Using Paypal for International Users

Hello friends, The following article is posted by Marsha Maung. I think the article could be preety useful for us. Keep reading........

Using paypal as an International user is highly ineffective. Paypal is an ebay company and it has a reputation as a very effective method of paying and receiving money online! It has received amazing reviesw from people who has been using paypal for a long time. However, this is an honest review from an International user (particularly, Malaysia and some of the SEA region) using paypal for projects and receiving money online.

First off, if you're a user from the United States or some of the other approved countries that paypal has approved of, using paypal is probably going to be a breeze. I have not had the privilege of using paypal as a US resident (quite obviously) so, I cannot give you a review on using paypal as one! But as an International merchant using paypal, this is what I have to say - YOU MAY NEVER GET TO SEE YOUR MONEY AT ALL!

I am a genuine merchant/freelancer who was using paypal to receive money from my International clients. They have all asked me if I had problems using paypal for payment, and obviously, keen on trying to tie the project in, I said I did NOT have a problem using paypal. I figured that if I DID eventually have a problem, I was pretty sure paypal would help me get my money from the account. After all, it's MY money in THEIR account and they cannot possibly keep the money that I have earned.

In the beginning stages of using paypal, it's easy peasy - nothing to it. All a user has to do in order to start using paypal is to register. The registration process is easy enough. They automatically approve your account to make it easy for you to use paypal. Using paypal to get money into your paypal account is simple. Just provide the payer with your paypal ID: your email address. The payer using paypal as a payment gateway will only have to log into the paypal account and then using paypal's tools to send the money to your account. Simple enough.
Using paypal : here's where it gets a little tough Using paypal to receive money posed some problems to me, as an International user.

1. VerificationIn order to withdraw money from your paypal account, you need to first verify your paypal account. The point in using paypal as a payment gateway is lost here because in order to verify the account, you need to have a US bank account or a credit card.

If you're like me, an International user who does not have a means of getting a US bank account, then using paypal can get pretty rocky...ok, well, tricky. I have explored the possibility of opening a US bank account from where I live, it's possible. But the setup fee was huge. You need to pay USD299 as a setup fee. Yes, SETUP fee, not deposit. I would understand it if they told me that I would need to pay USD100 or USD50 as a setup fee (which translates to about Ringgit Malaysia 380 or Ringgit Malaysia 190) with a certain limitations to a deposit, but having to pay a setup fee of USD299 was too much for me.

You can always get a credit card to verify your account in order to start using paypal to send money and receive money online. Sure thing. Except….I don't have a credit card. But I got myself a debit card cause I was sure using paypal was the only way to accepting payments from my International clients. But even if you verified your account in order to start using paypal, you cannot withdraw your money from your paypal account STILL. You STILL need to have a US bank account.

2. Sending LimitIf you have not been using paypal for a long time, like me, then you're not always aware of the small tiny little word 'unverified - Malaysia' that sits comfortably right next to your paypal balance. The sending limit is there if you're not a verified paypal user. For starters, paypal has capped off the sending limit at USD100. USD100 limit on the amount you can ever send through your paypal account until you get yourself verified.

I found myself in a tussle using paypal when I send USD80 to someone and then they told me that I can only send USD20 more to someone before I have to get verified. So, there was a problem using paypal to send money to someone too? And using paypal a payment gateway was also shot because I can't seem to get the money out.

You see, what I was trying to do was to send whatever money I had in there to someone else in the US and get them to send the money back to me through iKobo. And although I had found the right person for this task, I was still having problems using paypal because I can't even get my money out of there to someone else so that they can send me the money - so that I can buy milk and diapers for my kids! Sheesh!

In summary: what was my experience in using paypal?

It was the pits! This is a user who is still hoping that paypal will brush up on their system to make it more user-friendly for International users. But unless they finetune their system to make it more user-friendly, I'd rather be shot in the foot before I'd use it again.

