PayPal wants invoices and shipping numbers from friend payments
I've been selling my NES/Famicom collection online for almost a month now. I've also done local transactions where people will send me friend payments.
PayPal has now restricted my account and they want more information - Social Security Card, Drivers License and the most confusing is invoices and shipping numbers for transactions that are clearly friend payments.
Has this happened to anyone else before? Are they just trying to make me pay fees on my friend payment transactions?
PayPal has now restricted my account and they want more information - Social Security Card, Drivers License and the most confusing is invoices and shipping numbers for transactions that are clearly friend payments.
Has this happened to anyone else before? Are they just trying to make me pay fees on my friend payment transactions?
Comments
I wouldn't share that information. Are you 100% sure it's paypal and not some phishing scam?
If you're sure I would respond that they are friend payments and there's not shipping (use Xmas or birthday gifts as an excuse if you need to), and that you don't feel comfortable sharing that information with anyone. Maybe they'll back off, but maybe try to do less friend payments.
I've been selling my NES/Famicom collection online for almost a month now. I've also done local transactions where people will send me friend payments.
PayPal has now restricted my account and they want more information - Social Security Card, Drivers License and the most confusing is invoices and shipping numbers for transactions that are clearly friend payments.
Has this happened to anyone else before? Are they just trying to make me pay fees on my friend payment transactions?
If you've been using "friend payments" for sales then they are probably trying to reconcile your ACTUAL transaction status, since at some point they need to have the information for the IRS (and will likely err on the side of screwing you rather than them holding the bag).
Also, if you're skirting their fee structure in some way, they will obviously want to clear that up in their favor...
Strange, haven't heard of this, but wouldn't put it past payapl with some of their other practices.
I wouldn't share that information. Are you 100% sure it's paypal and not some phishing scam?
If you're sure I would respond that they are friend payments and there's not shipping (use Xmas or birthday gifts as an excuse if you need to), and that you don't feel comfortable sharing that information with anyone. Maybe they'll back off, but maybe try to do less friend payments.
I'm positive it's not a scam - when I log into PayPal I get an alert that my account has been restricted. I can still receive payments and use paypal to pay but I cannot transfer any money into my bank account until this has been lifted. Luckily I can send them a scan of my paystub instead of my social security card but I don't really understand why they're doing this. I have had no conflicts with any sales and I provide shipping numbers for everything that isn't a friend payment.
Strange, haven't heard of this, but wouldn't put it past payapl with some of their other practices.
I wouldn't share that information. Are you 100% sure it's paypal and not some phishing scam?
If you're sure I would respond that they are friend payments and there's not shipping (use Xmas or birthday gifts as an excuse if you need to), and that you don't feel comfortable sharing that information with anyone. Maybe they'll back off, but maybe try to do less friend payments.
I'm positive it's not a scam - when I log into PayPal I get an alert that my account has been restricted. I can still receive payments and use paypal to pay but I cannot transfer any money into my bank account until this has been lifted. Luckily I can send them a scan of my paystub instead of my social security card but I don't really understand why they're doing this. I have had no conflicts with any sales and I provide shipping numbers for everything that isn't a friend payment.
I'd rather them having my SSN than anything related to my employer...
On the latter point, it sounds like your use of Paypal has somehow flagged their system that not all of your "friend payments" are actually "friend payments" per your agreement with their service.
You could always ask them for clarification of what is going on before supplying them with ANYTHING, though.
On the latter point, it sounds like your use of Paypal has somehow flagged their system that not all of your "friend payments" are actually "friend payments" per your agreement with their service.
Yeah that sounds like it. God I hate paypal.
On the latter point, it sounds like your use of Paypal has somehow flagged their system that not all of your "friend payments" are actually "friend payments" per your agreement with their service.
Yeah that sounds like it. God I hate paypal.
Well... did you use the "friend payment" option to skirt fees that they were owed for providing their service?
Your OP sort of sounds like it. No reason to hate Paypal for coming down on rules-abusers when money is on the line.
On the latter point, it sounds like your use of Paypal has somehow flagged their system that not all of your "friend payments" are actually "friend payments" per your agreement with their service.
