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3 Reasons Why PayPal Sucks

It’s no secret I am not a fan of Paypal. I used them extensively during the first 4 years working online though until I finally said NO MORE! There’s a lot of issues accepting online payment with Paypal, here’s just a few of mine and what I DO suggest you use (and what I actually use every day in my online business now and to pay my entire virtual team!)

If you have clients pay you via Paypal…

1) It’s not particularly professional to send them an invoice from Paypal or request they pay you from Venmo or something to avoid fees…you are a real business, you need to look like $100/hr and not $10/hr if you want to be charging that. Your invoicing and payment acceptance needs to rival someone demanding $100/hr if you want to also demand just as much, right? Would someone charging $100/hr stick a little note on the bottom of their Paypal invoice “Please use the ‘sending money to friends and family’ option or Venmo to my email to avoid fees, thanks” NOPE. And neither should you.

2) Paypal wants you to use them and their shiz. So the money a client pays takes DAYS to hit them…then you have to manually login and push it to your bank account which takes another 3-5 BUSINESS days. That means I have to just REMEMBER to login to Paypal to push the money to my account, THEN it takes another week to hit my account??? Do you know how much this messes up my bills getting paid every month? “Oh I am getting paid this week, woohoo!” TWO WEEKS LATER because a client paid a few days later, it took 4 business days from there, and the weekends and holidays don’t count as business days. I’ve legit been broke before and logged into my Papal and had $1000+ sitting there. I have no access to it because now I have to push it to my bank account and it’s a Thursday so I won’t see it until earliest: Tuesday. IS THIS REAL LIFE? And NO I do not want a Paypal card, thank you very much. I want my money.

3) You are going to have to pay fees unless its a bank to bank wire transfer, that’s just how it goes. Whether you use Paypal or integrate with a credit card acceptance site (e.g. Stripe). Fees are part of running a business. So incorporate those into your hourly rates or packages and let it go. Stop asking clients to go some weird way to pay you so you can avoid a little charge. They have a ton of invoices to pay every month, you want your money quickly right? Then make it easy for them.

So what the heck should you do?

You need a proper invoicing & payment acceptance system. Seamless, low or zero fees you have to eat and goes directly into your account QUICKLY without you having to manually do stupid crap to move it along.

There are a few tools I think that offer this, but our favorite and the one I’ve used from the very beginning is:

Freshbooks. I truly believe it’s the best out there and here’s why:

You can set it up easily through them to not only track your hours but then pop those right into an invoice and send it to a client. Then the client can pay via the payment methods YOU choose. You set up and then select right from the invoice which payment methods you want to offer a client, once they pay it goes directly into your account.

They have 3 options, Paypal, Stripe, or Freshbooks Payments which is through WePay and offers bank transfer (no fees!) or credit card (lower fees!).

Here’s how I have mine setup:

I do not allow for Stripe anymore because the fees were more per transaction vs. just going through Freshbooks Payments. Plus Stripe took longer to hit my account. Freshbooks payments take about 2 days to hit my account. You heard that right. That’s RECORD time in online payment processing. And inside the US they offer ACH payments which mean seriously LOW COST bank to bank transfers saving tons of time and money.

I do not allow for Paypal payments now either unless a client directly requests it due to the delay and manually pushing I despise. But if a client requests it and you go through Freshbooks Paypal they offer a special program where you can set up your business so it’s only 0.50 per invoice paid from a client. YOU READ THAT RIGHT. There is no percentage, just 0.50 cents. You can ONLY get the 0.50 deal through specific applications like Freshbooks. Paypal does not offer it directly.

The best part is Freshbooks is it’s free ya’ll. I got it for you for freesies for 30 days HERE with no credit card required and I honestly used the free version for the first year or so of my VA business. Then once I had more clients I upleveled to their whopping $10/month plan. You save the $10 in fees alone!!! It’s SO WORTH IT!!! The $10/month level also connects to your business bank account so it can track all expenses right there in the app. And their customer service is incredible when you call an actual person in Canada picks up and helps you right then.

So stop being a slave to Paypal or other weird and unprofessional payment methods, there is no reason for it. Freshbooks is an incredible tool and the 0.50 per Paypal transaction will cover your $10/mo fee alone.

Meet Transferwise

Another emerging way to accept payments from your clients (especially international clients) is through a program called Transferwise. It is extremely easy and fast.

All your clients need to send you money is your email address and you can easily transfer the money straight into your bank account through your email as well. If you are paying people it’s a great option as well. The fees are tiny compared to what you are going to pay through other methods. Transferwise is great as well if you are paying in a different currency than the person is receiving. It shows you right away what the conversion is and how much money you are going to get. You really can’t go wrong accepting or sending payments through Transferwise.

