Alternative Payments

In the course of the day, I just donated some money both to This American Life to help support the podcast, and again to Barack Obama, to help support this country which desperately needs it.

As it turns out, I had planned to do both out of my savings account which holds cash I get from random things like selling books on Alibris.com (the most awesome website in the whole world) and occasional writing gigs. To use that money directly, I'd love to use my PayPal account which draws from that money if no PayPal funds are available.

Neither provided this functionality. Now, they didn't lose out - because I was a committed "buyer," as it were. But I wonder how much money they're leaving on the table without those alternative payments.

And if you run a website, you might wonder the same question about your product...