PayPal PSA(?) / Alternative Service

Posted 5 years, 1 month ago (Edited 5 years, 1 month ago) by Lukitsune

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!

ec_by_lukitsune_dd1n0ne-pre.jpg?token=ey

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.

dd1n133-436986fc-09b9-4a18-af54-eb672407

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.

dd1n23y-484cf1a3-8aca-4ce4-89a0-10eb2bd2

dd1n1ve-f0ec45f5-d352-48d5-967d-3ed8a19a

There's even a referral program through Square! Just as a little incentive for artists out there I'll link mine.

squareup.com/i/LUKITSUNE0

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!

LLIANYA

Lukitsune

That sounds really odd then. It honestly just sounds like someone isn't doing their job properly. Did you ever try calling them again after your initial attempt?

And yeah. I think most of my commissioners are pretty level-headed in general (not to mention pleasant to talk to). I also don't really dabble much in adoptables these days. I think that section is riskier and seems to be more prone to irresponsible behavior in a way. It might be bias on my end but it comes from me reading comments about people 'needing' emergency money for adopts more than typical commissions so that's where I come from. Not to say that the people who buy adopts don't also commission other people but in general the impulsiveness in that section seems to be higher by a few notches.

Lukitsune

llianya Yes, I've made several calls since then and all tell me that there's nothing they can do and I will need to take them to court :/

I also try to stay away from doing a bunch of adopts, I see people getting scammed more often with adoptables. I dabble in it every once in a while but not on a regular basis

Marie

wish i could switch to this application but it doesnt support norway it seems;; but until it works with norway i could probably not do that and im stuck with paypal;; haha;;
hopefully this service will be more international friendly in the future!

CommonEvils

I've recently had issues with Paypal and they have basically locked me from using my bank account for any and all transactions. Called customer service twice and basically said im SOL. So I ended up having to get a debit card if I was to purchase anything online. Thank you for sharing this. Will definitely look into it.

liamrhett

A reason I use PayPal is because I can use the funds in a physical store with the PayPal card... Does square have anything like that because that might make switch

LaBelph

Hey, I'm wondering about this since I can only seem to find info about the card reader, but have you people who use square often have problems with square giving double charges??? I paid an invoice for an adopt and it seems to have put 2 pending amounts of the exact same value on my card.

Lukitsune

Common-Evils Oof that really sucks, I'm sorry that happened to you!!

tinyroboboy I believe you can get a card from Square, they have info about their card here.

LaBelph As far as I know with my experience and other's I know who use Square, we haven't had any issues with double charges :O I would ask the person you're commissioning if they received double the intended amount. Though the receipt that was emailed to you should show the amount. If it did get taken out twice I'd contact the artist first and then customer service if the issue doesn't resolve itself :OO

LaBelph

Yeah the artist said they had 3 others contact them and say it happened to them too so I'm like what the hell square???

Lukitsune

LaBelph That's weird, I haven't had any problems with it so far.... I'll have to ask around and see if it's been happening to multiple people. How long since the invoice was sent to you, if I may ask?

LaBelph

It was sent to me on the 22nd, paid on the 22nd and then I had a pending charge on the 22nd, then another pending charge of the exact amount to the same seller popped up on the 23rd! So it wasn't even like I accidentally double paid???

The only info we found together was from 2017 about the card reader and if there is an interruption of service can cause a double charge but one would drop off after a couple days, or if the first swipe was initially declined or voided.

Lukitsune

LaBelph Oof okay, maybe wait another day or two and see if the second charge drops off? If not then I would contact customer support and ask them what's up.

Miaulogic

Has anyone checked 2checkout? Is where I'm considering to go after paypal new police entering April 21.

You can be paid with credit cards, apple pay, bank transfer, paypal, boleto, skrill and many more. They have a page showing what methods are for each country group, they also offer subscription service and can be integrated with carts like wordpress, shopify, wix, ecwid and others.

Pepperly

Miaulogic

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.2checkout.com

https://www.bbb.org/us/oh/columbus/profile/payment-processing-services/2checkoutcom-inc-0302-42002032/complaints

Highly do not recommend based on these reviews.

Miaulogic

Pepperly thanks for the links!, seem really hard to find a service without problems that is available here