Alternatives to Paypal Earning Payments Now Required

[369]

For those who are not yet aware of the biggest online news story right now, Paypal have been forced to U-turn on a policy to fine their users $2,500 if they have been judged to post any 'mis-information' online... judged by Paypal, that is. For obvious reasons, people started closing their Paypal accounts in droves... and still are, despite the company saying it was 'a mistake'.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/delete-paypal-searches-spike-after-2-500-misinformation-fine-contr...

The fact is that they do want to implement that policy, and that shows them to not be a 'real' bank, but instead a politically motivated company that their customers simply cannot trust to hold their money. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. Paypal have now laid their cards on the table.

The $2,500 fine fiasco follows the closing of the UK's 'Free Speech Union' account without explanation.
https://a2zfacts.net/articles/paypal-closes-account-of-uks-free-speech-union-without-explanation/

No 'real' bank would be allowed to do this unless an actual crime had been committed in the country where the account holder was based. That was not the case. Again, this was politically motivated by what 'Paypal believes' is or isn't free speech. And again, no 'real' bank would be allowed to do this.

I decided a few months ago to delete Paypal from my life completely because I was expecting something like the above to occur, and I firmly believe not only in the ideal of free speech, which has always been at the very core of democracy, but also because I want to know my money is in safe hands, and fully protected by the law of the land. That's what a 'real' bank offers.

I believe that Zazzle has a responsibility to its creators to at least provide alternatives to online payment of earnings, when the one company that we are forced to adopt has begun closing some of its users' accounts, without any explanation, and has shown that it intends to adopt - at some point in the future - a fining policy of thousands of dollars for anyone 'it decides' has breached its own 'misinformation' rules.

Zazzle currently offers an alternative of payment by check, but if the company wants to present itself as a global and forward thinking company, other online payment options are surely the only realistic policy to put in place.

Currently, there is a significant backlash against Paypal and the term #BoycottPaypal is trending fast. What if Paypal were to collapse at some point in the future, or not be able to operate, for any reason? What if it now becomes the main target of hacking and is regularly offline? Who knows what the future will bring. The only sensible action is to cover your bases.

Without an alternative payment option in place, Zazzle can only rely on Paypal, for better or for worse. Surely, Zazzle can easily offer alternative methods of earnings payments. After all, the company offers the usual banking alternatives for customer payments. This also raises the obvious question of why Zazzle can't simply pay my earnings into a 'real' bank account? However, if online payment systems are the only realistic option for Zazzle, then alternative options are the only true way to guarantee financial security going forward, for both Zazzle and creators! Having all your eggs in one basket is simply not a wise or realistic way to operate a global business.

I believe Zazzle should look at this urgently.

What do you think?

Until Zazzle provide this basic provision to its creators, I am forced to look at the check payment alternative. Does anyone have any experience of this? How long will I have to wait for a check to arrive at a UK address each month?

[Barbara]

There have been other problems with PayPal that go back a long way. I remember a time when people were locked out of their accounts on the word of some disenchanted customer, and the account holder had to fight tooth and nail to get access to their own money.

When it comes to banking ethics, consider what happened to truckers and their supporters during the protests in Canada. If you think about this, you can see that an awful lot depends on a country's politicians. So, is there a good alternative? I've heard of a few, but at this point, I can't seem to remember which ones.

Regardless of PayPal's behavior, it would be good thing if Zazzle could find an alternative or two for those who prefer other solutions.

Colorwash's Home

[CrazyMermaid]

Zazzlers have been requesting Direct Deposit for years. The check alternative isn't great, but it is better than nothing. I do realize this doesn't work for many international Zazzlers though. It is scary to think that a person could lose their income at the whim of a corporation. 

[369]

I quite agree about what you say regarding the Canada issue. I'm trying to keep this as 'non-political' as I can, simply because it can complicate an issue, which is above all about people's 'financial security'. The bottom line is that Paypal is NOT a bank, and have now proven themselves to be a financial security risk to those who are forced to use them. As you rightly say, Zazzle should really be using a 'legitimate' banking organisation and system for transfer of earnings, ideally CHAPS, BACS, SWIFT transfers direct a 'real' bank account, but otherwise at least be offering a number of options similar to Paypal until they can provide a fully secure transfer service.

