the Citibank, afterall, it brought some
jobs to South Dakota. Not to mention it helped him get elected to Congress
after he left the governor's mansion.

Nice guy.

John Emmons


"Tim" wrote in message
news

"Swingman" wrote in message
...

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message

bank would have been keel hauled for it. I wonder if a certain group
of old-line Sicilians runs the CC companies now.

No ... they're in Congress.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 11/06/04


Actually, you can blame the Supreme Court and the former Govener of South
Dakota for letting loose the reins on credit card interest rates. There
was
an interesting program on this a couple of days ago on PBS (maybe
"Frontline"?).

Supreme Court ruled that the usury laws of the state where the person
making
the credit decision was located ruled. So if an Ohio employee of a New
York
bank makes the decision to grant credit to a customer in California, Ohio
law rules. Then SoDak's govenor, in exchange for the promise of jobs from
Citibank and other big banks, led the charge to repeal SoDak's usury laws
that capped interest rates on credit cards. Banks moved their credit
card
ops to SoDak and other states soon followed in repealing usury laws.

Tim

"Fly-by-Night CC" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"Mike in Mystic" wrote:

The truth is that the average credit card debt per American household is
about $8,000 with an average interest rate of about 18%. This amounts
to
$1440 in interest per year. I would guess that most of the people who
bother to get the card actually will use it. Even if their interest
rate is
only 10%, that means they only have to have an average annual balance of
$300 for one year to make up for the initial credit. Personally, having
hits on your credit report for these types of things is not really a
good
idea, so I would never get a card like this unless I planned to use it.
That's why I only have one credit card and it is locked in my file
cabinet
and only used in extraordinary cases.

You watched Frontline this week dincha?

And, to top off the great offers, the banks can raise rates by any
amount at any time for any reason with just 15 days notice.


Who cares, just zero balance the thing every month and the can raise the
rates to 90% and it still won't cost you a dime.
--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving

In article ,
"TBone" wrote:

Who cares, just zero balance the thing every month and the can raise the
rates to 90% and it still won't cost you a dime.

You know that, I know that, practically everyone *knows* that - but few
actually live by that rule. Jeez, if $8000 is the _average_ credit card
balance of the American family just think about those who float much
higher than that who pull up the zero or just a few hundred balance
accounts to create that average.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____

"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long

"Fly-by-Night CC" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"TBone" wrote:

Who cares, just zero balance the thing every month and the can raise the
rates to 90% and it still won't cost you a dime.

You know that, I know that, practically everyone *knows* that - but few
actually live by that rule. Jeez, if $8000 is the _average_ credit card
balance of the American family just think about those who float much
higher than that who pull up the zero or just a few hundred balance
accounts to create that average.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____

"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long

something like 20% pay off each month.

Not to mention that if you pay off your balance each month for a long enough
period of time, you'll become a non-welcome customer.

Folks who think that by paying on time, never keeping a balance, etc. makes
them "good"customers to the credit card issuers have got it completely
backwards.

Ironically, they're the worst customers.

John Emmons

"Charles Spitzer" wrote in message
...

"Fly-by-Night CC" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"TBone" wrote:

Who cares, just zero balance the thing every month and the can raise
the
rates to 90% and it still won't cost you a dime.

You know that, I know that, practically everyone *knows* that - but few
actually live by that rule. Jeez, if $8000 is the _average_ credit card
balance of the American family just think about those who float much
higher than that who pull up the zero or just a few hundred balance
accounts to create that average.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____

"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long

something like 20% pay off each month.

"John Emmons" wrote in message
...
Not to mention that if you pay off your balance each month for a long
enough
period of time, you'll become a non-welcome customer.

Folks who think that by paying on time, never keeping a balance, etc.
makes
them "good"customers to the credit card issuers have got it completely
backwards.

Ironically, they're the worst customers.

John Emmons

maybe. i used my credit card to purchase almost everything when i built my
house (lotsa airmiles). the balance was paid off each month with draws from
my construction loan from the bank. you think they didn't like having 3-5%
of mumblty-thousands of dollars?

"Charles Spitzer" wrote in message
...

"Fly-by-Night CC" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"TBone" wrote:

Who cares, just zero balance the thing every month and the can raise
the
rates to 90% and it still won't cost you a dime.

You know that, I know that, practically everyone *knows* that - but few
actually live by that rule. Jeez, if $8000 is the _average_ credit card
balance of the American family just think about those who float much
higher than that who pull up the zero or just a few hundred balance
accounts to create that average.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____

"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long

something like 20% pay off each month.

