Does this sound like a scam?

Sounds fishy. Ask them why they can't use PayPal.

You could also try escrow.com. I've never used escrow.com though, so I can't give a personal review of their services.

You'd have to setup all those things if you got a merchant account anyways. Keep in mind there are still a lot of offline business owners who don't understand or trust Paypal. Plus they may want you to have a merchant account to verify you're a legit business owner.

On the downside they could be requesting it simply because they banned from PayPal for scamming

PayPal nowadays for online transactions is like having internet ... no internet connection = you can't work ... no paypal = no online transactions .... ask them why they can't work with that and if they can't give you a clear and logical answer, do not work with them. simple as that

Can you tell us where this client is located and what kind of work they want? You could always try writing one, small article and seeing whether or not they pay. My guess is that even if they are scammers they will pay for the first one.

The big question is - how much are you prepared to lose to find out. Make sure you stay in control, do whatever amount of work you are prepared to lose and don't let them ask you for more until they pay.

Anyway - they don't have to "use paypal". If you send them a Paypal invoice they can pay using their credit/debit card.

Which merchant do they work with?

Another thought that just came to me. Publish whatever you write for them to your own blog or site before sending it to them. As soon as they pay you, remove it from your own site. (Probably no need to tell them you are doing this.)

That way - if they don't pay you, but use the work anyway, you have cast iron proof that you wrote the article, it's yours and a date when you published it to your own site. A DMCA on their site would follow - that's why I asked where they are - a dodgy Easter European host isn't going to take notice of DMCA notices!

I don't see any reason why they would want a merchant account set up. They can pay via their company credit card through Paypal without any problems. You can even send them an invoice via Paypal, which they can pay with their credit card via Paypal. Sounds strange to me.

I would say it sound EXTREMELY fishy, actually. I'll wait to see what excuse they'll come up with next.

There is an ice cream shop near me. I wanted to pay with my credit card, but they only take cash. So I decided to set up a merchant account for them and pay their monthly fees.

How stupid does that sound?

You are about to get scammed. Dump this guy and move along.

You can even send them an invoice via Pay Pal and they can pay with their credit card.

No Paypal = No integrity! Dodgy ...

Hi thedog!

In regards to your concern, I think if they really want you to work for them, they will be the ones who will adjust to the payment schemes and terms. Given that the online world is full of scam, employers should stick to well-known payment methods such as PayPal.

Be careful and good luck!

Moneybookers is a good option if they don't use Paypal.
I have several businesses that use Moneybookers rather than Paypal as they accept more payment methods.

If you are concerned about not being paid, then have them pay you 50% or 100% BEFORE you begin any work.

You already gave some of your work for free, now charge them up front.

All the best,
Michael

Nah, it totally sounds legit. :rolleyes:

Hi

I am from India. I must say that there is some material in what your client is telling. Many people have problems with Paypal. Especially people from Asian Countries. In my country I need a Credit Card for sure to send payments via Paypal and Credit Card is not offered to everyone in developing countries. And would you believe if i say I have lost around $3000 with Paypal about an year back.

The advantage of a Merchant account is that they dont have this much of complications. But I believe you must check with Moneybookers again about the set up fee. When i tried them a couple of months back, i found some sort of fee they are charging. I m not sure. But Monybookers is an option for you.

I believe you must check out services offered by 2CO. They are reliable and I strongly believe that it is easy to set up and also they offer a 1 month period for very low cost.

The bottom line is when someone says that they wanna go for a Payment gateway or merchant account, they may have their own reasons.

I'm not saying this sounds like a scam or it doesn't. I just wanted to share an experience I had for you to consider before you decide what to do.

My largest and most loyal client in my voice over business has several offline businesses and does not have PayPal. They prefer to pay by company check after the service/product and invoice are rendered, as with all of their business dealings.

I usually take payment up front via Paypal before even starting on a project. However, I did some research on this company and found them to be very successful.

I accepted that first project, delivered it and received glowing feedback from them. I waited 10 whole business days and was getting a little nervous, when the check arrived in the mail.

I breathed a sigh of relief and then the company hired me as their "voice" as well as giving free creative reign to me in other projects they have, compensating me for the voice work as well as my writing. It was the best decision I ever made in my business.

If I had so much distrust that I dismissed them, I would have lost a large contract as well as the referrals they have sent my way from several of their "partners".

My recommendation would be to do your due diligence and then go with your gut instincts after that research. It could be the best decision you've made all year.

P.S. I can't even imagine demanding the business owner change the way he conducts his business transactions to suit me, or look for someone else!

That sounds like a great way to go out of business if you ask me.

Terra

I disagree, i work at a large marketing firm and when we do business to business transactions - we do NOT use paypal.

For instance, when we sell data or "Leads" thru paypal, once we send over the leads, they can go on paypal and claim we didnt send them the data. Then our paypal will freeze our funds etc.

So we actually dont like to use paypal - and when we have clients that dont have any other means of payment - we will setup an account with another merchant and we will pay the 2% fee or whatever it is.

PayPal doesn't accept any payments or make accounts or credit cards from any African country.
What works in Africa is Moneybooker or other that accept credit cards from African Banks.
Pay Pal banned all Africa many years ago because of a big fraud. LOL

See if they are good with using escrow .com.

If you have to ask....

thedog,

I would suggest you to send them an email informing them what's in it for you and them if you were to transact and do business via PayPal or Google Checkout. For the benefit of the doubt, let's assume they are really not used to PayPal or Google Checkout transactions and they just need some kind of enlightenment what makes PayPal the most preferred merchant account.

I hope this helps.

Nikki
Content Writing 360°

If they are a real world firm they won't touch PayPal. This is standard across most of Europe. Some will but most won't.

Don't forget that PayPal's is a privately owned company. A lot of people barely trust the banks let alone private companies.

There is another legitimate reason. Large firms do everything through their financial departments. They pass any invoices along and they all get paid at the same time and in the same way. Maybe their financial department isn't set up for online payments and they don't want to change a working system.

PayPal seems natural to online marketers as it is a great solution for us. For offline businesses it isn't always a great solution and they don't want to know about it.

Really this isn't an issue. You've done their free trial so you shouldn't be doing any further work until after they pay you.

I can only think of like four reasons they might want to do this.

1. They want to try to use you as a gateway to test cards.
2. They want to use bad/stolen cards.
3. They want to charge back and don't want to hurt any big relationships, or get publicity.
4. They have a tie with some company they wish you to use.

I find that when words change, an odd word/context is used, or an odd request/statement is made, you often REGRET IT!!!!!!!!!!!

HERE, there is an odd context AND an odd request, so it just PEGS my BS meter!

Steve

BTW MY beef is that they asked for a merchant account. I don't deal with Google, and can understand the concerns with paypal.

Steve

thedog,
I'd be very careful. I've been around a long time. If, in today's market, a legitimate business won't or can't accept PayPal, I would be very cautious. It almost sounds like the ad you would see on a matchbook cover: Draw me and send to xxxxxxx for an appraisal of your drawing skills. Low and behold, you get an invitation in the mail because you are such an artist. Just sent $$$$ to xxxxxx. Good luck.
ric

In some of these writing scams you are over paid and asked to return the over payment. And they are using stolen cards etc.

Did you try Googling part of the emails they sent to you to see what pops up?

It really does sound fishy.

I don't really get why you're still asking. You have a split between those saying it is fishy and those saying it isn't.

Then you have me saying why not try it and see what happens.

Those are the only three options I can think of!

If you have to ask the question (scam or not) consider it a scam, move on.