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PayPal
What Is PayPal?
With a simple, single integration you can accept debit and credit cards, PayPal, PayPal Credit, 10+ local payment methods in over 100 currencies and from 200+ markets around the world.
Who Uses PayPal?
Whether you're a small business, ecommerce platform, marketplace, enterprise, or developer, PayPal Commerce Platform offers what you need to run your business and help it grow.
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PayPal
Reviews of PayPal
PayPal the original and best online payment handler.
Comments: I've used PayPal for decades and always found it very safe and reliable.
Pros:
Very easy to use and integrates well. Fair dispute handling and buyer/seller protection.
Cons:
The interface is not very intuitive. Things are hard to find.
Alternatives Considered:
Great overall, with little room for improvement.
Comments: Overall I really like PayPal and am nit-picking to find things I like least. Overall it's been great both personally and professionally.
Pros:
I like having a debit card specific to this, because that's where I store our businesses funds like a checking account. I like the ability to create and accept payments for invoices. I also like that I can use PayPal for personal transactions just like Venmo or Zelle.
Cons:
I wish their UI were better. Certain features seem challenging to find or access. Specifically the add a payment or add money feature. I wish they'd use intelligence to learn what I use most and bring that to the front of the dashboard.
PayPal great unless you need cash back rewards
Comments: Used frequently since 2004. Wish I would have switched to competition ma my years earlier.
Pros:
Common well known name. Easy to integrate in most payment portals and personal usage.
Cons:
Very low rewards and payback on usage. Competitors which pays back extensive cash back percentages are now commonplace. PayPal does not and does not care to update that feature
Alternatives Considered:
Ease of use
Comments: Good for ease of use. Very secure. Prompt in answering questions
Pros:
Ease of use for customers. Ease of use for financial officer
Cons:
The non profit donation takes a month. Gets alittle confusing when inputting finances a month later.
Alternatives Considered:
Been a PayPal user for years
Comments: I’ve used PayPal for all of my businesses and it’s been so easy. PayPal was my first way of collecting payments and paying for orders.
Pros:
I love the functionality and the fact that the site also has an app. It makes it so much easier to manage and maintain your account. Sending and receiving money, invoices, etc is quick and easy.
Cons:
The fees associated with sending and receiving funds. I’m not a huge fan of that but otherwise I’ve enjoyed using PayPal for years now.
Good paying tool
Comments: Good tool and a safe way for both clients and providers
Pros:
It's an easy way to pay and receive payments from everywhere.
Cons:
The commission and rate exchange is high.
Simple solution for online payments and money transfers
Comments: Overall, PayPal offers a reliable and efficient experience for most digital financial needs, but the experience may vary depending on usage, especially when trading internationally or receiving large-value payments.
Pros:
The security and ease of making purchases on e-commerce sites, transferring money to friends, family or other people quickly and safely, both within the country and internationally. In addition to managing subscriptions and automatic payments for streaming services, software and other monthly or annual subscriptions. Use the tool to make international transactions and convert currencies quickly and conveniently, with transparent rates.
Cons:
Exchange rates and commissions charged for international transactions can be relatively high, which ends up being disadvantageous when sending or receiving money from other countries. Although it is a convenient platform, the fees charged on incoming payments, especially for freelancers or small businesses, can be significant and impact profits. Another negative point is customer support, difficulties in resolving problems with PayPal due to slow or inefficient customer support.
PayPal-It's Been a Long Great Trip
Comments:
Since 2006, both PayPal and my business have gone through changes, and both of us have had good and bad changes. PayPal has changed for the good (so have I, but this is not about me) and sometimes it is a hassle to learn these changes but that is just part of the business.
Overall, like any long-term relationship, there are ups and downs; luckily for me, the downs are short, and the u[ps are long.
Pros:
Reliability is at the top of the list. PayPal as been around as long as I've been doing business online.
Cons:
Listing something of a Con with PayPal is difficult because everything I think of turns out to be 'operator error' and has little to do with PayPal itself. I am sure there are negative points to any system that holds onto your funds, but so far (since 2006), I have not encountered any. <knocks on wood>
Paypal: Overall great with a small flaw
Comments: PayPal is super easy to use, with a clean, intuitive interface that makes navigating a breeze. A big plus is that you can send money to friends and family without any fees. Honestly, it doesn’t have many flaws, though the currency exchange rates for purchases in other currencies can be a bit steep. Overall, it’s a great platform for managing payments!
