Switched to Square. Dumped PayPal

[FredRydr]

Yep. That's what I did! From PayPal (http://www.paypalsucks.com) to Square. (https://squareup.com)

Goodness, I wish I'd done it long ago.

Fred

[carlos.q]

What's the difference? What are the advantages of Square?

[FredRydr]

PayPal purports to provide certain services to sellers, but didn't (but collected fees nonetheless).

Square sends an invoice to the buyer's email address, and the buyer pays with his credit or debit card. So far, my buyers' feedback has been great after I ask them how Square works at their end. Simple and straightforward. Many brick and mortar businesses use it. You may recognize their cash register hardware, which looks essentially like a white iPad.

[Jon Szanto]

Would it mean that for an online purchase from a person such as yourself, I would have to open a Square account?

[Wile E Coyote]

How do the Square fees compare to PP?

[sgtstretch]

Square fees are lower than PayPal under most, if not all conditions. @jonszanto I don't believe you do.

[FredRydr]

Would it mean that for an online purchase from a person such as yourself, I would have to open a Square account?
Not at all. The seller has the account. The buyer receives via email an invoice with a link, and pays it with a credit card or funds from bank via debit card. Funds are transferred from Square to bank automatically without having to ask for it like PayPal.

How do the Square fees compare to PP?
For an online transaction (e.g., a sale from the classified), the fee schedules of both show (today) 2.9%+30cents. It wasn't the rate that drove me away.

For simple cash transfers, there's always Dwolla (https://www.dwolla.com), but both parties must have an account.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Does Square offer any protections for the buyer and/or seller?

[Scooby921]

PayPal purports to provide certain services to sellers, but didn't (but collected fees nonetheless).

Square sends an invoice to the buyer's email address, and the buyer pays with his credit or debit card. So far, my buyers' feedback has been great after I ask them how Square works at their end. Simple and straightforward. Many brick and mortar businesses use it. You may recognize their cash register hardware, which looks essentially like a white iPad.
For what it's worth, Paypal can/will do this too. Most of us just send someone our email / Paypal address and the person sends money. If they provide you with an email address you can send an invoice from within Paypal.

[carlos.q]

Does Square offer any protections for the buyer and/or seller?

I would like to know the answer to this question.

[DaveT]

Does Square offer any protections for the buyer and/or seller?

I would like to know the answer to this question.

I have been using Square for about 3 years now. I have had zero issues with them.

I think PayPal probably offers more buyer protection. Maybe too much at times.

What I have done to help protect both parties when I use Square is to fully explain the transaction on the invoice before I send it.

I have not had any disputes, I do not know what Square would do.

On a positive note, I see that Square has a phone number now.

[Frank]

Nothing wrong with buyer protection.. and Seller/Dealer as well....


Frank

[Warynor]

Wow, congratulations! I'm sure there are certain advantages for you in this transition. If it's not difficult, can you answer what is the advantage of the square? Thanks in advance. To be honest, I rarely use both PayPal and square, so I'm really interested in this information. I have never used my own PayPal account for purchases, I usually use purchased accounts.

[eachan]

I've issued more than 100 PayPal invoices, all satisfactory. As both a buyer and a seller I appreciate the the buyer protection that Paypal provides. I'm not against Square, by any means, having just heard of it, but why is it better than PayPal?

[FredRydr]

It was a couple transactions, one of which proved PayPal's dispute resolution system was a sham, and yet we were paying fees to support it.

I just received the following notice from PayPal, announcing its changes and additions to its adhesion contract that defines and enforces its relationship with all of us. We have little input in what those terms are. It looks like more seller fees are on the way in the event of a dispute without regard to whether a seller is justified to pay it. Anyone try to negotiate that clause?

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/upcoming-policies-full?utm_source=epsilon&utm_campaign=A_EP_NA_202009_74140_B2C_B2B_Q4_2020_ UA_Update_US_US_Merchant_LR_US_en_US&utm_medium=email

I've noted there is mention of a financial tie-in with our favorite bank for ethics: Wells Fargo.

