I think this would make an excellent poll question for someone with the karma. That being said, dupe: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=836167 http://news.yc

I think this would make an excellent poll question for someone with the karma. That being said, dupe: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=836167 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=836167 I think it depends ( and I guess the split here backs me up ): 1. I'm fine giving a credit card number up-front if it's for 'serious business', i.e. something that would make money, reduce my workload, etc. 2. I'm not fine giving a credit card number up-front if it's a whim or a 'huh, that might be useful'-level of interest. Without knowing what you are selling, it's hard to say where your example falls on 'my' spectrum. One thing to consider is from a support resources point of view, do you want lookie-loos ( who you might convert ) but who will cost you x support time from paying customers, or do you want to prioritize your resources to paying only customers. Remember, you don't know when you're providing a free trial user support for 2 hours on their first day, if they'll be customers tomorrow ... if they've handed over a CC number you know they're at least somewhat serious in their interest.