Pros:
PayPal is super easy to use with a simple, intuitive interface. One of the best parts is that sending money to friends and family comes with no fees.
Cons:
In my opinion, PayPal doesn’t have any major flaws. The only downside is that their currency exchange rates for purchases in different currencies can be a bit high. Other than that, it’s solid!
PayPal has evolved with the times
Comments: I have been using PayPal for many years, for both personal and business matters. PayPal has evolved over time and made it's features and function more user friendly. PayPal is simple to use and can help you save time.
Pros:
PayPal is really easy to use for business and personal matters. And they have great online and mobile options, with a lot of functionality built into the platform.
Cons:
As a user it's not always clear when you are paying via PayPal versus paying with a credit card. I would like something to confirm PayPal payment versus going through a credit card.
Alternatives Considered:
International payment system that stands as a gold standard
Comments: We now have a PayPal button on our website that indicates to clients that we accept PayPal payments and we now receive funds from everywhere. It is an easy to use wallet and you can make withdraws easily to your bank account or credit card.
Pros:
It has provided us with the opportunity to receive funds instantly from our clients from all over the world. All this happens at the best lowest expense possible. The most important thing you can create and send invoices very easily to clients. We are also able to request payments from clients. The choice to differentiate between personal and business accounts, of which they are all free to open, makes it more client focused. PayPal exchange rates to other currencies are also good than other companies that rob from clients by manipulating currency exchange rates. Buyer protection is another best feature to prevent fraudulent sellers from scamming clients.
Cons:
As much as paypal is making life simple and is helping building a global community, their introduction of fees when you are sending money to a friend across borders makes it unfair.
the in and outs of paypal
Comments: The overall money saved and speed if PayPal's services are a more then welcome addition to any buisness . With so many solutions for sending and receiving money for goods and services PayPal is an overall very cleverly designed software and would recommend it to anybody.
Pros:
the ability to make customizable invoices for pretty much anything is an amazing feature. yiu are ability set payment dates and reminders for your customers, comes in handy when yiu have many streams if revenue and sources. organization us key to success. You can also accept payments or make refunds in many different currencies and do this on your mobile,home or at the office with no process time. furthermore if you dont know they also have a money order service that allows you to send money any where in the world at very little cost. switching from the old services i was using for the restaurant to do all of this has saved $10k+ every year, cant get much better then that.
Cons:
The ability to run a line if credit would be something that would improve overall value of PayPal's service. I would like to see some kind if reward system put in place for individual and buisness clients for frequent use, also the ability to use Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies would be a good addition as as the days go one more and more people use them for there everyday spending/saving and investing opportunities.
Alternatives Considered:
when it comes to pay and get paid online ,PayPal is the faster, safer way
Comments: Overall I enjoyed using Paypal and so far I had no problems at all ,I recommend this to my friends because it is the most reliable option when it comes to online money transfers.
Pros:
The ease of use and access.adding crypto currency options.the controlling of the transaction with the ability to view the history with up-to-date information.
Cons:
Paypal app on IOS has some serious problems.People can also be blocked by PayPal without warning, and they can freeze and hold money from that account, which is inconvenient for the user.
Paypal has Helped my Online Shopping be Secure and a Piece of Cake!
Comments: Overall, I think Paypal is a livesaver for anyone who is dealing with transactions online. In this day in age, security is a huge issue, and scammers are on the rise, and you dont want that to hinder you from making purchases online, so paypal gives me the sense of security when shopping.
Pros:
I've been using Paypal for several years now ever since I started my online shopping adventures. Paypal offers many pros of using their service. One of my favorites, and the ease of being able to have my money in my paypal balance and be able to shop literally on several sites which allows me to choose paypal as my payment method with ease. Also, paypal offers secure transactions that are made quick, and not to mention buyer protection on all of your orders, no matter what site you are using, you will be protected. I'm a heavy user of ebay, and Paypal has protected me many of times when I came upon scam sellers on ebay who took off with my money, but since I used paypal as my preferred method , I was able to dispute it with them and they helped get my money back. Another awesome pro about Paypal is that they offer their Papyal Mastercard which you can receive % cashback whenever you use your card. This has earned me soooo much cashback over the years, it accumulates over a month, each month you get a nice chunk of change back. Paypal also offers features for business owners, and invoicing features to help move your online business and transactions along easily. In my previous jobs, I've utilized Paypal in creating invoices for my customers, and managing all kinds of transactions. If you plan to start doing online shopping , I highly suggest signing up with Paypal, they are trustworthy and will have your back if you run into trouble.
