How essential is PayPal?

[Fire In Your Face]

Hi there. I currently accept PayPal and Stripe on the checkout for my website, with most customers opting for PayPal. Recently, I saw a surge in sales due to being able to offer my main service again after the relaxation of Covid restrictions.

PayPal put my funds on hold saying that I'm only allowed to receive £2300 per month and said they will not hold the funds for more than 21 days. Unfortunately, in the past when they have done this (with eBay) I have had my money held well past the 21 day mark and I don't really want thousands stuck in my PayPal account. I contacted PayPal to request an extension on the amount of money I can process and they instantly refused. I asked them twice if the money will be held past the 21 day mark and they have dodged the question both times. On the "release schedule" there is also nothing ready to be released in the foreseeable future which is worrying.

So the question is, am I likely to lose sales if I ditch PayPal and just stick with Stripe? I always liked using it as it's familiar to users and checkout is quick and easy for them but I can't deal with a company who won't tell me what they intend to do with my/my customers money. The only answer they could give was to ask my customers to go on PayPal and say they have received the product and are happy with it. I'm not chasing up customers and begging them to do this as it's incredibly unprofessional.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

Tom

 

[intheTRADE]

The very reason we scrapped using them. Probably the worst company I have ever had to deal with in any capacity. Their self importance is on an different scale

We didn't suffer in any way. I feared we would. However, I suspect it all depends on the business and what service/product they are providing

 

[fisicx]

Is this a PayPal business account?

I’ve never had a limit on income. And never been blocked.

I use PayPal for almost all online transactions now. Mainly for the convenience.

 

[Fire In Your Face]

The very reason we scrapped using them. Probably the worst company I have ever had to deal with in any capacity. Their self importance is on an different scale

We didn't suffer in any way. I feared we would. However, I suspect it all depends on the business and what service/product they are providing

That's comforting to know, thanks! My product is very unique and I don't think customers would abandon their cart if they couldn't pay by PayPal. I'm well aware that I could be wrong there though, hence the question haha.

 

[Fire In Your Face]

Is this a PayPal business account?

I’ve never had a limit on income. And never been blocked.

I use PayPal for almost all online transactions now. Mainly for the convenience.

Yep it's a business account. They've restricted me too £2300 per month and are withholding anything above that. I can cope with 21 days right now but if they decide to keep it for longer, I might have cash flow issues. Despite the message saying they won't hold it for more than 21 days, I suspect they might as they have in the past and they are dodging the question, even when asked directly.

 

[fisicx]

Why not just transfer out the money every few days. That way you will never reach the £2300 limit.

PayPal might not be your preferred method but if your customers like it then it would be silly to bin it.

 

[Fire In Your Face]

Why not just transfer out the money every few days. That way you will never reach the £2300 limit.

PayPal might not be your preferred method but if your customers like it then it would be silly to bin it.

It's not a withdrawal limit, but a limit on the amount I can receive. They allowed me to withdraw everything up to £2300 and are hanging on to the rest, including sales that are coming through now.

I don't really want to bin it and I can deal with the 21 days but my worry is that they're not being entirely honest like in the past. If they hold on to a significant amount for 6 months like before, I'm in big, big trouble.

 

[fisicx]

Are you saying you have single transactions greater than £2300?

 

[Fire In Your Face]

Are you saying you have single transactions greater than £2300?

Nope, it's combined over the past week. PayPal have a limit of £2300 per month that I can withdraw and they will hang on to anything above this. Whether I withdraw it in one lump or 50 smaller transactions won't make a difference.

 

[fisicx]

Ok got it now. But as I said, it’s not something I have a problem with. PayPal lets me withdraw more than that without restrictions.

 

[Fire In Your Face]

Ok got it now. But as I said, it’s not something I have a problem with. PayPal lets me withdraw more than that without restrictions.

Thanks! I'm asking them what criteria needs to be met for me to be able to withdraw more money. I've asked for a 4th time if they will hold it over the 21 days as well so we will see what happens haha.