[Pterodactylus]

For me the buyer protection of PayPal is also crucial.
I want my money back if something goes wrong, and I want this guarantee from the Financial Service Provider, dealing with a potentially uncooperative seller or a bank in case of a dispute is at least for me not an option.

Personally I buy things online almost exclusively with PayPal, seldom with my credit card (only for a handful companies I know).
The decision for me is easy, I consider a buy if PayPal is offered, otherwise I donˋt buy :)

[FredRydr]

As a buyer only, you have no idea how PayPal is now crushing sellers under oppressive rules and procedures. Did you actually read through what they are imposing now (link above)? Sure, it's nice for a buyer to have a transaction that is risk-free, but sellers are faced with transactions that have no end to them and are subject to the whims of buyers's regret. When PayPal's subcontracted Philippine phone bank employee admitted to me that they do not read the sellers' submissions in disputed transactions corroborating my suspicions, and then his manager lost his self-control when I confronted him about it, I knew I was done with them.

I have customers who know my reputation and trust me personally, and I have no difficulty finding buyers for my pens without PayPal. Besides, I am able to offer more value by not having to increase prices to pay PayPal for services it doesn't even provide.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Thank you for standing up to PayPal.

The changes are more "take it or leave it, we're covering our derriére" corporate kaka from PayPal. They know they're the big name in town and the term oppression masterfully defines what PP is doing.

Before retiring, I used Square to process credit card payments for book sales, was always paid promptly, and never had any issues with them. Square even gave me a $25 credit toward the cost of the mobile card reader. Don't know if they still do that - perhaps not, since on NFC phones the transaction is like one using Apple Pay.

A couple of months ago, I had a question about a PayPal authorization and had to use chat because PP's hold / callback times over the phone were too long. Every chat response started with sentences out of the PP playbook without ever answering my question.

If you're a buyer using a credit card to purchase something from a merchant who uses Square to process credit card transactions and have a dispute with that merchant, you have whatever protection your credit card offers for disputed transactions.

[HerrFlik]

Reported the spammer.

On the thread topic. I always prefer a seller using Square rather then PayPal. I will only go through PayPal as a last resort due to how they crush the seller. Business should be mutually beneficial.

[Ed333]

After many years with PayPal, my last sale, with no complaints from the satisfied buyer, has resulted in my net funds being on hold, for at least 20 days. they have a "do you want your money sooner" link, but when I go to it, a page comes up about technical difficulties, sorry for the inconvenience. Have been getting this response for days on end. When you read their help article, it says if you use tracking, and it has been delivered, you should be OK. However, when I ferret out the link to post tracking info, I get the "sorry, we are experiencing technical difficulties routine. Catch 22. So they have the use of my money for 3 weeks. Nothing unusual about my sale, of a pen, nothing to trigger any of their hot spots which lead to a hold....nothing. And non-responsive links are an unfair trade practice in my opinion. Lets see if this post gets me banned for life.

Oh, by the way, I said net funds, yes, they took their fee out, so not everything on hold...

[FredRydr]

...Let's see if this post gets me banned for life....
Not a chance.

[Ed333]

...Let's see if this post gets me banned for life....
Not a chance.

Fred, is Square suited for someone who is only an occasional seller, as in thinning the herd, not really trying to make a business of it?
Thanks, Ed

[FredRydr]

It will work and there are no "entry" fees, but Square has you go through checks to see if you're legitimate and not just a laundry.

There are more money transfer services coming available. For example, my credit union recently announced its own cash transfer system which I intend to look into.

Finally, if you are in the USA, know that the IRS will be receiving 1099 reports from "Payment Settlement Entities" (Square, PayPal, Venmo, etc. etc.). Read here: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/understanding-your-form-1099-k N.B.: Various states have their own annual thresholds for reporting, as low as $600.

[~JJ]

"...There are more money transfer services coming available. ...

Oh yeah! These days, if somebody's found a way to make a nickel, you can bet the rent there'll soon be a slew of sob's with their hand stuck out.

[TSherbs]

"...There are more money transfer services coming available. ...

Oh yeah! These days, if somebody's found a way to make a nickel, you can bet the rent there'll soon be a slew of sob's with their hand stuck out.

Only to be equaled by the number of those trying to avoid taxes and fees.