PayPal Question

Countries not supported.....

[trillianjedi]

I was just wondering what you PayPal players do in situations where a payor is in a country where PayPal is not available (Poland is an example).

Are you just unable to charge them, or are there alternatives covering Countries that PayPal cannot service?

Thanks,

TJ

[grobe]

You might go to the nopaypal site and look at the Alternatives section as well as the Other Companies-Alternatives in the Forum section and see if there is something you can use.

[edited by: lorax at 5:30 pm (utc) on Mar. 2, 2005]
[edit reason] removed DN [/edit]

[trillianjedi]

I don't need the specifics (which is also against the TOS here anyway).

Perhaps I can re-phrase the question : are there many (internet mature) Countries for which an online payment service like PayPal is simply not available?

Thanks,

TJ

[Morgenhund]

Well, if the country is not covered, you have to look for alternative payment systems. Of course, this is still possible for a person from Poland to open a PayPal account and pay to you (giving wrong personal data, what is against TOS). If PayPal noticed TOS violation, the account of buyer will be suspended (but I think you and your account will not have any problems).

I do not know about Poland, as alternative systems there are plenty (BankLink in Baltics, WebMoney in Russia, etc).

However, it might be still useful if you are situated in a country, covered by PayPal (and therefore able to withdraw funds from PayPal). Then you might offer PayPal even if your business is oriented on a country, that is not covered -- for people from Poland, that temporarily have residence in a countries, covered by PayPal.

[trillianjedi]

Thanks Morgenhund.

Would it be a requirement though, let's say for the Polish equivilent of PayPal, for the account owner to be resident in Poland?

In other words, could I, resident in the UK, open one of these merchant accounts in Poland, Russia etc?

If not, do webmasters using online payment systems such as this, write-off completely the opportunity to sell goods or services to those Countries?

TJ

[grobe]

Well credit cards are universal and most sites use a payment processor which is not limited to the 40 or so countries of Paypal. So the questions are 1. What do you do if you are too small for a traditional merchant account/gateway combination? and 2. What do you do about people who don't have credit cards (credit cards are not common in many cultures, and some people are too poor or are philosophically opposed to them)?

[trillianjedi]

Let's say you have a community site which is funded by donations from members. Similar to WebmasterWorld in this approach actually (sincerest form of flattery etc ;-)).

Let's say that there are many members on the site itching to give money, but PayPal doesn't operate in their Country of origin.

Dedicated CC processing is probably out of the question due to the merchant overheads - the site is looking to break even, not make a profit. Some months, it may make no money.

Is it a redeemable situation, or is it a case of saying "sorry guys, it's got to be PayPal or nothing".

Thanks,

TJ

[Morgenhund]

There are plenty of alternative local e-money system, but I think, you have to have a local bank account to withdraw funds. What is sometimes uneasy.

Still, there are some possibilities:

- bank wire transfer (may cost up to $30)
- Western Union (rates apply)
- Money Gram
- $5 in an envelope :)

More exotic possibilities -- money are still money:
- ask customer to burn a $50 note and video it
- ask USA Treasury to give you $50, providing serial number of the note burned and show them video evidence.

[Ultra Immortal]

I am so unlucky.
My parents don't have a Credit Card, and PayPal is not supported in my Country which is:

"South Africa"

I like E Bay alot, and my parents bought something for me on E Bay today.
It was a DVD. The only alternative I had was to do Bank Wire.
To my surprise, the charges to actually process the Bank Wire was more than the DVD.
And I also have to pay the sellers Bank Charges.
If you know of any alternative to PayPal I would be very happy.
Even though I hope PayPal will support my country soon.