Hack15.Avoid Problems Paying for Services

Hack 15. Avoid Problems Paying for Services

Avoid problems and additional charges when paying for Skype services.

Works with: all versions of Skype.

Paying for Skype services is seemingly so fraught with problems and difficulties that it merits its own discussion forum on www.Skype.com: Payments and Billing. Likewise, Skype's knowledgebase contains a Payments and Billing category, and it is a good resource for answering many questions you have on billing.

What follows are some tips and guidelines on how to avoid much of the aggravation associated with paying for Skype services.

2.4.1. Payment Methods

There are several ways of paying for services: Visa, MasterCard/Eurocard, DinersClub, PayPal, Money-bookers, Rabo Direct Betalen (the Netherlands only), Hansabank online (Estonia only), eNETS (Singapore only), ELBA Payments (Austria only), eBetalning (Sweden only), and Offline Bank Transfer (Japan, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, the UK, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden). As indicated, not all payment options are available in all countries. Check the Skype web site for the payment options currently available to you.

A more indirect way of paying for Skype services is by means of vouchers and Skype Points, and Skype Gift Certificates.

Business users of Skype can pay for Skype services by means of Skype Groups, which allows a group administrator to purchase and mange Skype Credits, SkypeIn numbers, and Voicemail for all members of the group. For mor details, go to http://www.skype.com/products/skypegroups/. Skype Groups is not discussed further in this hack..

Vouchers used to promote Skype are provided by companies with which Skype has partnered (makers of headsets and other Skype accessories). Each voucher has a monetary value printed on it together with an equivalent number of SkypeOut call minutes based on Skype's global rate, currently 0.017 per minute. You can redeem vouchers at https://secure.skype.com/store/voucher/redeem.html.

You can earn Skype Points only by referring people to Skype. Presently, you cannot use these points for anything; they just accrue. However, Skype intends to allow points to be exchanged in payment for Skype services sometime in the future. For details, see http://share.skype.com/tools_for_sharing/tools_for_sharing/skype_points_faq/.

Skype Gift Certificates can be used to pay for Skype credits, SkypeIn numbers, and Voicemail. See http://share.skype.com/products_and_services/we_bring_you…_skype_gift_certificates/ for more details.

2.4.2. Avoid Problems

What follows is advice that is specific primarily to U.S. buyers of Skype services. Payment options available to U.S. buyers, at the time of this writing, are Visa, MasterCard/Eurocard, PayPal, and Moneybookers.

2.4.2.1. Verification.

Before you can make any Skype purchases, you must go through a process of verifying your email address, during which you must also explicitly agree to Skype's Terms of Service.

2.4.2.2. One, and only one, Skype account per payment account.

The very first thing you should be aware of is that there is a one-to-one relationship between a specific credit card or a specific online payment account and a Skype account name. You cannot use the same payment account to fund several different Skype accounts.

This is enforced as part of Skype's antifraud efforts. What it means, in effect, is that if you have more than one Skype account, you must use a different credit card or online payment account (PayPal or Moneybookers) for each of them. Obtaining multiple credit cards just to fund multiple Skype accounts might involve a lot of paperwork and hassle. Moneybookers allows only one account per person, so you won't have any luck there. With PayPal, however, you can set up multiple accounts (all you need is a unique email address for each) and fund them independently, and pay for different Skype accounts that way.

You can avoid some of the hassle associated with funding and managing multiple Skype accounts by signing up for the Skype Groups service, details for which can be found at http://www.skype.com/products/skypegroups/.

2.4.2.3. Initial 10 limit.

When you first buy Skype credits you are limited to buying only 10 worth. Subsequently, you can buy credits in increments of 10 and 25.

2.4.2.4. No transfer of credits.

You cannot transfer any remaining Skype credits or balances to another Skype user. Either you must use the credits yourself, transfer the account to another person (give your Skype username and password to someone you trust), or forfeit them.

2.4.2.5. Payments from anonymous proxies will be rejected.

Skype will reject any attempt to pay for Skype services, by any payment method, if you use an anonymous proxy that hides your Internet Protocol (IP) address. Again, this is part of Skype's antifraud effort.

2.4.2.6. Delays.

Payments not made by credit card (for example, payments made via eCheck) may take several days to clear. Until your payment clears, Skype will mark its status as "pending," and the funds will not be added to your Skype account balance until payment is complete, nor will they be available for use.

2.4.2.7. Minimize money transfer fees.

At the time of this writing, Moneybookers charged 1%, up to a maximum of 0.5, to transfer money. Currently, you can buy SkypeOut credits in blocks of 10 and 25. To minimize money transfer costs, as a percentage of the whole, you might want to consider buying credits in blocks of 25 ( 0.5 is 2% of 25) rather than 10 ( 0.5 is 5% of 10). That way, you'll top up your account less often and spend less money on transfer fees.

2.4.2.8. Exchange rate fees.

If your online payment account (PayPal or Moneybookers) or credit card is not denominated in euros, you will be billed in your home currency based on some exchange rate. The final exchange rate you get for credit card transactions is typically set by Visa or MasterCard in conjunction with your issuing bank, and is typically 2% in their favor, but may be much more. Read your account terms and conditions very carefully because foreign currency transactions should be described there in detail.

2.4.2.9. VAT.

If the address of your online payment account (PayPal or Moneybookers), or that associated with your credit card or its issuing bank, is located within the EU, Skype may automatically charge you VAT on any Skype purchases you make. Conversely, if the address is outside the EU, you will most likely not be charged VAT. At the time of this writing, Skype's VAT rate was 15%.