Paypal, do you take in $6000 - $9000 once a week (for services)? are pp fine with this

2CO might be a better alternative. Or you might have to setup a credit card merchant account with your bank.

If you don't want to get limited, make sure you don't process many refunds or get any chargebacks/disputes.

Yes, that type of activity is definitely likely to bring attention to your account at which stage they will do a manual review of things and probably ask you a whole bunch of questions. This is perfectly normal and what any sane business would do.

If you see someone going along for four years getting nothing more than $400 per week and all of a sudden that jumps right up to $5,000+, you are going to want to know what is behind that big increase.

Paypal loves for businesses that are not problematic to send lots of money through their service. I have never had my account limited in many years with paypal and maintain a good relationship the team assigned to me.

i bet you'll get froze. iwas doing $2k a week and got froze

If you're taking in that kind of money, you should really ditch PayPal if possible. A real merchant account will save you in fees and in headaches dealing with PayPal. Is there a reason why you're not accepting checks/wire transfers for the larger purchases?

I used to be a big paypal advocate when people we're worried about limitations and such... I was all for paypal... until it happened to me. Took 3-4 years before they held a LOT of my money for 6 months.

Next....2co, and a REAL merchant account still won't protect you.

I nearly lost my business when a little over $40,000 was held... by a real merchant account.

If you want a sure fire way to accept your payments without having holds, accept checks, process check by phone but not ach deposits, run your own printed check drafts... or accept cash.

If you are unwilling to do that, then it's best to focus on having multiple backup plans and rotate payments between processors.

Sorry bud, you just haven't experienced risk department wrath. Good thing for you though, but it WILL happen. It happens to every business owner eventually when you aren't dealing with signature transactions. Any phone based sales, internet, etc., that doesn't have a signature by itself is already classified as high risk.

Calling ahead and warning them that you might have a sales spike, tells them to check your credit and other information to see if they should shut you down or keep you open, whether to allow you to continue to do business with them or put a limitation on your account.

This isn't just paypal, it is every merchant account, processor, or anything with a risk department.

Don't accuse me of doing anything shady, I didn't even have a .1% charge back or refund rate in my account. Good standing doesn't mean anything to paypal, that's why they have a risk department that technically isn't a part of paypal, but PAYPAL's MERCHANT ACCOUNT. Paypal made more money off me through random transaction fees than most people have ever made doing IM. If they can shut me down when I had a very clean account that made them money, they can shut anyone else down as well.

I'm not suggesting to surprise anyone... although I'm surprised you didn't look at the more important thing that I said, to have a back up plan and rotate payments through other processors.

If you know how a REAL merchant account works, you would know you have a transaction limit, avg transaction size, and monthly transaction ceiling. If you have an ACH deposit that is over the limit, it will not go through and cause a flag in your account. If you have a limit of 8,000 monthly and process 8,500... you probably won't have too much of an issue... if you have a limit of 5,000 and process 10,000... the risk department can shut you down. It doesn't matter if you call ahead of time, that is abnormal growth for a business and it's not okay with most processors.

Funny thing is, people claim to talk to PayPal's risk department, but they really don't. They usually talk to the middle man that contacts paypal's merchant account who has the actual risk department.

I used to approach threads like the the same way as you, until I learned better. Hopefully you continue to have your outlook, instead of being back here in a year or two with the same bitterness I have. Or...perhaps you just don't or haven't ever processed the same volume as I have.

I did a $2000 sale yesterday plus a load of $37 sales and nothing bad happened Paypal wise.

James Scholes

@iAmNameLess

I can guarantee that i have run equal or greater volume in my decade plus with paypal.

I also have 17 other merchants accounts or ewallet payment systems that are being used by various web properties i own.

I have had my account limited by PP 3 separate times. i know exactly what its like. I have also had dealings with traditional merchant accounts. Hell, i even had a merchant account issue with an offline business that was capturing signatures.

