PayPal Issues with Subscribing? Especially for Overseas Readers
Overseas subscribers may encounter various issues with PayPal. This is a hassle for them and even worse for me, since I lose business. Here is one example, and how we resolved it:
I have for 30 minutes tried to pay through PayPal, but some system is down and it works not very well from Norway anyway.
The system we use here mostly (not Paypal) is that we have a security code for those cards we use online which keeps changing and are very secure.
Paypal asks me to verify my card, but I will get that info back from card supplier more than 30 days from now.
Any method I can pay which is not Paypal? (which has been a major problem those 5 times I have used it from Norway. I have no problems paying at BHphotovideo and other places who lets me pay.
[after success]
... you can pay as a guest and not join PayPal. For everyone skeptical of Paypal this would work just as a normal credit card payment,just hosted by Paypal I guess. I could only pay without becoming a member (as I would name guest), because you did send this request (or at least I could not figure it out the way it is presented even if really trying).
DIGLLOYD: what a headache indeed. While not the issue in this case, an outright denial by PayPal is usually (erroneous) fraud prevention algorithms at the issuing bank.
In this case, two things worked around the problem:
- I sent an PayPal “money request” directly to the reader.
- He paid with his credit card as a guest (not logging into PayPal, not creating an account).
This worked like a charm.
As a single person running a small business, I cannot take on the security risks and legal requirements of accepting credit cards directly. Moreover, services like Square have the same issues as PayPal. So that does not leave me many options.
But here’s what I can do if issues arise:
- I can send a PayPal money request which allows “guest” payment via credit card.
- BitCoin is accepted
- Checks drawn on US funds, or US currency, or, as per the US constitution, gold or silver.
If the payment is denied outright there is usually nothing I can do as this is almost always the issuing back flagging it as suspicious.