 

[DontAsk]

You probably just need to go through some verification process. I would contact PayPal and ask how to get the limit raised/removed.

 

[tertius]

Hi there. I currently accept PayPal and Stripe on the checkout for my website, with most customers opting for PayPal. Recently, I saw a surge in sales due to being able to offer my main service again after the relaxation of Covid restrictions.

PayPal put my funds on hold saying that I'm only allowed to receive £2300 per month and said they will not hold the funds for more than 21 days. Unfortunately, in the past when they have done this (with eBay) I have had my money held well past the 21 day mark and I don't really want thousands stuck in my PayPal account. I contacted PayPal to request an extension on the amount of money I can process and they instantly refused. I asked them twice if the money will be held past the 21 day mark and they have dodged the question both times. On the "release schedule" there is also nothing ready to be released in the foreseeable future which is worrying.

So the question is, am I likely to lose sales if I ditch PayPal and just stick with Stripe? I always liked using it as it's familiar to users and checkout is quick and easy for them but I can't deal with a company who won't tell me what they intend to do with my/my customers money. The only answer they could give was to ask my customers to go on PayPal and say they have received the product and are happy with it. I'm not chasing up customers and begging them to do this as it's incredibly unprofessional.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

Tom

I feel your pain. I've just bought a business and because of the way the transfer has been done, we have had to set up a new PayPal account and link it to the existing store. Waiting now for money, and the only way as you say is to get customers to confirm they have received the goods etc.. I know its to protect the customers from some of the fraudsters that exist, but surely with all the verification steps we've been through, that's all boxed off. Shopify payments / stripe just take a few days and are slightly cheaper than PayPal too.

 

[AW-UK]

What reasons do PayPal have for holding funds over a certain amount per month??
I would stick to Stripe, WorldPay seems to be a popular choice too, but not had any experience with that.

 

[Fire In Your Face]

You probably just need to go through some verification process. I would contact PayPal and ask how to get the limit raised/removed.

I've been asking them what I need to do to get the limit raised (as this is an option, I was just refused). They just dodge the question and send some generic copy/paste response.

As an example, I'll say "I was offered to increase my acceptable turnover and I was refused instantly. Can you please tell me what criteria I need to meet in order to be accepted next time I apply?". Their response was along the lines of "your funds will be held for 21 days, you can speed this up by providing tracking information or asking customers to confirm they received their service". Their responses just aren't matching the questions asked haha. They're an infuriating company to deal with :/

 

[Fire In Your Face]

I feel your pain. I've just bought a business and because of the way the transfer has been done, we have had to set up a new PayPal account and link it to the existing store. Waiting now for money, and the only way as you say is to get customers to confirm they have received the goods etc.. I know its to protect the customers from some of the fraudsters that exist, but surely with all the verification steps we've been through, that's all boxed off. Shopify payments / stripe just take a few days and are slightly cheaper than PayPal too.

I can actually understand why to be honest. I'm taking payments for a workshop that will be in over a months time. There are things that could go wrong in this ever changing world and in that event, I would have to refund all my customers. I don't understand why this is PayPal's responsibility though. They are a payment processor and I didn't think they would be responsible for a customer losing their money. Do Stripe etc instantly refund a customer who isn't happy with their product? I always thought this would be an issue between the buyer/seller. I have Stripe already set up so if I don't get some sort of a straight answer from PayPal soon, I'll be binning them.

 

[Fire In Your Face]

What reasons do PayPal have for holding funds over a certain amount per month??
I would stick to Stripe, WorldPay seems to be a popular choice too, but not had any experience with that.

Yeah I'm thinking I'll be best off just using Stripe. PayPal didn't give any reason other than "because we said so". They aren't very transparent and by past experience seem to just play by their own rules. That's fine and they can do what they like. The only power I really have is voting with my feet and leaving them.

 

[AW-UK]

Yeah I'm thinking I'll be best off just using Stripe. PayPal didn't give any reason other than "because we said so". They aren't very transparent and by past experience seem to just play by their own rules. That's fine and they can do what they like. The only power I really have is voting with my feet and leaving them.

