How does PayPal work?

January 28, 2015 5:51 PM

A client located in the Caribbean wants to pay me via PayPal ; I am in Canada. I don't have a PayPal account, and I'm not sure how it all works. They will pay me in USD, which is great. I have a US dollar account at a major Canadian bank. How do I get the PayPal payment into my USD account? Any help would be appreciated, especially from those who have a Cdn bank account.
posted by Nevin to Work & Money (9 answers total)

However this gets worked out, make sure you make them add whatever amount will be eaten up by paypal fees, and the fees to get a check mailed(unless you want to link your bank account) to whatever they pay you. I know several people who have been boned out of $50+ a month by employers quasi-legally paying this way.

Paypal auto converts between currencies, you pull it out as whatever your local currency is where you make the account.

Make sure they aren't going to try any shady stuff like marking the payment to you as a "gift", paypal loves to hold on to recurring payments.

Also be aware that if you go the linked bank account route, paypal takes their damn time with deposits. sometimes as long as 4 or 5 days. I'm convinced they just sit on it to collect interest, and don't believe the ACH excuses since square and others manage to transfer much, much faster.

I don't have any canada specific advice since i'm in the US, but it seems to work about the same there as it does here. I haven't heard of any specific weirdness from friends on that side.
posted by emptythought at 6:07 PM on January 28, 2015

You know, unless we're talking about thousands of dollars, I would leave the money in the paypal account and use it to pay for stuff. I believe this will avoid your fees and since you can buy stuff in US dollars, it will all be good. If you transfer it to your US dollar account, in addition to fees, it will probably actually convert to Canadian dollars (at an exchange rate favourable to them) and then the bank will convert to US dollars (at an exchange rate favourable to them).

Emptythought: My understanding is that the OP doesn't want to convert the money. They have a US dollar account so they can keep US dollars.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:11 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Yes, I have a USD account. My idea was to receive USD which I could then withdraw at my convenience. But if it is USD > Cdn > USD, then what is the bloody point?

Does Square work better than PayPal?

https://squareup.com/ca/professional-service
posted by Nevin at 6:13 PM on January 28, 2015

I would go old school and have them snail mail you a cheque or money order in USD.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:21 PM on January 28, 2015

Get a Stripe account (same fees as PayPal.) Sign up for a free account at Zoho Invoice; send your client a digital invoice and they can pay it online. Withdraw from Stripe to your bank account.

Do not have them snail mail you a US denominated check drawn on a bank in the Carribean and deposited in Canada. You will be able to retire on that money because that is how long it will take to clear.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:25 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, that's what I may have to do.
posted by Nevin at 6:25 PM on January 28, 2015

It's actually very simple and easy; I'd never done this with these two providers before and I was able tos et it all up for a client in about 35 minutes, including branded invoices. I liked it so much I'm brining it on board for my own business.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:28 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Please be aware that when he/she pays you on a invoice you send to them (Paypal Invoice / Via Ebay etc) they can reverse the transaction up to 90 Day's after the the money has been send. And you will have a very hard time getting your money back!!!
Paypal will hold it for 100 day's until a resulution has been found (and they WILL take the full 100 days!).

If it is a Ebay transaction play exactly by their rules! Only then you can get your money if the buyer disputes the Paypal transaction...

Wait at least 24 hours after you received the money (48 in weekends...) if the buyer used a stolen credit card or hacked account the bank will reverse the transaction. If you have send your goods off you can kiss it goodbye...

Stay in control of the shipment!
Don't let the buyer use their corporate Fedex/ Ups account. Otherwise you loose all ownership the moment you drop it off at the counter.

In short, PayPay fills a gap in the market. But they SUCK
posted by Mac-Expert at 6:44 PM on January 28, 2015

And watch out for the guy who says, I've paid by Paypal, you can ship me the stuff now; you might even get a very official looking confirmation email in your inbox. Ignore both. Verify on YOUR Paypal account that payment has been made. If somebody wants to Paypal you more than the invoice amount and have you Western Union the difference for some convoluted reason, refrain from any future contact and get in touch with Paypal's scam alert squad. They're just thieves.
posted by kate4914 at 7:54 PM on January 28, 2015