It was a storage facility where we had a crazy sales spike due to a competitor across the street going belly up. I know my way around payment processors and i can assure you that being proactive is way better than being reactive.

i am with you on having backups. as i said, i deal with all the major ones and several minor ones at the moment. My problem with yours and willr's comments was that you should not be proactive. Thats exactly the wrong way to deal with any merchant account provider.... not just PP

I know all about risk management stuff. I am not in the MMO niche, but i have sold everything from tangible goods to sex videos of yours truly online. I know a bit about high risk processing...lol.

long story short... have backups...we can both agree on that for sure. But i will never be convinced that you should just surprise your merchant processor with a sales spike...thats just not the best way to deal with things.

As David points out, there is risk in any payment method that you use. The government can even freeze your bank account if you start getting lots of wire transfers from overseas. It can happen, and you need to be prepared for it with backup payment methods. It's also good to get money out of those accounts as soon as possible. I try not to keep too much money in PayPal just in case they decide to freeze the account.

In my experience "real" merchant accounts are much more willing to work with you than PayPal is. However they still can limit your account or put you on a rolling reserve if you represent too much risk for them. If you set up an account make sure you let them know the volume and dollar amount of your average transaction. You'll certainly get flagged if you sign up and say you typically charge $10 and start charging $5000 purchases.

Since you'll be making "card not present" transactions, I recommend going with a company that specializes in online credit card processing such as Braintree or Samurai. They're much easier to deal with than a bank and they tend to better understand the risk that online merchants represent. Both companies have really easy to understand fee structures in place.

When you're dealing with customers who can afford that kind of money, they should be used to putting it on a corporate credit card. It shouldn't be a problem for them.

It's pretty easy to do wire transfers nowadays and you can sometimes do it online from your bank website. There are companies (PayPal included) that allow you to do "virtual checks", basically just an ACH transfer, that you might want to consider.

I've done work for clients for years. I always tried to get a wire transfer or check for any amount over $5k. As you can see by this thread, it makes it so much easier not having to deal with the credit card companies, plus you'll save big time on fees.

anytime you accept non-normal payments into any banking or merchant account, it will raise red flags. These people deal with all sorts of fraud all the time.

If you were the bank manager and a guy regular deposits his $500 check every week and then he starts getting wire transfers for $5000 would it make you ask questions? of course it would.

Until you get a reputation for receiving those sorts of payments, you can expect some issues and growing pains.

Hell, my bank still puts holds on some check i deposit that are in the 5 figure range. They have to cover their own a$$. i got a check from CB clickbank a few weeks back that was far less than other checks i have deposited from them and they put a hold on that check for 17 days. why 17... who the hell knows. maybe thats the number the guy hit on the dart board in the backroom.

Yes, that will work as long as your customers are willing to pay via wire transfer or ACH. Some banks charge a fee for this, especially if it is from overseas. However the fee should be much less than credit card processing fees.

If you have a business account, they shouldn't ask any questions. I've never had anyone question my accounts at any of the banks I've used. It's typical for business accounts to bring in huge amounts of money quickly, and the banks are usually very happy to have your business. You shouldn't need any extra paperwork.

I'm not sure where you are based, but the US government does monitor wire transfers from overseas (I'm sure other governments do too). They have the power to hold and investigate a transfer so that would be your only issue, although it is highly unlikely to happen.

A few days I can see. But 17 days?!?! I'd be looking for a new bank if I were you...

Yeah the whole check system is a bit screwed up. Usually when a check clears immediately it's only because the bank is essentially "loaning" you the money until the check actually clears, which typically takes a few days. Still 17 days is too long, you should get on them about that.

When you create a business account you'll have to let them know what you are doing. I found that it's best to be a bit vague here, but let them know that it's an online business with clients. Some banks are paranoid about online stuff. I once had a bank completely turn me away because they "don't accept online business as customers". They don't need to know all the details, just that you have online clients and will be receiving x amount per transaction.

Seriously banks really don't care. You could deposit a million into your account at once and I bet no one even says anything to you. PayPal cares because they have risk if you run off with the money (same as a merchant account). With a bank as soon as the check clears (or wire transfer) they are off the hook for any liability, so they don't care what you do.

Edit: David, you beat me to it by a minute!

Be Aware...
Different PayPal employees make different decisions.
I would go with a merchant account and see how things will go.Just to have it under your belt.
Maybe even use both, PayPal is great but sometimes not too understanding

Change it. Paypal will ruin your business when the real money starts coming in. Get in 2CO or Google Checkout.
They are way better alternatives.