Cons:
The cons for Paypal are little to none to be honest. Only thing I would say would be their customer service. It isnt the fastest to get ahold of someone, but when you do they do indeed help you out.
Payment Software With A Ton of Features
Comments: I use PayPal daily on our company's website, as well as three e-commerce platforms that we use (Bonanza, eBid and eBay). We offer additional payment options on our website and have discovered that PayPal appears to be the most trusted by our customers. PayPal offers a wide range of reports for tracking sales and expenditures. Because of the number of reports, I do not utilize them all. My favorite report is the monthly or quarterly financial summary because I can see what our revenue and expenses were and it is very user friendly. We print all of our shipping labels through PayPal and receive a commercial discount. I have tried other options for shipping but feel that PayPal is the most cost effective and user friendly. I also like the option of paying for my shipping costs out of my PayPal balance because it eliminates the step of transferring money to the bank and having to wait for it to get there. In addition to using PayPal for e-commerce, I do work as an independent contractor. Most of the companies I contract with use PayPal to pay their contractors. The financial summary on PayPal breaks down what money came from sales and what was sent as a distribution from a company I contracted for. PayPal integrates easily with my accounting software so that much of the bookkeeping and accounting work is hands off. I am able to pay vendors and platform fees directly from PayPal. PayPal offers more than one way to get my money. I can transfer it to the bank or a debit card.
Pros:
PayPal offers integration so that I can accept payments from customers on my own website as well as on all of the platforms that I sell on. PayPal also offers a wide range of custom reports that helps me track sales and expenditures such as shipping costs and fees.
Cons:
Calling PayPal's customer service often results in added frustration and a lack of results. PayPal often sides with buyers that claim there was an issue with their order, even when there is a lack of evidence to support the claim.
PayPal Reaches New Heights in Security and Convenience
Comments: PayPal has served me well over the past 8 years or so and I will continue doing so. I've always felt a sense of security around my purchases and integrity of confidential information. Its amazing how PayPal has managed to serve such high standard of security related services while continuing to enhance its convenience via new features, fast support, and a ever widening network of user touch-points. PayPal's availability is far beyond what today's local banks offer. Users can find uses in websites/stores that accept PayPal, in-person physical access to your account for withdraw or deposit, and full control anytime, anywhere with the mobile app and superb web interface.
Pros:
PayPal has always worked without fail when used as a payment method. In one glance at my PayPal dashboard either on my computer or mobile device, I'm able to check my balance, credit balance, credit payment due date and more. I've even found myself without cash or balance in my local checking when I needed to pay a bill. That's when I tried PayPal cash withdrawal using the app for the first time. Within minutes I had the money I needed! There are so many benefits and tools built around convenience within PayPal that I can't say enough. I'm a fan of investing and when PayPal teamed with Acorns for easy round up investments I was quick to take advantage of it. To be honest, I hardly use my checking compared to how much I use my PayPal account.
Cons:
There isn't much to dislike about PayPal, however I there were a few times I had sent/received money from family and it was mistakenly handled as a payment. The problem was purely user based. More than likely the manner in which we requested and/or sent the money was different than the "Gift" function. The gift being handled as a payment for services instead lead to a fee of a substantial amount. Perhaps some better explanation on requesting a gift vs. payment and such. I see PayPal has recently introduced an invoicing system which is amazing. I hope they continue to do so as they were lacking free services targeted towards individual entrepreneurs who did business under their own name rather than a business.
Paypal can be annoying, tough it's still the best
Comments:
would still recommend PayPal to everyone because you really don’t have any other options out there better than PayPal.
I think PayPal knows this and that’s why they don’t care to make adjustments.
I read somewhere that if you plan to travel or are changing the device you usually login with to PayPal, you can write to PayPal and explain this but I'm not sure if this works though. Maybe they could still ask to verify whether its truly you that is making the request.