Charles Spitzer wrote:

maybe. i used my credit card to purchase almost everything when i
built my house (lotsa airmiles). the balance was paid off each month
with draws from my construction loan from the bank. you think they
didn't like having 3-5% of mumblty-thousands of dollars?

Believe it or not you're a "deadbeat." They want more than just the fee.

"But other consumers, like actor and author Ben Stein, use plastic purely
for convenience. While it would appear that Stein -- who says he charges a
small fortune every month on his credit cards -- is the ideal customer, in
reality, he is what some in the industry call a "deadbeat." That's because
he pays his balance in full every month."

Full article.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl.../synopsis.html

I used to be a deadbeat too until the layoff in 2001. Things are better now
and I hope to be a deadbeat again in a few months. ;-)

-- Mark

This is complete BS. Credit card companies make money every time you use
that card regardless of how quickly you pay it off. I use my credit cards
for just about everything and zero balance them every month for the past 20
years and I still get flooded with new applications and phone calls for new
ones to this day. Not exactly what would happen to a non-welcome customer.

--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving


"John Emmons" wrote in message
...
Not to mention that if you pay off your balance each month for a long
enough
period of time, you'll become a non-welcome customer.

Folks who think that by paying on time, never keeping a balance, etc.
makes
them "good"customers to the credit card issuers have got it completely
backwards.

Ironically, they're the worst customers.

John Emmons

"Charles Spitzer" wrote in message
...

"Fly-by-Night CC" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"TBone" wrote:

Who cares, just zero balance the thing every month and the can raise
the
rates to 90% and it still won't cost you a dime.

You know that, I know that, practically everyone *knows* that - but
few
actually live by that rule. Jeez, if $8000 is the _average_ credit
card
balance of the American family just think about those who float much
higher than that who pull up the zero or just a few hundred balance
accounts to create that average.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____

"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long

something like 20% pay off each month.

However, you can often negotiate with the vendor to get a discount for
CASH, so saving 3-5% out of YOUR loan is worth it for the
convenience??

John

On Fri, 3 Dec 2004 11:32:11 -0700, "Charles Spitzer"
wrote:


"John Emmons" wrote in message
...
Not to mention that if you pay off your balance each month for a long
enough
period of time, you'll become a non-welcome customer.

Folks who think that by paying on time, never keeping a balance, etc.
makes
them "good"customers to the credit card issuers have got it completely
backwards.

Ironically, they're the worst customers.

John Emmons

maybe. i used my credit card to purchase almost everything when i built my
house (lotsa airmiles). the balance was paid off each month with draws from
my construction loan from the bank. you think they didn't like having 3-5%
of mumblty-thousands of dollars?

"Charles Spitzer" wrote in message
...

"Fly-by-Night CC" wrote in message
news In article ,
"TBone" wrote:

Who cares, just zero balance the thing every month and the can raise
the
rates to 90% and it still won't cost you a dime.

You know that, I know that, practically everyone *knows* that - but few
actually live by that rule. Jeez, if $8000 is the _average_ credit card
balance of the American family just think about those who float much
higher than that who pull up the zero or just a few hundred balance
accounts to create that average.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____

"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long

something like 20% pay off each month.

The only thing that's complete BS is your assumption that your personal
experience is the standard.

John Emmons

"TBone" wrote in message
. com...
This is complete BS. Credit card companies make money every time you use
that card regardless of how quickly you pay it off. I use my credit cards
for just about everything and zero balance them every month for the past
20
years and I still get flooded with new applications and phone calls for
new
ones to this day. Not exactly what would happen to a non-welcome
customer.

--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving


"John Emmons" wrote in message
...
Not to mention that if you pay off your balance each month for a long
enough
period of time, you'll become a non-welcome customer.

Folks who think that by paying on time, never keeping a balance, etc.
makes
them "good"customers to the credit card issuers have got it completely
backwards.

Ironically, they're the worst customers.

John Emmons

"Charles Spitzer" wrote in message
...

"Fly-by-Night CC" wrote in message
news In article ,
"TBone" wrote:

Who cares, just zero balance the thing every month and the can
raise
the
rates to 90% and it still won't cost you a dime.

You know that, I know that, practically everyone *knows* that - but
few
actually live by that rule. Jeez, if $8000 is the _average_ credit
card
balance of the American family just think about those who float much
higher than that who pull up the zero or just a few hundred balance
accounts to create that average.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____

"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long

something like 20% pay off each month.

John Emmons wrote:

The only thing that's complete BS is your assumption that your personal
experience is the standard.

His experience may not be the standard, but it's the same as mine :-).

--
Homo sapiens is a goal, not a description.