[369]

I get the strong impression that I am far from alone in my concerns. It would be interesting to know if Zazzle management have ever offered any good reason for only using Paypal and not offering direct transfers via a legitimate banking organisation. If they are simply staying silent on the issue, I guess that this thread may be an ideal way of changing that position once and for all. Let's just see how many creators will add their comments over the next few days and weeks. If enough people want something, it tends to happen. Paypal's very quick U-Turn on their £2,500 arbitary 'misinformation' fining policy, along with the dramatic boycotting of Paypal by so many, illustrates just how incredibly 'people power' can work. Come on Zazzle, sort it out hey? This is a financial security issue, not just for creators, but potentially for Zazzle too.

[Barbara]

The most interesting part is that, upon rescinding the policy, PayPal claimed the policy wasn't intentional and shouldn't have been included. So, they "unintentionally" included a very clearly written policy? Say what? LOL

@369  Sadly, PayPal's decision to make a policy change was based on the company's politics. However, I agree with you. We don't need a lot of angry members. What we need is a little more choice in payment methods.

Colorwash's Home

[369]

Hmmmm, interesting. It seems that within just 24 hours of this thread being launched, Zazzle has decided to remove the capacity to KUDOS any comments, and has also removed the thread from the main page, meaning that the only people who know it exists are those who have already visited this page.

It seems as though we have really hit a nerve here interesting!

Nobody from Zazzle has even made a comment on this page before taking this extreme action, so we are left in the blind as to their reasoning. If we are not able to discuss such things, and Zazzle are able to conceal discussions that broach issues relating to the financial security of its creators, what is the point in the forums? A cynical person might say that the Paypal censorship virus appears to have already become a pandemic.

I will wait 24 hours to see if anyone above has noticed this bizarre action and wishes to comment.

[Windy]

@369This topic is posted in the Ideas and Suggestions area of the forums.  If you will check other topics in the same area, for example, https://community.zazzle.com/t5/ideas-suggestions/children-s-leggings/idi-p/42047 you will see that comments in any thread posted in the Ideas and Suggestions area of the forum are not Kudo-able. It's a feature of the Ideas and Suggestions part of the forum. 

None of the threads remain on the main page. Each thread is bumped down by a new topic. Popular topics do not stay at, or rise to the top. That's just how the forum works. New is seen by current readers. Old topics are not seen by anyone popping in for a quick read (except for us forum rats who scroll down and read every post to be sure we are missing nothing.) https://community.zazzle.com/t5/custom/page/page-id/Explore

I see no bizarre action with regard to this thread.

[AirTwin]

This is really bad.

I put in a request to transfer my money out of Paypal before this news came out ...they won't transfer it out, they keep delaying it everyday.

I made a payout request here last month to get the amount I had here out and now that is going to get stuck in Paypal too.

We asked for alternatives before this happened, other bad stuff has happened with Paypal before, we were not taken seriously here at Zazzle - it's disappointing.

@Windy Yeah, I had posted in some of those old topics, and we were not treated with the respect deserved. Now we have this happening. I hope no one else gets their money stuck there at Paypal.

[Barbara]

@AirTwin  I've always tried to keep my balance at PayPal low because of things they did in the past, but whenever I've requested a transfer to my bank, there's been little to no delay. Are you trying to transfer your money to another online service, not a bank?

One thing I've always noticed with Zazzle is that they're extremely slow about changing the way a person's funds are handled, so I'm not sure you're seeing anything new.

Colorwash's Home

[369]

@Windy  Thanks for the clarification. On that basis, I obviously withdraw my last statement.

I guess it makes sense then, that anyone who agrees that this issue is important, and believes that it needs to be noticed by other members and by Zazzle management, simply need to add KUDOS to the original post at the top of the page. From what you say, if enough people do that it will soon become the number one post on the forum, and maybe that will spur Zazzle into action.

I certainly sense that if something is not done about this Paypal issue now, it will come back to haunt us in the very near future!