Using Debit/Credit Cards or PayPall to buy equipment?

[Biggins]

Is this a safe thing to do or will it be a flag to a card company? Paper leaves no trails and tells no tales after all.

Thanks for the advice.

[jeepboi]

depends on what your buying. Just scales or papers or pipes, I dont do it but i think you would need to be buying some big quantities or large machines to raise suspicion but better safe then sorry.

[soobie05]

ya not that great of an idea, i was also scared about buying some seeds online, but people told me that the pigs have better things todo! but ya man im just as curious as you are

[Opie Yutts]

Like soobie suggests, credit card companies and the cops have better things to do than worry about the purchases of one individual. They worry more about your electricity usage, but that's not even an problem for an individual growing for his own use.

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

I personaly don't do it, I use money orders or cash, takes longer but less to worry about. I hear prepaid credit cards work well for international purchases and domestic.

[green4money]

good shit

[Subjekt]

As mentioned before, you should be ok unless your buying everything all at once like:

Lights,scales,grinders and other related mj utilities

PrePaid Credit Cards are the safest way... Or you can use your credit card and have it sent to a different address... I Dunno, just be safe and smart in whatever you do, ya digg..

[Weed_Fiend]

I have heard that credit and debit card companies sell their information to the government, so if you are buying lights, ferts, soil, and most importantly seeds there is a possibility that you could get busted. Like someone has already said, I would either pay cash, or buy a debit gift card so it has no link to you.

[Opie Yutts]

Credit card companies sell there information to however wants it.

Like the government has time to sift through an innocent (mostly) guys bank records. They don't even have time to do their job properly. Until they get many more tax dollars and can start the STOPS (Sifting Through Ordinary Peoples' Stuff) program, you've got nothing to worry about. Now once you start getting bigger, and selling to a bunch of people, then you have to worry about your power usage. In that case, yes, you would need to worry about paper trails.

[OLDJIMMYBONES]

just go to simon.com and you can buy a (giftaccount) virtual credit card, they email u the numbers the next day

[fosomker]

I buy everything with plastic, I just dont carry too much cash and I tend to order a lot of things over the net. Since I live in Cali with a doctors note, I could care less. I really dont think they have time to deal with me and my small amount of weed.

[job1.5]

like the gov. would buy the info. if they wanted it they would just take it.personally i just went to the local plumbing and electrical store and ordered my ballast.

[yokinazu]

growing pot is ILLEGAL. take no chances.
paper trails have and will lead to getting growers busted.
people at places such as lowes and home depot evan electrical supply will notify the local police if a prchase looks suspicios.
no it is not illegal to buy lights and dirt and pots but if you buy it all at once it looks bad. and there have been people busted this way.
if you buy a couple hps and then bags of soil then continers and fertilize your credit card company will notify the authoritys especially when all this is in conjuntion with an overseas purechase from a known seed bank.
think about it even the electric company will notify the police if there is an unusal spike in your electric usage.
again cultivation is ILLEGAL. take no chances and be smart,this is after all a war on drugs.

[Narf!]

The credit/debit card companies dont care, as long as you are spending money. If you are are using a debit card they could care less. Visa earns roughly 3 to 5 percent on each transaction. And they dont care what you buy, or from where. Im not trying to be an ass, but i paid for a 7,000 dollar vacation on my debit card. At 5% that transaction earned visa 350$. They didnt even blink. As long as you have the money in the bank they could care less. As long as you spend it. It makes them money. The only time you might run into trouble, is if you have a "Mother Hen" credit card company. They will call you and ask if the charges are authorized. You just say yes. Thats all. Thousands of people buy grow equipment everyday. When you order from a reputable supplier, all it does is show the monetary amount. Not what you bought. The only time your bank would know what you bought on an itemized list is if you had a dispute between the bank and the retalier. Just because you bought a 1000w hps dosent mean that you are going to grow something ileagal with it.

[blink_inc]

Yes, growing pot is illegal but Hydroponics is not.
There are literally hundereds of thousands of people growing hydroponics vegetables, orchids, specialty plants etc using the SAME equipment that is used for growing pot.

There is no way for anyone to tell what it is used for merely by a credit card charge, nor would it justify a warrant (Still required as far as I know). Neither is it illegal to sell this equipment online.

There is something called a privacy act in Canada anyway, google it and read what your personal information can and can not be used for or accessed by.

IF, and a big IF, you got raided, they could use the credit card information to prove that you purchased the equipment, but I don't think that they could prove that you ordered it for the purposes of...

