# PayPal Alternatives



## bprescot (Jun 29, 2011)

Hey Guys,

So it looks like I'll be banned from Paypal for life for the raffle thing which has lead me to look up Paypal alternatives. Amazon Payments (payments.amazon.com) looks like a really good option as anyone with an Amazon account can use it, and they don't charge transaction fees. It is only in the US, though. Anybody know of any others that are common or popular?

I'd like to be able to sell some knives on the forum, but don't want the buyer to have to jump through too many hoops, you know?

Thanks!
Ben


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## JohnnyChance (Jun 29, 2011)

I think google has a checkout system that works for several things. Not sure if you can send money person to person or just use it at online shopping carts.


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## SpikeC (Jun 29, 2011)

Whoa. Banned for life? That's harsh!


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## EdipisReks (Jun 29, 2011)

SpikeC said:


> Whoa. Banned for life? That's harsh!


 
i don't know, some of the people screwed over by paypal might say that they did him a favor... i'm not quite sure why paypal cared, though. they get their transaction fees, don't they?


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## Marko Tsourkan (Jun 29, 2011)

Why did they ban you, Ben?


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## so_sleepy (Jun 30, 2011)

A couple of months ago Visa announced they would be rolling out a person to person payment service. 
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110316005567/en/Visa-Moves-Point-of-Sale-%E2%80%93-Delivers-Personal-Payments

It will be build on top of services provided by ZashPay. I think Zashpay can only do bank account transfers now, and your bank has to be in their network.
http://www.zashpay.fiserv.com/consumer/index.html


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## bprescot (Jun 30, 2011)

Ah, so apparently using PayPal to facilitate a raffle was a big no-no. I tried to explain that it was pretty much just among friends and there was no ill-intent and that it was cancelled after learning that it was prohibited, but they seemed to feel a breach of Acceptable Use is a breach of Acceptable Use and warrants a lifetime ban. 

Neh. Not a huge deal, but for forum sales Paypal sure was convenient since most people had an account. I'd hate to have to ask someone to signup for something else just to sell them something, hence the thread to figure out what else is out there that people use.


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## bprescot (Jun 30, 2011)

HA! The Visa thing would be super convenient! Would pretty much put paypal out of business if it weren't for eBay. And even then eBay is facing some pretty stiff anti-trust challenges in the next couple of years for the vertical integration with PayPal.


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## l r harner (Jun 30, 2011)

gun pal is an option\but its still ****** that you cant keep yor paypal


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## mc2442 (Jun 30, 2011)

Sorry to hear you got banned trying to do a good thing Ben.


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## bprescot (Jun 30, 2011)

@mc No worries!

@Butch: Yeah, thanks for reminding me! Dave had mentioned something similar. My father is a hobbyist that finds and imports collector quality shotguns. I should figure out what he uses for it.


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## apicius9 (Jun 30, 2011)

mc2442 said:


> Sorry to hear you got banned trying to do a good thing Ben.



+1, hope you find something else that works. Maybe appeal PP after some time?

Stefan


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## DwarvenChef (Jun 30, 2011)

I've used Gpal (formally gun pal) with good results. they are a bit slower but seem to be keeping people happy.


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## Jameson (Jun 30, 2011)

What about a USPS money order mailed?

JC


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## CalleNAK (Jun 30, 2011)

Are you married? You could probably sign up an account in your wife's name. Or just for the limited times you use paypal for knives, just do it through a buddies account. Just have the buyer send the money to their account and get cash from your friend.


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## jheis (Jun 30, 2011)

Chase has a service called Quick Pay that works like PayPal (you can send or receive money from anyone with an email address) - except it's FREE. 

If you don't have a Chase account, you have to jump through a few hoops - just like you have to when you first sign up for PayPal. I've only used it once to send a payment, but it worked just fine - and it's FREE.

I tried to use it for a couple of ebray sales recently, but the buyers had already hit the PayPal instant pay button before I could send them a Quick Pay request for payment, so I don't know how well it works when you are requesting a payment.

James


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## Dave Martell (Jun 30, 2011)

I feel so terrible for you Ben, this just flat out sucks.


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## goodchef1 (Jun 30, 2011)

EdipisReks said:


> i don't know, some of the people screwed over by paypal might say that they did him a favor... i'm not quite sure why paypal cared, though. they get their transaction fees, don't they?