Pros:
PayPal is the biggest online money transfer which makes it my best choice because I work with a number of people from almost every corner of the earth. I love Its invoicing software. It takes away the hassle of creating invoices. The mobile card reader is great too and I use it with my Mpesa to make payments when I'm in Kenya. In this part of the World where other online payment systems are so inefficient, PayPal is such a life saver. The shopping cart, the instant payment, the simple click and send, PayPal is simply awesome. It would take me a whole day to write about the wonderful features of PayPal but it would equally take me the same time to write about cons.
Cons:
I think its crazy to have your account limited or locked just because you have changed your IP address or you have changed your location. PayPal annoys me by thinking that people must use the same device to login to PayPal all their life if they are to continue smoothly running their account. If you travel to another country or log into your account with another PC, your account can be limited. I know someone whoose account was locked with $5000 in it. Its been 1years since this happened and PayPal has never resolved the problem. Yes they restore your account after verification but most of the time it takes them long to restore it yet its a hassle that can be avoided. What is worse is that I have seen many people complain about this for some time now and PayPal hasn’t done anything about it.
Easiest way to transfer money and make payments
Comments: Overall I had great experience using the service till I encountered the issue I mentioned in my CONS, at that moment it was a nightmare, I needed to pay for a ticket that accepted only paypal and not my card, and my account got blocked because I couldn't put a payment method from the country I was living because when I initially opened my account, I open it from another country, so I stressed out a lot to figure out I needed to open a new account with another email which would take me some time. So I just asked some friend and borrowed their card to make payments online for a few days.
Pros:
I really liked the new UI when you want to transfer or receive money, it makes it really easy to send/receive the right amount and preview the expenses. I liked that in some countries in Europe I can also transfer money from PayPal to my bank account, although this is not possible in some countries in the Balkan.
Cons:
There are a lot of things I didn't like about PayPal: overall the idea that when I deactivate/remove/delete my account that is linked with an email, I can never use that email again to open another account, and that puts me in a position to create fake emails to just create new accounts. Another thing I didn't like is that if you open your account in a country and you later on go to live in another country, you can't just simply change your payment method, PayPal doesn't allow you to link a payment method that is not from the country you originally open your account. So eventually it will block your account, and after calling their customer service and spending all your money in expensive phone calls to figure out that you need to create a new account with a different email, although you are the same person and usually a person don't have more than 1 or 2 personal emails. So from being quick and easy to setup and use, sometimes, when you need to use different payment methods from different countries, cause maybe you travel for work, it can be frustrating and puts you in a situation where you can't just use it the account quickly to make a payment within the same day.
Very good, but needs some improvement to be best
Comments: I use it mostly for sharing money with friends and family and in this service, PayPal is second to none considering the ease of use. I found it very helpful for online checkouts. A lesser service fee and easier use of paypal credit would make their service more better and impeccable. Overall, it’s a great privilege to use such a nice money management system.
Pros:
Paypal is the first money sharing app I have ever used. For their free transfer and instant transfer to PayPal account, I even now keep this app on top of all other such apps. Also most of the online vendors now accept paypal and paypal credit while it is very easy to checkout with one click, hence I use it where I have it as an option. Also I can transfer money from my paypal to bank account and vice versa without any fee. All these are the reasons I love to use it and have been using it almost everyday to split expenses with friends and family as well as using it for online purchases.
Cons:
Their customer support is not that much responsive as you will find it hard to talk to a human agent over phone. Also most of the representatives I have talked to so far don’t seem to have a comprehensive knowledge of the system. The representatives need to be more knowledgeable about their service and should serve more promptly. I have faced difficulty to set up recurring payment option with my paypal credit as the use of this extension in their service is still not much user-friendly. They should provide more easier option to set payment options. I have faced issues with payment options as even after selecting a specific payment option with paypal checkout, I was charged from another payment option without my knowledge. Also if you mistakenly pay your friend using money protection feature, they will charge you a fee and there is no option to get back that charged fee even of you do it by mistake. They should be more flexible on such things. Also free trasnfer to the bank accounts sometimes take time more than usual which may mess up your monetary emergency.