First off, the withdrawal process is lousy because I cannot withdraw the money out from the paypal account therefore, using paypal as a payment option means that I will never smell the money that I have earned. I couldn't even close the account until I got verified, can you believe that? The person I spent talking (long distance) over the phone with for 2 hours couldn't find me a solution. Secondly, the sending limit. What happens that those people who wishes to send money to someone but don't have a credit card? What happens to the money in there?
The only way out for International people using paypal is to either get a US bank account or spend the money on ebay.

Which makes perfect sense - paypal is part of ebay, didn't I say?

I'll just stick to what works for now - my iKobo account.

Marsha Maung is a writer and graphic designer who has been freelancing for the past 6 years and have spent a lot of time - between feeding her kids and bathing them, researching on ways to work effectively and totally online. She hopes to give aspiring work at home moms the advice, tips and resources they may need to get their business going. Marsha is a mom to 2 wonderful boys, Joshua and Jared, the love of her life. http://www.marshamaung.com

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PayPal

Hello again my fellow friends and visitors. This time, I am posting informations about PayPal. For those of you who are new to Paypal, the following post could relly help you to understand more. insyaAllah..

If like me, you spend a lot of buying and selling at auctions, or have a website where you want to sell to folks worldwide, sending and receiving payments overseas can be a nightmare! Banks and Building Societies can charge you a fortune in commission for converting cheques into sterling (and vice versa) and you can lose a lot of profit. An alternative is PayPal, a simple and reliable way to send money to any email address in the world and accruing no commission charges.

Although American based, international users (from 22 countries including the UK) can now take advantage of this useful means of sending and receiving cash anywhere in the world. It’s also a boon if you sign up to lots of ‘get paid’ schemes on the Internet, as more and more are now offering PayPal as an alternative payment method. No more hefty commission charges! UK subscribers can register a credit card or bank checking account at PayPal and have funds transferred directly from and to them. It’s very easy, very secure and very reliable. It is also a well-established programme that is serving thousands of Internet customers.

Signing up for a personal account at PayPal is very straightforward and completely free, well, almost! You fill out some basic details including name, address, telephone number, email address and your selected password. Plus there are a couple of extra security questions to prevent fraud. Your email address becomes your log in name.

Next you are required to enter details of a credit card or debit card (currently only Visa and MasterCard are allowed) under a secure server. The card details have to be confirmed and verified, so you will be debited the sum of $1 from your card, which is completely refundable to your PayPal account once your card has been validated. What happens is that the $1 debit is shown on your credit card statement along with a numeric code, you enter this code into your account at PayPal and your card is then confirmed and a refund given. You can choose to enter your card details at a later date if you are wary at registration.

Then it’s a matter of responding to the email you receive from PayPal to verify your details and your account is then set up and ready to go!

Once registered, you have a number of options. You can link your own checking account to Paypal so that amounts in your PayPal account can be transferred to and from it at a mere click of the mouse button. You can also add funds to your PayPal account from both credit card or bank account, and vice versa! Be aware however that all funds in your PayPal account are in American dollar currency and not British Sterling! When you transfer them to your bank account or credit card, these will be converted to pounds, but expect a conversion fee in some cases. You can also add additional email addresses to your account, up to 8 in all, which is useful for those that have separate addresses for rewards schemes, auctions etc.

I recently sold a Britannia Beanie at auction to an American customer, and despite my making clear that I would only accept payment in sterling funds, he was insistent that it was dollars or nothing. PayPal was the answer, he was able to transfer $50 to my account that I was able to either withdraw to my credit card or bank account, or leave there in readiness for the next time I needed to make payment to somebody via the web. You can also top up your PayPal account at any time using your credit card or bank account.

As another bonus, many Internet based retailers are now offering PayPal as a payment option and as mentioned above, lots of ‘get paid to be online’ schemes now offer PayPal as an option for being paid. Considerably better than banking a $10 dollar rewards cheque for instance, and losing practically all of it through bank commission charges!

Currently, PayPal has a customer base of over 8 million users; I’m one of them! I find it reliable, fast and efficient and auction bidding has taken on a new lease of life! Check out the website for more details. Incidentally, PayPal make a big thing of telling you that you will be rewarded $5 in your PP account for each friend you refer who sets up an account…..sadly, this applies to USA account holders only. The rotten meanies!

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