Gunpal issues!!

Unbelievable. Check out the email I got from gpal just now:


Are they serious? If your kitchen is on fire, do you go outside and build a new garage? WTF?

EDIT: They still owe me $208.68. Transaction ID# BA5F7ED3C17E38 just to show I'm not FOS or one of "a few people hostile to the gpal business model."

A new (and hopefully more profitable) venture....to raise money to pay back everyone from the failed one.

BRILLIANT!
 
Awesome:
http://www.bidscapes.com/auction_details.php?name=GPAL-Failing-business-NO-RESERVE&auction_id=100076

gpal-auction.png
 
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They do have stuff listed.

Turns out that the vast majority of listings are from "Ten Percent Firearms," which is apparently owned by a Director of the Cal Guns Foundation. Seems like a few individuals who are associated with Cal Guns are bending over backwards to support Ben Cannon and his business ventures. I can only speculate as to why.

Interesting explanation here:
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=364821
 
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Well, we already knew this but:


PAYMENT PROCESSOR POSSIBLY CONDUCTING A PONZI SCHEME
Since January 2010, the IC3 has received hundreds of complaints regarding a website that victims reportedly used to transfer money for the sales of firearms; however, the website has not allowed them to withdraw the funds after their merchandise was sold.

The website claims to be a payment processor to be used as an alternative to other familiar online payment transfer services and was created to allow for the purchase of items that others of its kind do not allow (e.g., firearms). The website encourages consumers to use their services by advertising that they send money to consumers or anyone with an email address, an individual can easily pay for anything using the web, and sign-up is free, quick, and easy.

The website appears to have been set up as a legitimate business but shortly after operations began, customers started experiencing funding delays. Ultimately, customers who received funds only received partial payments, and those payments were delayed by months.

Additional research indicates that the money submitted for transfer may have been fraudulently misappropriated. This scam appears to have become a Ponzi scheme with previous customers being paid by funds from new customers.​
 
From the "you must be joking" department (just sent out by Gpal):



Dear ....,

GPal is happy to announce that operations are back up and running for new checking account transactions. Transactions originated on or after March 09, 2011 should now be processed within our 2-7 business day target.

As some of our customers have been acutely aware of, GPal has been experiencing a variety of growing pains that stem from the Credit Card acquiring banks failing to deliver customer funds to GPal.

As a result, we have taken the drastic step of suspending credit card payments entirely until such time that we are able to process them in a timely fashion.

Many of you may be waiting on funds from those transactions and rest assured that GPal is doing everything we can to work with the banks to get your funds released from the Credit Card acquiring banks. If you are one of our customers who have been affected by these credit card bank holds, you can help us speed up the process by having the Buyer fill out the form at: http://www.gpal.net/CreditCardAuthorizationForm.pdf and sending it to [email protected].

Throughout all of this, we at GPal have been fighting tooth and nail despite adverse bank action to continue to bring our customers the services they need and we will continue to disburse money to our customers within the bounds of bank requirements. It is our aim to provide you the best pro-rights payment processing service possible and we will not waver from that commitment.

In order to get back on our feet and fully recover, GPal must expand its offerings, including but not limited to offering a Debit Card for easier and immediate funds access for our sellers and expanding our processing base. To do so we need your help.

GPal remains absolutely committed to providing the only pro-rights and non-discriminatory payment service in the world. Thank you for your support and patience.

Sincerely,

Ben Cannon
Chairman/CEO
GPal, Inc.
 
I find the GPAL logic troubling. It's similar to borrowing $20 for lunch from a friend, and loaning $10 of it to another friend. When the original loaner of $20 wants to be repaid, the GPAL logic would seem to be "Here's $10; I lent the other $10 to someone else, so now he owes you instead of me".

If GPAL had secured funding for the money it owed, rather than pulling the "we don't owe this; the fact it was represented to be deposited into you account and you delivered merchandise to customers based on that representation from us doesn't matter", they might have a chance at slowly regaining credibility.
 
The thing that pisses me off the most about this is that this douchebag has effectively made it that much harder for some other company to do it legitimately and on the level. Nobody will trust one of these systems in the gun realm again, at least not easily. About the only thing I think that would work is if someone like Gunbroker or Gunsamerica spun off a transaction processor.

