THIS NEEDS A HELLA SIGNAL BOOST – PLEASE SPREAD THIS UP
EVERYONE needs to start using Invoices. This is very important.
Paypal has recently updated their TOS and it’s something that everyone should pay attention to.
“10.3h If you violate the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, … you will be liable to PayPal for the amount of PayPal’s damages caused by your violation … You acknowledge and agree that $2,500.00 USD per violation … is presently a reasonable minimum estimate of PayPal’s actual damages … PayPal may deduct such damages directly from any existing Balance in the offending Account or any other Account you control.”
DO NOT SEND PAYMENTS AS “GIFTS” You will be risking your commissioners account and that is really really bad.
Artists, REQUEST PAYMENT THROUGH INVOICES. It lets YOU control how money is sent.
Commissioners, DO NOT SEND PAYMENT unless you send it through “for goods and services.” If your artist requests ‘send as gifts’ BEFORE you send payment, tell them about the $2,500 fine per violation, as they probably do not know about it.
Yes, paypal fees suck, but it’s better to have a few dollars missing than to get fined $2,500 for a $20 purchase.
This is really important! And yeah the fees suck, but it’s actually ILLEGAL to select “gifts” if you are actually paying for a service because of tax, like wise it is always illegal to accept payment that way.
Please if you are a freelance artist taking commissions ALWAYS SEND AN INVOICE! It can cover your ass in more ways than one, and you know actually makes it easier to keep track of things anyway.
Signal boost- more than half of you who get art supplies from me take commissions, and you need to know.
“Use Invoices” is good advice, but please don’t forget to mark your invoices as complete after you’ve delivered your art/goods!!!
This is the equivalent of having your customers uncheck shipping options if they send you money for Goods and Services!!!
1. Click on an invoice
2. Click “View details”
3. On the next page, scroll down and click “Edit Tracking Info”
4. Mark the order as processed, and add a note that the goods were DIGITAL, and did not require shipping
5. Hit Save, and you’re done! You can now archive the invoice if you like, so that your invoice lsit doesn’t get super cluttered 🙂
This is super important. Paypal used to charge a fee for EVERY transaction, even if it wasn’t goods/services related. They changed this to allow you to send money to friends and family for free, but please don’t abuse it! ALWAYS pay the fee for goods/services.
If you’re commissioning someone, consider giving a little extra to cover the paypal fees or opt to pay the fee for them.
Artists, don’t request people send you money through illegal channels. Paypal is a service that makes it much easier to send/receive money, but they have to cover their overhead, too.