That can actually be potentially damaging to cashflow and projections, there seem to be a few payment gateways around, not sure if you can easily integrate their API as the likes of Stripe and Paypal have API for almost all eCommerce, but worth a look and asking.

 

[ctrlbrk]

I've been asking them what I need to do to get the limit raised (as this is an option, I was just refused). They just dodge the question and send some generic copy/paste response.

As an example, I'll say "I was offered to increase my acceptable turnover and I was refused instantly. Can you please tell me what criteria I need to meet in order to be accepted next time I apply?". Their response was along the lines of "your funds will be held for 21 days, you can speed this up by providing tracking information or asking customers to confirm they received their service". Their responses just aren't matching the questions asked haha. They're an infuriating company to deal with :/

Is it possible that you're getting an AI-driven automated reply?

 

[swaps]

Hi there. I currently accept PayPal and Stripe on the checkout for my website, with most customers opting for PayPal. Recently, I saw a surge in sales due to being able to offer my main service again after the relaxation of Covid restrictions.

PayPal put my funds on hold saying that I'm only allowed to receive £2300 per month and said they will not hold the funds for more than 21 days. Unfortunately, in the past when they have done this (with eBay) I have had my money held well past the 21 day mark and I don't really want thousands stuck in my PayPal account. I contacted PayPal to request an extension on the amount of money I can process and they instantly refused. I asked them twice if the money will be held past the 21 day mark and they have dodged the question both times. On the "release schedule" there is also nothing ready to be released in the foreseeable future which is worrying.

So the question is, am I likely to lose sales if I ditch PayPal and just stick with Stripe? I always liked using it as it's familiar to users and checkout is quick and easy for them but I can't deal with a company who won't tell me what they intend to do with my/my customers money. The only answer they could give was to ask my customers to go on PayPal and say they have received the product and are happy with it. I'm not chasing up customers and begging them to do this as it's incredibly unprofessional.

Paypal are never good but people without credit cards see them as insurance and only use them for that reason. Try not taking it for a month and see how hard you are hit in the pocket. if no big loss you can do without them

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

Tom

 

[antropy]

The very reason we scrapped using them. Probably the worst company I have ever had to deal with in any capacity. Their self importance is on an different scale

Yep, they're bloody awful.

Paul.

 

[Paul Carmen]

I suspect it relates to tracking and sales transparency. If you mark all orders as shipped/fulfilled instantly (and have good standing with your customers; e.g. no complaints/chargeback requests) it may fix the problem.

As said elsewhere though, we've removed it from many sites and just use Stripe, with no discernible loss of sales.

 

[swaps]

Paypal is not good for sellers but customers love it as it fully protects them. Many who do not have credit cards will not pay by other methods.

 

[paulears]

When I purchase items I normally get offered a choice of payment methods - credit and debit plus PayPal. I don't think I've ever changed a purchase decision when they didn't offer PayPal. as a buyer, I think I'd trust VISA in a dispute more than PayPal.

 

[ctrlbrk]

Just come across this. Leaving here for reference

https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/why-is-my-payment-on-hold-or-unavailable-faq1987

 

[Swiss_Cheese]

I'm really not aa fan of Paypal, but they have gotten into a position of power whereby the vast majority of people use them....

 

[Peter Morris]

I've had my PayPal business account and I've never experience this kind of scenario.

 

[LHow]

We added PayPal as a payment method some years ago & have never had any issues. Customers prefer it & the majority of our sales are via PayPal although we do offer an alternative via Stripe. Originally we used WorldPay but some years ago their monthly charges became too expensive for our volume of sales, (this was before they brought in Pay As You Go fees). We have not experienced any problems with any of these payment methods.

 

[yyovvo]

As one of the first & highly trusted online payment methods, PayPal is still essential but not critical for online transactions. From Personal experience, they still behave like “an old company”, very rigid and if I may borrow a few words from @intheTRADE

Their self importance is on an different scale

.
On the other hand, Stripe are the easiest big company I’ve dealt with!