Random Fashion Thoughts (Part 3: Style farmer strikes back) - our general discussion thread

[gdl203]

Random Fashion Question: does anyone here use nate? (The app)

Sounds like a no...

 

[Fuuma]

Sounds like a no...

I don't even know what it is.....

 

[gdl203]

I don't even know what it is.....

That's OK - that answers my question. I wanted to see if anyone used it (or knew of it).

It's a consumer-centric shopping app that facilitates universal checkout on any site where you shop, and generates a payment card for each purchase. It's meant to provide better privacy, less tracking, faster checkout.... They promise a 3 tap / 5 second checkout on any site.

 

[Fuuma]

That's OK - that answers my question. I wanted to see if anyone used it (or knew of it).

It's a consumer-centric shopping app that facilitates universal checkout on any site where you shop, and generates a payment card for each purchase. It's meant to provide better privacy, less tracking, faster checkout.... They promise a 3 tap / 5 second checkout on any site.

By better privacy you're referring to the temp credit card number or to something else? Feel free to point me to an article or something, i'm just curious...

 

[gdl203]

By better privacy you're referring to the temp credit card number or to something else? Feel free to point me to an article or something, i'm just curious...

Yes, insofar as your cc or bank does not know what you're buying but also because the add-to-cart, add-to-wishlist, checkout actions, etc... are all performed by a bot, not you, so they're not cookied.

nate, the AI Shopping Assistant - COOL HUNTING®

For many existing in 2020, the days of physically going somewhere to purchase a product feel like ancient history, and the ability to have items delivered safely to your door has become critical. W…

coolhunting.com

 

[true.to.size]

On the random topic of checkout, @gdl203, what's the reason that NMWA doesn't use PayPal? Not a criticism really (though having the option is nice), just curious as it seems the majority of online retailers offer it.

 

[gdl203]

On the random topic of checkout, @gdl203, what's the reason that NMWA doesn't use PayPal? Not a criticism really (though having the option is nice), just curious as it seems the majority of online retailers offer it.

No particular reason other than PayPal is just another layer - people fund their paypal purchases with their bank info or cc, so why not just pay with your cc directly? It just adds layers of costs and privacy issues for no benefit (we have to transfer balances to our bank account, costs extra days). There's going to be one in a million customer who really must use his/her paypal balance for a purchase but I'm not sure I want to add complexity for that micro-minority of users

 

[true.to.size]

I guess the only difference for me is that when I have money in my PayPal balance, I tend to think of it differently in terms of spending than charging something or taking funds out of my bank account—which, I know, is completely illogical. I guess it's a similar phenomenon to some people saying they spend more when they carry cash, or people thinking about money in their Venmo account in a similar way. There is just one less layer of hesitation when I know I am paying for something in part or in full with my PayPal balance. In other words, I tend to make more impulsive purchases with PayPal than with other forms of payment.

 

[gdl203]

I don't want to move the thread in a tangential conversation but I have to ask: why would you keep money in a PayPal balance? It just sounds so counterintuitive to me. The second a dollar hits my/our PayPal account, I transfer it immediately to our bank account. I'm like: Give me my money, Paypal!

 

[mythage]

As a Canadian, one reason I keep money in my PayPal is because it's USD and I use USD to buy stuff from the US to avoid foreign exchange (either transferring money to PayPal or charging my CC when buying from US)

 

[true.to.size]

The money in my PayPal balance comes from selling on ebay, grailed, and the like—all of which I do on the side as hobbies but not as a significant source of income that I factor into monthly expenses. So I guess I just keep the money in there and just put it back into hobbies and tend to think of it more as discretionary than money coming from work etc, which goes straight to the bank.

 

[cb200]

I know I've had some issues with retail use of Paypal online in the past. Long time with getting funds, bad customer service, and a dispute on an international shipment that was completely wrong and no chance for contesting. Left a bad taste.

 

[Mghart]

I keep a fare sum stocked in PayPal for buying internationally as the shops I deal with is only through direct email and PayPal invoicing. I‘m so used to it at this point also for eBaying things for almost ten years.

 

[chrfi]

No particular reason other than PayPal is just another layer - people fund their paypal purchases with their bank info or cc, so why not just pay with your cc directly?

Using PayPal does not require me to fill in my CC info. It also allows me to return 10 purchases per year for free (PayPal pays the return cost) which is a significant advantage especially for overseas purchases.

 

[lesamourai]

That's OK - that answers my question. I wanted to see if anyone used it (or knew of it).

It's a consumer-centric shopping app that facilitates universal checkout on any site where you shop, and generates a payment card for each purchase. It's meant to provide better privacy, less tracking, faster checkout.... They promise a 3 tap / 5 second checkout on any site.

never heard of it but it doesn't sound that appealing for me. i've given up on not being a data mule for companies to sponge info off of, generally dislike faster checkout methods and don't feel like adding another app in my life