What's the preferred way to suggest changes or new articles on the main site? I'm going to do this one as a public thread in case anyone else has comments.
I've been looking at the outcall article and have a couple of things to say. I use www.bt.com/directory-enquiries/ for checking phone numbers, it's free and doesn't require registration, so more convenient than the two suggested.
Some genuine clients are x-directory, not in the phone book yet or don't have a landline. I get around that by asking for a deposit if I can't check them using their phone number. I ask for ?20 or ?30, but even a tenner should be enough to deter timewasters, and the only people I've had who refused sounded a bit dodgy from the start.
There's no perfect way to take a deposit, I don't know if you think it's worth having it's own article. These are the ways I know:
Amazon gift certificates: Discreet, and you'll want something that they sell pretty soon. The client has to get an account if he doesn't have one already, then he just needs to fill in the gift certificate form with your email address. This can't be used at the last minute as they can take an hour to get to you, and I've gone off them since I've had a couple that didn't go through at all. The clients got their email confirming that they'd bought it and it would be sent, but I never received it and their cards were never charged. It's a good thing they weren't charged, but could still cause problems.
Phone credit: Some people get clients to buy a top-up voucher for their network and give them the code.
Paypal: Convenient, most people have an account, but if you're caught using it to get payment for sexual services they'll close your account and may freeze your funds for a year, so withdraw them straight away. I had my account closed and was able to open another one with a new credit card.
AdultWork credit: You can create an item for sale called "deposit" with a price of ?10 or whatever and get him to buy it. If you pay for advertising on adultwork you can use the credit for that, or you can withdraw it as a cheque minus AW's 30% cut.
Pre-payed credit card: I've recently had a guy pay me for phone sex with
IDT Prime cards he bought at the newsagents. He'd buy a card and gave me the details so I could shop online. There's a ?3 fee for buying a card, and a 50p-?1 fee per transaction. The client will still have the details necessary to use the card himself, so you'd want to spend the money on something straight away.
Bank transfers and deposits: This can work with a bit of notice. A client could transfer money using online or telephone banking to your bank account in three working days, or deposit cash at a branch to have it processed the same day. If they do the latter, they'll usually be given the initial and last name that your bank account is registered to, so you might not be comfortable doing that with your personal account. You can get a free business account from
Abbey and call it whatever you like.
Er, that was longer and more boring than I intended. Sorry about that.