If you sign up for Transferwise here, you can get a free transfer up to 500 POUNDS. Just sign up here!

PIN THIS!

Occasionally we recommend tools we actually use and as a thank you the company gives us a kickback for each purchase, this is called being an affiliate. We are proud to recommend Freshbooks because it’s helped my business so much! But know that anything beyond your free trial I will get a little thank you from the company. Thanks for understanding how we can finance all the free work online content for you!

2 thoughts on “”

  1. Carolyn
    September 23, 2018 at 4:19 pm

    Oh I needed this article!! I hate Paypal as well! With Freshbooks can you also send contracts and colllect client info in like 17 Hats ($35 a month. Eek! I dropped that real quick!) Thanks! Carolyn

    Reply
    1. estherminman
      September 25, 2018 at 5:27 am

      I am glad it was helpful! I think its important we remember that as the contractor WE get to tell clients how to pay us and not the other way around. Hello Sign is a great free contract signing tool (3 per month are free) or if you have to use Adobe design for other editing projects then their eSign software is fab too. Hope that helps, thanks for the comment!

      Reply

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๐•‹๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ๐•– ๐•’๐•ฃ๐•– ๐•’ ๐•ƒ๐•†๐•‹ ๐• ๐•— ๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•– ๐•”๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฃ๐•ค๐•–๐•ค ๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฅ ๐•ฅ๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ๐•–, ๐•“๐•ฆ๐•ฅ ๐•™๐• ๐•จ ๐••๐•  ๐•ช๐• ๐•ฆ ๐•œ๐•Ÿ๐• ๐•จ ๐•จ๐•™๐•š๐•”๐•™ ๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•– ๐•š๐•ค ๐•ฃ๐•š๐•˜๐•™๐•ฅ ๐•—๐• ๐•ฃ ๐•ช๐• ๐•ฆ?

I get this question ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ all ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ the ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ time.

And I know it can be confusing ๐Ÿ˜ซ to try and figure out which ones are the best for your needs and if theyโ€™ll do what they promise to do for you. ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿผ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿผ

This is why I'm throwing it back to an older podcast episode ๐ŸŽง filled with little nuggets ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ that will help you to decide.

I cover:

โšก How to determine if you will actually land jobs
๐Ÿค” Whether you'll start working in a few weeks or a few years
๐Ÿค‘ If the course is going to hold you accountable 

and more! ๐Ÿคฉ

๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ Click my picture on my profile to go to my stories for the link to this episode!

๐ŸŽง Or you can just search โ€œHelp Me Work Online, Estherโ€ on Spotify or Apple podcasts to tune in to 5 Important Questions to Help You Decide Whether to Invest in an Online Course!
๐‘ฐ๐’‡ ๐’š๐’๐’–'๐’“๐’† ๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’„๐’‚๐’'๐’• ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’Œ๐’† ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’Œ ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’‰๐’๐’Ž๐’† ๐’…๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž ๐’‚ ๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š, ๐Ÿ“ฃ ๐’‰๐’†๐’“๐’†'๐’” ๐’‚ ๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’•๐’๐’† ๐’”๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’š ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’† ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’…. ๐Ÿ“ฃ

These are โœจ 13 average salaries โœจ for 13 different jobs you could do TODAY! ๐Ÿ”ฅ

๐Ÿ“Œ Virtual Assistant: $39,617
๐Ÿ“Œ Business Development Manager: $71,968
๐Ÿ“Œ Copywriter: $50,570
๐Ÿ“Œ Curriculum Designer: $61,389
๐Ÿ“Œ Customer Support Specialist: $41,382
๐Ÿ“Œ Front-End Developer: $71,145
๐Ÿ“Œ Marketing Manager: $64,500
๐Ÿ“Œ Online ESL Teacher: $43,878
๐Ÿ“Œ Product Manager: $82,916
๐Ÿ“Œ Recruiter: $49,544
๐Ÿ“Œ Social Media Manager: $49,881
๐Ÿ“Œ Translator: $47,974
๐Ÿ“Œ Web Designer: $49,649

๐Ÿคฉ ...And these are only SOME of the jobs that are out there, guys!

There are so many opportunities for you to live your dream โ˜๏ธ๐ŸŒˆ and work from home. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป Sometimes it just takes a little investigation, ๐Ÿ•ต๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ but it's out there! ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

You can do this! ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿฅ‡๐Ÿ‘‘๐Ÿคฉ You CAN be successful. 