Yeah that sounds like it. God I hate paypal.
Well... did you use the "friend payment" option to skirt fees that they were owed for providing their service?
Your OP sort of sounds like it. No reason to hate Paypal for coming down on rules-abusers when money is on the line.
I'm only using their service because everyone else uses it. I'll express my distaste for them if I want and I'll accept responsibility if I need to. I've avoided using PayPal for as long as I could but it was the only option for selling most stuff online. Most of my online transactions have not been friend payments but most of my local transactions have been. I didn't try to "skirt fees" I thought that's just the way it works if you sell locally and if buyers are okay with giving up their protection rights. When selling locally I never even asked for a friend payment and I knew most of the people I sold my stuff to. I should've known better that PayPal was going to want more money from me.
Lesson learned, but PayPal can go screw themselves. Sorry if you don't agree.
On the latter point, it sounds like your use of Paypal has somehow flagged their system that not all of your "friend payments" are actually "friend payments" per your agreement with their service.
Yeah that sounds like it. God I hate paypal.
Well... did you use the "friend payment" option to skirt fees that they were owed for providing their service?
Your OP sort of sounds like it. No reason to hate Paypal for coming down on rules-abusers when money is on the line.
I'm only using their service because everyone else uses it. I'll express my distaste for them if I want and I'll accept responsibility if I need to. I've avoided using PayPal for as long as I could but it was the only option for selling most stuff online. Most of my online transactions have not been friend payments but most of my local transactions have been. I didn't try to "skirt fees" I thought that's just the way it works if you sell locally and if buyers are okay with giving up their protection rights. When selling locally I never even asked for a friend payment and I knew most of the people I sold my stuff to. I should've known better that PayPal was going to want more money from me.
Lesson learned, but PayPal can go screw themselves. Sorry if you don't agree.
I would be willing to bet that using it that way is a clear violation of the terms with Paypal (that very few of us read thoroughly despite agreeing to them...)
It's not a matter of agreeing with you on this issue, or not.
It's simply a statement that there is no real reason to be upset when you get investigated for breaking their rules, if you were, in fact, breaking their rules.
I would be willing to bet that using it that way is a clear violation of the terms with Paypal (that very few of us read thoroughly despite agreeing to them...)
It is, and I guess I'm screwed now. Perfect timing, Merry Christmas from PayPal
Why use PayPal when selling locally? If I'm buying something in person I use cash if it's person to person. I've never even had someone ask me to do that as an option.
People would ask me if I would accept it instead of cash and since they were friends and people I knew I had no problem with doing it. I should have read the user agreement otherwise I would have said no.
My assumption is that you have a significant amount of "gifted" money flowing into your account - out of curiosity are you willing to share the level of $$$ transferred into your account by gift? If you hit 4 digits or a significant # of transactions in a short amount of time, I could definitely see that being flagged as potentially abusing their service. I mean, they aren't making any money despite helping you in those cases, right?
I gotta agree with Arch on this one. You can shit on Paypal if you'd like, but it's a business and a service, not a right. Not to be a dick, but you're coming off a little bit entitled and technically you don't HAVE to use them.
If I were in your shoes, I'd explain that it was friends giving you money (debt, loan etc) and/or holiday gifts etc. I assume they could only push the issue so far on their end.
I wouldn't recommend the apps for sales, but if you're sitting face to face with someone and want to transfer money, they are reliable
Not to be a dick, but you're coming off a little bit entitled and technically you don't HAVE to use them.
I'm not acting entitled. I messed up and should have read the user agreement. I'm not happy about my situation or PayPal but it's clearly my own fault.
Receiving payment from anyone online without using PayPal is a hassle and usually deters people away if you ask for another service. Unfortunately since it's the norm you have to accept paypal to do any business online. Nothing is nearly as popular or comes close.
Hopefully you can get your account reinstated, and if you do, just go with goods/services in the future.
I've definitely learned to avoid friend payments now as a seller. I'm not that worried as it wasn't that many transactions and I'll accept the outcome. Hopefully my account restriction will be lifted soon so I can purchase a engagement ring like I originally planned.
I hope you're able to get it lifted soon as well. Congrats on the engagement plans!