Paypal is borderless and I can pay or get paid anywhere
Comments: I am very happy with paypal overall, I would like to keep using paypal for all online transactions and transfers. Banks are slow and paypal is convenient.
Pros:
Nowadays I can buy most of stuff online and pay by paypal. It is supported by ebay and a lot more companies. It also integrated with ebay seamlessly, that I clicked buy now button and nothing else I need to worry about. It automatically converts currencies to my local currency. I can then withdraw it to my bank account by clicking a couple of buttons on ebay. When I am running out of cash and borrow from a friend, I can always transfer the money to their email address easily. From programming perspective, paypal has a great notification API that developers can integrate to build their payroll tracking apps and generate reports. It fully automated a lot of shopping cart processes for lots of online shops. It's resolution process is fantastic when I am having conflicts with sellers or buyers, paypal helpes to resolve issues and make me feel very safe to do transactions with paypal.
Cons:
One thing I didn't like is I was using an individual account, at some stage I started a business and upgrade my paypal to business account, since then I always pay a bit extra fees and I can never use my individual accounts anymore. The currency conversion is convenient but the rate is never good enough. It is always on the low end of the current conversion rate. I always get scam emails who are claiming they are from paypal, there are a number of times, I almost get fooled. I hope paypal spend more resource onto the scams as it is threatening the users' financial life.
Paypal Benefits Hillmann Home Repairs Business
Comments: As stated above, overall our experience with PayPal has been a positive one. It is a quick and easy way to receive our money from whatever jobs we have completed in the week, and we are able to divide our money to spread to our employees who receive a percentage of the job they are working on as well.
Pros:
My husband and I recently started our own business and felt as though we needed an easy way for our clients to be able to pay. It is easy for us to provide the business emails to customers and they are easily able to follow the link to send us the money that is required for our services. It is reliable and a bit better than a bank that provides us with ridiculous amounts of fees for transfers and overdraft charges. It also makes it easier for us to pay our employees, which as I stated we are a small family owned company, so far we have two employees including my husband who is the business owner. When we do a job that day, we are able to send our employees their percentage of the job quickly and efficiently.
Cons:
The only thing that we were not happy about with paypal is the transfer fee of 1.27 every time you go to transfer money to someone elses account. It seems a bit ridiculous to us, because then in order to pay our employee the proper amount, we have to worry about sending an extra 1.27 to cover the fee that they charge.
PayPal is a well rounded service
Comments: My overall experience with PayPal as a buyer is pretty positive. And of course as a seller it’s going to be more difficult as you have too build a basis for yourself so you can come across as trust worthy. It seems the app really has a no scammer policy for the most part, and I believe most disputes are opened and handles fairly if not a bit extended and over due. I think that the buyer protection is a very amazing option that not many other concealed cash apps have, and I think the app has very good security for the most part. Overall my experience as a buyer and seller are both positive.
Pros:
Very functional for small business owners, or if you run a shop on Instagram or etsy, even through your own website. You can pay for things instantly, using your thumb print through your phone as affirmation of payment. Instant transfers/wires too your bank account with a very affordable fee. The app is free to download and use, and you the exchange rates between different currency is also very good and the fee is feeble and affordable. The outlines of the app are very too the point and it’s very easy to use after confirming who you are and connecting your bank account, and if you don’t want too connect your bank account you can use your PayPal balance with a PayPal card which is very convenient. It’s very easy to send money all over the place, you can also send money through friends and family which won’t charge you a fee no matter where you send it or you can pay a small fee and have a 180 buyer protection over whatever product you bought, no matter who or where you bought it from. Including open disputes that last for 21 days Until resolved or refunded. Overall a very well rounded app and outlined nicely with a lot more pros than cons.
Cons:
I think that customer service is very poor, even before the covid 19 out break, it takes a little while for them to process disputes. You also have to be careful of people who will scam you, you can not be refunded if you don’t go through goods and services. At least not all the time too my knowledge depending on the case. It’s hard to get in touch with an actual customer service rep, they have an automated system to help answer frequently asked questions or problems you may be having. Which doesn’t answer a few of the more difficult dispute problems that have occurred personally through the past. Also pending transactions are a thing and sometimes your money that has been wired too your pay pal balance may be unavailable too you for 21 days and it’s very hard to open a dispute about that so you can access the money in your account. Pending transactions usually happen when you are a new seller or if you are selling through a website or social media account connected too your pay pal for the first time. It doesn’t help when you have to pay the app your using it throughs, seller fees. And has sometimes made my bank account negative when I needed it. Boosting customer service and paying attention to the minor pending errors and sometimes the app will shut me out in a certain amount of time or not register my thumb print. Minor errors.