-Mike
 
I never use gunpal. I still use paypal. If you want to get payed via paypal and don't want to have to charge the buyer the extra 3% for the transaction you just have the buyer GIFT you the money and there is no charge for the transaction to the buyer or seller.
 
I never use gunpal. I still use paypal. If you want to get payed via paypal and don't want to have to charge the buyer the extra 3% for the transaction you just have the buyer GIFT you the money and there is no charge for the transaction to the buyer or seller.

You do realize that if PayPal finds out that you are selling pretty much anything firearm related they can lock up your account and restrict you from pulling out any money you have in their system, right? Unless you're dealing with large sums of money, I would recommend looking into something like "Square".
 
You do realize that if PayPal finds out that you are selling pretty much anything firearm related they can lock up your account and restrict you from pulling out any money you have in their system, right? Unless you're dealing with large sums of money, I would recommend looking into something like "Square".

Ya right. How are they going to find out. Do they now read minds! Come on be real! And the statement about "anything firearm related". If you look on ebay which owns paypal you can buy holsters,bullet molds,reloading press's etc,etc,etc which is firearm related so that statement is totally false.

I just sold a gun and the buyer GIFTED me the money on paypal. Smooth transaction and no problem.

Besides should they do something as take my money they would be in court faster than you can say paypal! And I don't care how much is there!

I went through some crap with ebay a time back where they told me that I could only except payment by paypal. What! Who are you to tell me that I can only except payment by paypal and not by personal checks or money orders. When I list something for sale I write in the ad please contact me for shipping info and alternate means of payment. Never had any problem.
 
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Ya right. How are they going to find out. Do they now read minds! Come on be real! And the statement about "anything firearm related". If you look on ebay which owns paypal you can buy holsters,bullet molds,reloading press's etc,etc,etc which is firearm related so that statement is totally false.

Tell that to the people who have had their paypal accounts locked.

Paypal sucks.

-Mike
 
You've got to be kidding:
Dear Valued GPal Customer,

As some of our customers have been acutely aware of, GPal has been experiencing difficulties related to Credit Card banks holding of customer funds. These problems exist with funds from transactions prior to March 09, 2011. As a result, GPal suspended credit cards entirely on March 9, 2011, leaving us with only Checking Accounts to fund transactions.

Unfortunately, it appears that these Credit Card holds are not going to be resolved anytime soon, so GPal is taking pro-active action to raise funds to cover the entirety of the hold, fund customer accounts, and provide for future expansion.

Due to the difficulty of raising funds for a payments company in the firearm space, we are enlisting your help in this process. GPal is offering a $10,000 referral fee* to any GPal user who introduces an Investor (VC, Angel, PE firm, etc.) that leads to a deal in excess of $1million. Please send introductions to [email protected] with “Investor Introduction” in the Subject.

Please note that GPal is presently fully operational for checking account only transactions. Transactions originated on or after March 09, 2011 should now be processed within our 2-7 business day target.

GPal remains absolutely committed to providing the only pro-rights and non-discriminatory payment service in the world.

Sincerely,

GPal.
 
I got this email from them last night as well. They are now marked as spam in my email box. I find it astonishing that they are still pulling this crap. I would find it even more astonishing if I were to run into someone that actually has fallen for one of the last couple emails.
 
Unbelievable. They are actually offering a commission of 1% - well below what a finder would normally expect for a deal of this size.
 
Ya right. How are they going to find out.
Well, for one thing, if you use PayPay for a "discrete gun payment", you are handing the buyer full authority to revoke your Paypal account and have your funds frozen for 6 months or until you can obtain a court order and your own expense to free the money. If I wouldn't trust someone enough to give them the key to my house to pick up something I sold them, I certainly wouldn't trust them with that kind of power over my funds transfer system.
 
[frown]Anyone need a guaranteed $1 million dollar investment loss for tax reasons out there?

[rofl]

I'm still pissed off about their poisoning the waters for a working gun friendly payment system. Might be tough for anyone to pull off after their shenanagins.
 
I'm still pissed off about their poisoning the waters for a working gun friendly payment system. Might be tough for anyone to pull off after their shenanagins.

I am not sure it was their fault. The problems seem to stem not from technical issues but business ones. They were purring along and then the banks who process their cc transactions pulled the rug out from under them. Why is not clear, but lets face it, it seems odd to say the least.
 
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