PrinceSawyer I don't think you can transfer funds straight from PayPal to Square :(
I'm not sure if this technically fits here because it's not about a particular buyer or seller BUT it is about a service that we as artists use. I think it's super important information for people to know. If this doesn't belong here I'm sure an admin will tell me and I'll remove it ^ ^
So I've had a number of people ask me why I've stopped using PayPal and started using Square so I figured I'd make a bulletin explaining my reasoning.
More and more I see cases of artists getting completely screwed over by PayPal because PayPal doesn't protect digital artists. I, unfortunately, was one of those people who got screwed over. My experience when dealing with PayPal representatives wasn't a pleasant one at all and goes as follows:
Feb. 14th- I notice that my PayPal account is limited and they wanted me to provide some legal documents to prove my identity. I gladly sent in copies of my legal documents and hoped to get the limitation removed so I could transfer my funds into my bank.
Feb. 18th- I get an email from PayPal saying that my account was permanently limited due to me apparently breaking some of their Acceptable Policy. Which I didn't mind you. It all seemed really strange as I've never gotten any charge backs or any disputes filed against me before. I was really confused as to why they would limit my account. I then check my account and it was true, I had been limited permanently. I then contacted customer support through the website and they just bs-ed me and threw the same copy, paste information that they did in their email. I then pushed more to try and find out how I possibly violated their policies. I never got a reply from them again, they just completely ignored me.
I waited a couple hours and still no reply, at this point I was really getting worried so I called PayPal through their phone number. Once I was on the line with a representative she was very helpful but didn't seem to know what she was doing. She asked me where I sold my art and I told her, I even provided proof that customers were getting my products. She said she would fix it and get back to me within 7-10 days.
Mar. 5th- After two weeks with no word from PayPal I decided to call customer support again. This time, the call was much shorter and much more upsetting. I told the woman about my situation and how I had waited for their call and she said, "I'm so sorry to hear that you had to wait but if you want your account unlimited you're going to have to have to take us to court." I was shocked at that, especially when the other employee said that she was fixing things. She then asked me if I wanted to know why I got limited, to which I said yes. In response in the snarkiest voice ever she said, "Then you'll have to take us to court."
I mean you don't have to like your job but I don't think you should talk to clients like that? Basically I want nothing to do with PayPal anymore.
Now for the reason that I use Square. Square (not cash) has charge back protection for all users of their system and as long as you follow their guidelines when processing your payments then you're covered up to a certain amount per month. Why are we using a service that HURTS ARTISTS. PayPal was designed around EBay for physical sales ONLY. There are better options out there with a multitude of features that makes it easier on both the artist and their clients. Square has an integration with other e-commerce services that easily allows you to fit your needs.
It works internationally, does direct depositing to your bank account, has tons of more features and services for people who provide a service. Just please take some time and take a look into the service yourself. Scams are becoming more and more common, we need to protect ourselves. If PayPal doesn't care about digital artists then we should STOP USING THEIR SERVICE!!
Edit: Thanks to Pinkaboo-Hime bringing to light something I missed, Square is somewhat international. "Card payment acceptance with the Square app is currently available in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom. We currently don’t support payment card processing outside of these countries or in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands."
BONUS: Square is used more commonly than you think, if you've ever gone to a business and paid on an iPad then you've used it. They also own the personal fund app called Cash ($Cash app) is only for US residents the last I checked.. It's similar to PayPal's Venmo and is for personal transfers and you can't do business through it.
Square has so many features that make invoicing and selling easy. Way easier and more comfortable than PayPal and includes even more features that can tailor the service to fit your business. Please, please try it out in the future for your own sake, we don't need to be taking the risk of charge backs and other issues just because we use PayPal.
Square's integration with lots of other e-commerce services can benefit not only digital artists but are great for merch sales too!
Below is a test invoice to show you all how it looks from the seller's perspective. It's quite nice actually, much nicer than PayPal's. You can request tips, deposits, allow a customer to save their CC info for next time, and add an attachment of your TOS very easily.
Below this is the invoice from the buyer's perspective. When you click pay in the email you are redirected to a secure web page to actually process the payment.
There's even a referral program through Square! Just as a little incentive for artists out there I'll link mine.
If you wanna make an account as a seller, if you use that link you can get free payment processing! The free processing is up to $1000 and is good for 180 days.
Also that link can only be used by those in the US. Square doesn't yet support Cross-border free processing at this time.
If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer and if there's any other service that's an alternative to PayPal that's trustworthy feel free to reply here with it! Also if you've had any problems with PayPal please share your stories as well, let everyone be informed about the risk they're putting themselves in!
I don't know everything as I just started using this service so if anyone has information to correct me or to add about this service let me know as well!
EDIT: Payments accepted as of now are through debit/credit or via Google/Apple pay!
EDIT: If anyone using Stripe could give us more info on it that would be extremely helpful! As Square is not available in some countries!
Rikki Nope I made mine the day I turned 18 which is why I knew that wasn't the issue. But it makes sense if that's why people are getting their accounts closed, breaking the TOS is something you shouldn't do. I'm happy to hear that you were able to get your account fixed after their mistake though! Sadly that wasn't my case, I'm unsure of why they limited me in the first place.
This was really informative, thank you for making this! I've never had an issue with PayPal or my customers, but the lack of artist/digital seller protection always bothered me in the back of my mind so this is an amazing find.
I might think about switching after I finish my latest batch of comms ;v;
Correct me if I'm wrong (?)
But Square doesn't seem to accept payments internationally? It was hard to find much info on their site about international use sdfg
But it does say
"Card payment acceptance with the Square app is currently available in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom. We currently don’t support payment card processing outside of these countries or in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands."
As well as I found an article off-site - though I'm not sure how trustworthy - that says
"Let’s start at the beginning. You can’t use Square Cash for your international transfer or payment." [X]
I think that's some useful info to bring to light, as personally, most of my repeat customers live in countries that don't seem to be supported by Square :C
So until they integrate into other countries as PayPal has done, for me it's a bit too early in the making for me to make the jump over to the platform.
Pinkaboo-Hime After reading their international use page again I realized you're right! I looked it over and over and asked a few other people about it and they said that they were confused about it too. I'll add it right away to the post! I'm not perfect so I miss things, thank you for correcting me!
It's totally fine ♥ ! I had to read it over a few times myself, because the wording is a bit weird sdfgh
thanks for writing this. After paypal taking 400$ from my bank account for no reason + a couple of chargebacks, i refuse to use their services anymore, never had any help from their customer service and nearly lost my apartment because of them. Square could be a good option. I admit that selling my characters for gift cards isnt very popular ><
WindWaken I'm sorry to hear that, that happened. PayPal should be a little more understanding about more things. People make accidents and PayPal immediately thinks to shut the account down. It's espwcially frustrating when they say they're going to fix the issue and then don't. That I understand. Some of the customer service employees are really nice and helpful i've heard, but I've only ever had negative experiences when working with them unfortunately.
nmfrter Exactly, my situation wasn't as drastic as what happened to you but it doesn't make it right either. I missed out on 2 weeks of work I could've been doing. I highly recommend Square if you're looking for a more stable, user-friendly service!
pax Yeah I hope Square is able to get their service to more people. They're working on it currently but it can be done only so fast unfortunately. I myself haven't used Stripe but I've heard it's another good option! I'm not entirely sure though ^ ^
does square have buyer protection? because i know paypal scams artists but id feel a lot safer buying art using square if it had a protection like paypal. ive had to do a charge back in the past since an artist scammed me (but ive only done that one chargeback so im not like a constant thing)