 
I was one of those, and felt that paypal had too strong a grip on person to person transactions. I'm glad visa is stepping into the arena, and soon to follow, many others. :biggrin:


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## bprescot (Jun 30, 2011)

Guys, seriously. It's not a big deal. I'm just curious if there are others things out there that people actually use. Like I said, I just want to figure out what will be easiest for people if I can't do paypal. 

Leaders so far are Chase, Amazon and probably Visa if that ever launches, simply because it's quite likely that people already have easy access to these, but just don't know about them! But if all I'm trying to do is figure out if people would be willing to use something other than Paypal, I can always just try to sell some stuff and see! I think that would be the best approach, really. 

Thanks for the info guys! I never would have found the Visa or Chase things.


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## cnochef (Jun 30, 2011)

I don't know about banks in the US, but my Canadian bank has online services and I can send an Interac money transfer to anybody with an email address, for a cost of $1.


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## kalaeb (Jun 30, 2011)

My siblings and I have used Amazon in the past, it works really well, and it would seem most people already have Amazon accounts, just not linked to their bank accounts. If I remember right, I think it is a monetarily free service, you just have to give them your soul.


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## so_sleepy (Jun 30, 2011)

I ddn't eve know amazon had a personal payments feature. I just signed up, it was relatively painless.


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## bprescot (Jun 30, 2011)

Ah, but Amazon already has my soul :wink: Well for now, that seems like a winner. Just sold a knife today using it. Seems like it was a quick signup for the buyer and I got the money without fees deducted and it's already being auto-deposited to my bank account. Literally, I just logged into my bank account and I see that the deposit is pending. That is just CRAZY!


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## kalaeb (Jun 30, 2011)

No doubt, it is the same idea banks use, the more stuff they can get you to sign up for the less chance you will leave. If your mortgage, direct dep, bill pay, cc everything is at one bank, it is a PITA to leave, so you don't.

Same with Amazon, the more they can get you to sign up for the less chance you have of shopping elsewhere. Kindle, streaming video, paypal type services, shopping, why leave? Plus, if you have a linked bank account why use a credit card for purchases, saves them mondo on merchant fees. 

I am glad it the transaction worked out for you! 

And I am an Amazon user and supporter, lol. But I recognize the devil when I see it.:devilburn::devilburn::devilburn:


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## jheis (Jun 30, 2011)

There are a couple of things about PayPal that really frost me.

First, PayPal claims that they make "instant payments." Well, yeah, when you make a payment, PayPal gets an instant electronic transfer from the you. However, rather than making an instant electronic transfer to the payee, they hang onto the money for "3 to 4" _BUSINESS_ days before releasing the funds to the payee. The only way the payee gets "instant" access to their money is to use a PayPal debit card - which allows PayPay to earn additional fees every time the debit card is used.

Second, PayPal can arbitrarily flag any transaction as "suspicious" and hold the funds until positive feedback has been left. For example, a while back I sold a rather large, heavy (40 lbs) piece of electronic gear on ebray. Turns out that the buyer was in Australia. The item sold for ~$350 and it cost about another $350 to ship it to Australia. The buyer made an instant PayPal payment for the purchase price plus the shipping charges. PayPal, however, flagged it as a suspicious transaction and put a hold on my money. I had to go $350 out-of-pocket to ship the item to Australia and PayPal did not release the purchaser's "instant payment" to me until the item was received in Australia & the buyer had left positive feedback.

If I can avoid it, I will never patronize PayPal again.

James


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## Vertigo (Jun 30, 2011)

I've been less than thrilled with PayPal as of late myself. I upgraded my account from Personal to Premier and was tagged with their "Know Your Customer" thing, which basically limited my account until I could take photos / scans of my driver's license, social security card, and a recent utility statement. As someone who just moved into a house a week and a half ago, I have no current utility statements; my dog, anxious about the move, ate my wallet including my driver's license. I had a social security card, but was less than thrilled to take a freaking photograph of it and upload it to the internet. Lol.

The situation worked itself out, but it was still a pain in the rear.


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## Eamon Burke (Jul 1, 2011)

My problem with paypal is that your customers have to get an account with some outside party and give them all their sensitive info, and it makes people like me say "Oh, paypal? Nah. I didn't really need to buy it anyways." Paypal is not a government, and there are no laws protecting your privacy from corporations like Paypal. When they get your info, you are trusting them to not do whatever they please with it.


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## bieniek (Jul 2, 2011)

They blocked one of mine accounts permanently just because the country I registered it isnt the same I live in. Just like its medieval and I have to stick to my parents farm. 
And its them who makes internet transfers!


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