The skyโ€™s the limit! โ˜๏ธโ˜๏ธโ˜€๏ธโ˜€๏ธ

If you donโ€™t know where to start, my signature course, @_90dayva , has everything you need to get started as a Virtual Assistant. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿฝโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿง‘๐Ÿพโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐Ÿ“ฃ Doors open for enrollment on May 1st. ๐Ÿ“ฃ But if you join the waitlist, you can enroll early. ๐Ÿ˜‰ 

The link is in my bio. ๐Ÿ”—๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ
๐”…๐”ข๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ฐ๐”ฒ๐” ๐” ๐”ข๐”ฐ ๐”…๐”ข๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ฐ๐”ฒ๐” ๐” ๐”ข๐”ฐ๐”ฐ๐”ฃ๐”ฒ๐”ฉ ๐”ณ๐”ฆ๐”ฏ๐”ฑ๐”ฒ๐”ž๐”ฉ ๐”ž๐”ฐ๐”ฐ๐”ฆ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ž๐”ซ๐”ฑ ๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ณ๐”ฌ๐”ฉ๐”ณ๐”ข๐”ฐ ๐”ช๐”ฌ๐”ฏ๐”ข ๐”ฑ๐”ฅ๐”ž๐”ซ ๐”ง๐”ฒ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ ๐”ฅ๐”ž๐”ณ๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ค๐”ฌ๐”ฌ๐”ก ๐”ฅ๐”ฒ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ฉ๐”ข ๐”ž๐”ซ๐”ก ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ฏ๐”ฌ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ฐ๐”จ๐”ฆ๐”ฉ๐”ฉ ๐”ฐ๐”ข๐”ฑ. ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐Ÿ”ฅ You can step up your virtual assistant game by growing your network, โœจ getting organized, and ๐ŸŒˆ pushing your creativity with different free online tools... ๐Ÿ’ป  but the most helpful one is...

๐Ÿ’ฅ FACEBOOK GROUPS ๐Ÿ’ฅ

Facebook groups are a virtual assistantโ€™s lifeline. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

If you are seeking:

โœ”๏ธ Work
โœ”๏ธ Advice
โœ”๏ธ Fellow virtual assistants
โœ”๏ธ Skill trades

โ€ฆthereโ€™s a group for that. ๐Ÿ˜Œ

This powerful tool allows you to network with fellow virtual assistants and potential clients. ๐Ÿค

Did you know I have my own Facebook group with over 19,000 supportive and hustling virtual assistants? 

I share industry advice and post legit online jobs. You can check it out here ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿผ

๐Ÿ”— facebook.com/groups/virtualassistantinternship
๐‘ซ๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“ ๐’ˆ๐’†๐’• ๐’‚ ๐’ˆ๐’–๐’• ๐’‡๐’†๐’†๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’‚ ๐’‹๐’๐’ƒ ๐’๐’‡๐’‡๐’†๐’“ ๐’Š๐’” ๐’•๐’๐’ ๐’ˆ๐’๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’•๐’“๐’–๐’†? ๐Ÿ˜ณ

Internet scams are widespread and can be an easy trap for people looking for online jobs. ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell if someone is trying to scam you for your personal information. ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿค”

This is why I'm bringing back a fan-favorite podcast episode ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ๐ŸŽง about how to spot an online scam. ๐Ÿ•ต๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

I cover...

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ How to identify an online job scam
๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Jobs that aren't scams but you should still avoid
๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Real remote job boards that won't scam you

๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ Click my picture on my profile to go to my stories for the link to this episode!

๐ŸŽง Or you can just search โ€œHelp Me Work Online, Estherโ€ on Spotify or Apple podcasts to tune in to Watch Out! Spot an Online Job Scam From a Mile Away!
๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ก๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฅ? ๐Ÿก

What if when your husband deployed or your family had to PCS you weren't scrambling? โœˆ๏ธ

What if when your kids got sick you didn't have to stress? ๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘ง๐Ÿป๐Ÿง’๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿพ

When those tickets to the Bahamas went on sale you could just GO FOR IT? ๐Ÿ–๏ธโ˜€๏ธ๐Ÿ•ถ๏ธ

๐Ÿ“ฃ This stuff isn't impossible and it can happen to you. ๐Ÿ“ฃ 

A bunch of us have already been doing it for years. ๐Ÿ’ป  We work online and get paid by the hour or project. ๐Ÿ’ต  We set our own hours and do what we need to do when we want. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

In 90 Day VA, I teach you everything you need to know about starting your own business as a Virtual Assistant. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘จ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿฝโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐ŸŒŸ I believe that you can live your dream life if you want to! ๐ŸŒŸ

If you're worried that this could be scam or you're not sure if you could actually make this happen ๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Check out my free workshop and decide from there. 

Link is in my bio ๐Ÿ”—
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Copyright ยฉ2021 Esther M Inman โ€‹

Testimonials shown are real experiences from paying program members of 90 DAY VA. Their results are not typical and your experience will vary based upon your effort, education, business model, and market forces beyond our control. We make no earnings claims or return on investment claims, and you may not make your money back.