Billing address shipment work around using Prepayment cards (2026 Update)

Apr 02, 2007 Last reply: 1 week ago 4 Replies
R
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I have noticed that a number of online stores have a policy of only=20 shipping products to a billing address (particularly for the first order).= =20 This seems to be most prevalent with suppliers of high value goods. An=20 example of this would be

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who near the final stages=20 of an order state that, "If this is your first order we can ONLY ship to=20 your billing address for security reasons."



It occurred to that some of the prepayment cards allow you to register=20 pretty much any name/address combination you like (e.g.=20

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specifically state that they perform no checks),= =20 therefore I could buy a prepaid Mastercard and set the name to be my real= =20 name, but the address to be that of my work. I could then use this to buy= =20 online but have goods shipped to my work address rather than home. For=20 suppliers like ebuyer, I would only need to do this for the first=20 purchase.



I realise there is a financial penalty for doing this. For an IDT Prime=20 Mastercard it would be up to =A34 (=A33 to buy the card, plus 2% transactio= n=20 fee [up to a max. of =A31]) but if you simply can't be at the billing=20 address it is a viable work around.



You could also potentially lose money with funds left on the card.=20 Consider if the product you were buying cost =A345 delivered, I would need = a=20 =A350 card because the 2% transaction fee means I would actually be charged= =20 =A345.90. This means I would have to use up the =A34.10 carefully to ensure= I=20 lost no further money (this is probably easiest at a supermarket since=20 they have a wide range of products and don't mind small card=20 transactions).



Any thoughts, better options?


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R

The relevant section of IDT Prime's FAQ:

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In particular these parts:

"Some CNP merchants require you to submit the card's registered name and address as a proof of ownership and check this against our database to validate the transaction. Our simple registration process will ask you to provide a username and address that you can then quote when making such a CNP purchase.

"Our registration process does not require you to complete any complex forms or to present identification."

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R

Even if you can't be there, you could still get stuff delivered there, which will fail, the carrier will leave a card, and you can then call the carrier and ask them to deliver to your work (or you could collect at the depot in the evening).

You could change the billing address on your card to be where you work.

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R

So get the courier to deliver when you're in. Better still, acquire a wife. Her place is in the home, of course, so there'll be no problem ensuring there's somebody in at all times.

Why change it back?

What hoops?

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M

That won't work - for the simple reason you cannot have a wife *and* any unused credit limit on the card.

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