That said, I still buy everything I can cash and will NEVER order seeds online. (That would constitute "For the purposes of cultivation" and if delivered by mail, in some country's could be a federal charge.)

Feel safe know ing that thousands of purchases are made for equiment and supplies but there is no little gnome reading every purchase that happens online.

Just my thoughts...

[OLDJIMMYBONES]

i use plastic for EVERYTHING, havent gotten arrested yet..........

[yokinazu]

no hydro is not illegal till you grow herb with it. and also like i said the people at hardware and lighting supply places WILL notify the local authoritys when a purchase looks suspicious. then when you ordor seeds from oveseas thats what throws up the flag and then they look into your credit card purchases. just the same as a spike in your electricity is not illegal but it will get the electric company to invesigate. and if your growing veggies no big deal but we aint talkin about growin veggies here are we. and people growing veggis do get investigated, they just dont get busted.
big brother is watching. we are in an illegal buisness and must use extreme caution. i would rather eliminate my paper trail and be a little paranoid than do 10yrs. and if that causes me to have a little hassle so be it. an ounce of prevention.....

[Opie Yutts]

the people at hardware and lighting supply places WILL notify the local authoritys when a purchase looks suspicious.

This is extremely rare. Most places don't care what you buy from them as long as you are spending money at their establishment. They want you to come back, and most people won't if some place reports them to the authorities for buying legal stuff. After all they sell it. It would be pretty hypocritical to "tell on someone" because they bought stuff you are selling.

[Mr. Clandestine]

If you walk into your local Home Depot, and place 20 MH/20 HPS bulbs on the counter, 50lbs of potting soil, 5gal buckets, every fertilizer they carry, extension cords, etc., etc., AND pay for it with a credit card, your transaction might get flagged as suspicious. But, even then, if you happen to be rung up by a 15 year old kid, who's as clueless as they come, it's likely that it would go unnoticed for a long time. If the DEA, or local fuzz happened to request information from that store...which is fairly uncommon...then your name might show up. It might not, too. There may have been someone who purchased 100MH/100HPS bulbs, 250lbs of potting soil, etc.......

Lots of people pay for everything with cash. If you're using a debit card, you can get cash pretty much anywhere you go. If you're truly paranoid about showing up on Uncle Sam's list of personal growers, then just pay cash. But Uncle Sam is much less worried about you, and far more concerned with your neighbor who just built a meth lab out in his backyard, to care whether or not you have a small grow-op going on in your closet.

[4204X4]

Buy your equipment online with a credit card you cant get busted for buying nutes, lights,ect. Buy seeds by money order and you should be fine.

[blink_inc]

And while we are on the subject....as a previous post mentioned "big brother is watching"..... have you looked at your screen? We are all posting on an internet public forum, how safe is that really.

[Balkey]

And while we are on the subject....as a previous post mentioned "big brother is watching"..... have you looked at your screen? We are all posting on an internet public forum, how safe is that really.

MUAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA


MUUUUUHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA (honestly, blink is right).

Anyways, people, set a camcorder in your front window (or on your house, there will probably be people who say a camcorder in your window?!? now thats not suspicious, but a certain thing called shears fixes that). The cops can investigate you all they want, but if you have a video showing there is no reason why these cops came into your house, then it gets thrown out at court. They can't bust you for buying legal products. They can suspect you all they want but if your residence has no drug traffic, they will get owned at court.

Either way if you have this huge ass operation, you SHOULD be worried. The majority of the people who come here are people who are scared home depot will turn them in for buying a CFL or if someone will bust them for buying 10 seeds. If your not dumb about all this, you won't have police coming through your front door.

[yokinazu]

yeah ill agree this aint very safe posting on a public forum but as of right now i am doing nothing that will get me hardtime and when and if i do i will be well away fom where im at and offline. and it may be extremely rare the hardware kids will report you, but rare does not mean it dont happen. all im trying to say is why leave evidence if you dont have to. be safe and be smart.

[JackHerer]

You are more at risk driving to a buddies house with an 1/8 in your pocket because if you get pulled for anything they have the right to search your address especially if your driving.

Can't see many suppliers selling their customers out as there isn't yet an endless supply. Also the data held by the banks & PayPal etc.. is covered by the data protection act's & giving it to the goverment would be in breach of that..

If your already being watched & they have sufficient for a search warrant then they could get warrants to see any financial records but there is a few regs to prevent fishing trips.