Misrepresentation and misinformation and inconvenience
Comments: The experience was horrible. I was on hold for a total of 2.5 hours with no solution. The conversation was redundant and there was no level of sensitivity to the damage that is being done to me with absolutely no options. I just wasn't a human and felt like all they wanted to do was tell me what was in the terms and conditions. I called 20 people and asked if they were aware of this 21 day delay and all but one said no. The one who knew said they Paypal released their 21 day hold in one day when they called.
Pros:
It was not too difficult to set up other than the validating of the bank account
Cons:
The 21 day delay for a customer who has been a member since 2008 is totally ridiculous. I am running in a special election and by the time the funds post my election will almost be over. [SENSITIVE CONTENT] in customer service told me it would be 7 days and now it is 21 days which defeats the purpose. Had I had known this I would have selected another way for donors to contribute. These funds are not tax deductible campaign contributions and are needed to run and finance my campaign. I use PayPal for all my ebay and amazon and other retail purchases. Just baffled that there seems to be no solution to release these funds especially since I was told in this circumstance they would release the funds. Second, the customer service agents were like robots who did not understand my situation and were repetitive and redundant and it was as if I was a number. I am so disappointed and frustrated. Even the donors are frustrated and are saying they have not requested that Paypal withhold these funds and they are not understanding this decision by Paypal. The monies raise to manage the campaign will be of little avail when they release this hold. We are not a charity like a 501c3 but a campaign committee
Synonymous with online transactions
Comments: As a freelance seller PayPal is invaluable when transferring funds online. The security of PayPal gives me great confidence to almost use it as a second "bank account" or emergency fund holder. In general, PayPal gives great versatility when transferring money online and offered this secure service for a small fee compared to some competitors.
Pros:
With the name PayPal known across the internet it's easy to see why. PayPal already is essentially integrated into every major online retailer with the likes of eBay having accepted PayPal as a valid transaction medium for the better part of 2 decades. PayPal is simple to use and has a great UI and easy navigation. The ability to securely transfer funds from bank account to PayPal allows for greater security when making online purchases, reducing the risk of your bank account being compromised, instead allowing for PayPal to be the safe medium for payments. The security of PayPal has long been proven to be excellent, with effective use of 2FA in order to prevent fraud and to ensure all logins and access to your PayPal funds are monitored closely.
Cons:
Whilst PayPal is undoubtedly a quintessential part of online money transfers, some negatives do still exist. For small businesses or businesses regularly transferring fund to their main bank account, using PayPal will incur additional charges. A small transaction fee of 5% is occurred each time money is privately transferred and this will add up with larger sums of money. Use of foreign currencies and the transfer rate between them will see an added 3% charge above the base transfer rate- for this reason other alternatives are superior to PayPal when dealing with international exchanges.
Alternatives Considered:
A decent payment processing solution with some drawbacks
Comments: I think overall PayPal is okay, but many of the issues I've had, had the potential to turn into a lot bigger issues. I would say it's probably no longer the best option for payment processing.
Pros:
They have one of the shorter wait times for payouts/balance transfers compared to other platforms I've used. Many people are familiar with them and many companies/organizations still use them which often lends itself to an easier check out process. I like that it has pay later options for my clients.
Cons:
Paypal was once one of the most trusted and secure payment processors, but there have been many points of failure over the years and I am not as confident about it as I once was. I have previously had some issues with fraudulent purchases made using my account. In my experience their customer service has not been the best often because of language barriers leading to my concerns not being understood/addressed. I don't like how difficult it is to change the settings so that non-PayPal users can make payments using PayPal. The buyer-protection is not great either, I purchased a product that was misrepresented in the photos and description and even when I couldn't get a hold of the company to go through with returning it, PayPal would not grant me a refund. The same thing happened when a company that was going out of business kept recurring charges going even though they were no longer providing me the service and hadn't for months, I sent PayPal all requested documentation and they didn't refund me or remedy the issue at all.