Making Money Online: Getting Paid via Paypal

In the first part of this blog post, I discussed Making Money Online: Getting paid by cheque and explained why you should avoid getting paid by cheque where and when possible. In this blog post, I will be highlighting another means of getting paid online: Paypal.

There are several forms of e-currencies. There are digital gold currencies like e-gold, e-bullion, pecunix, c-gold, Liberty Reserve, GoldMoney etc. There are also many others not backed by gold, that are usually referring to as ewallets. Popular ones include: PayPal, Moneybookers, Alertpay etc.

PayPal: This is the number one choice for most, in making payment online. And why not?
Currently, PayPal operates in 190 markets, and it manages over 164 million accounts. PayPal allows customers to send, receive, and hold funds in 17 currencies worldwide. These currencies are the U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Euro, Pound sterling, Japanese yen, Chinese renminbi, Czech Koruna, Danish krone, Hong Kong dollar, Hungarian forint, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian krone, Polish zloty, Singapore dollar, Swedish krona, and Swiss franc. PayPal operates locally in 14 countries. My point is, there is no other internet payment system with a wider global reach than PayPal.

Some merits of getting paid via Paypal:

  • global reach
  • multiple currencies
  • accepted by several merchants online
  • multiple withdrawal methods: bank account, visa cards, Paypal debit cards (US only), cheque.
  • receive money for free: some companies have special arrangements with Paypal that allows them to send payment to their members for free irrespective of whether the recipient’s Paypal account is Business, Premier or Personal.
  • high security: this is quite controversial but I consider Paypal very secure. Your money is safe with Paypal as they have several measures that trigger red-flags whenever fraud is suspected.

Some downsides of Paypal:

Websites that pay via Paypal:
Paypal frowns at HYIPs and MLMs. Despite that, it would be practically impossible to list all the web-based companies that pay via Paypal. However, I have listed a few below.

  • Publisher Ad networks: ValueClickMedia (formerly FastClick), Text-Link-Ads, ShoppingAds, Bidvertiser, Yahoo! Publisher Network (currently open to US residents only), Chikita eMalls, WidgetBucks, AdMob, etc. Minimal payouts vary from $10 to $50.
  • Forex trading: Many forex platforms allow Paypal deposits, but not PayPal withdrawals. The following allow PayPal withdrawals: OANDA FxTrade, GCI Financial.
  • Professional services: Are you a blogger? Web/Graphics Designer? Web Applications Programmer? Translator? Whatever you do, there are several websites like Elance.com, Maclance.com, Guru.com offer PayPal payouts.

The next blog post on this issue would discuss other online payment options. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts about Paypal.

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Oluniyi D. Ajao
Oluniyi D. Ajao is an Internet Entrepreneur and Tech Enthusiast based in South Africa. Follow him on twitter @niyyie for more tech updates.

33 Comments

  1. It’s really true if you want to do business online and you don’t have a paypal account, then you sure need to do a second thinking.

    For us NIgerians it’s been a very difficult task. But Your Paypal Account has been helping Nigerians open, fund and withdraw money from their paypal account.

    We hope that one day our reputation online will be good enough for paypal to allow us start doing business.

  2. hello friend
    i registered with richmail and i got $100 in my acount and there are only 2 means to redeem this cash.
    1 by paypal
    2 crdit card
    help

  3. hi,
    Quite nice,but the problem still is, what are the available alternatives.i’d luv 2 pick sm stuff online even now, genuinely, wat do i do.pls rply.thanks

  4. Hi. Someone left a comment about how you’ve been able to help people with their paypal withdrawals and funding.If that is the case pls could you e-mail me some details. Thanks.

  5. Hi,

    Excellent post.

    For me, I’ll stay away from Paypal since they don’t want Nigerians.

    Have you guys heard that the so called Nigerian Scams were perpetuated from the Middle East? A Nigerian dalies carried it few months ago. (You can contact me if you want details)

    Where still babies in the e-commerce industry and I believe that a time will come when Paypay will come to us.

  6. Any one with paypal problem may contact me, perhaps you may use my paypal account to get your money.However, this will be on agreed commission.

  7. Hello,
    does it mean it isn’t possible for Nigerians to carry out on-line biz successfully?If it is and one makes money,how does one redeem his money?
    Please do reply soon. Thanks

  8. Good afternoon Niyi,

    With compliment. This is a good job that actaully touched many areas for the newbies like me.

    please advice me,am interested in e-lecturing for students (flair for lecturing subject by subject) how do I go about it.

    I am working presently as a finace person but want this by the side.

    please reply urgently

    Sina

  9. I am happy a forum like this really exist… i will like to know if there is any means of making money online with a verified paypal account.

    Seriously expecting your reply,

    Regards

  10. Hello,
    I was recently approached by a gentleman in Nigeria that wants to use my Pay-pal account for deposits from his company and has offered me 10% of the total deposit with the remaining 90% to be sent to him via Western Union. Here is a copy of his e-mail to me.

    Hello,our website is still under construction,we sell gemstone,fabrics.we run a legit business,paypal has not extend there service to our country,so we need your service in receiving payment.Get back to us with a phone number with which we can easily reach you.And let us know if you are ready to work with us,you can start working as soon as possible.

    On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 4:48 PM, nelson smith wrote:

    Do you have a paypal account? This is a great job opportunity for you
    to work from home with your paypal account and make a good living with
    it.We are glad to offer you a job position at our company.I am Ernest
    Jones,CEO of ernestjones Jewelries Ltd,based in west Africa.We need

    someone to work for the company as our payment office. The average
    monthly income is about 4000.00 USD. This job takes only 1-2 hours per
    day. Presently with the amount of Orders we have, we cannot put them
    on hold for fear of loosing customers out rightly.Secondly we cannot

    accept paypal from our location,since paypal is the only way our
    clients want to pay us,we need you to work with for us as our
    representative to receive payment for us with your paypa account.About

    90 percent of our customers prefer to pay through paypal.

    YOUR TASK
    1. Receive payment from Customers with paypal,wait for it to clear.

    2. withdraw the Payment from your paypal account.
    3. Deduct 10% which will be your commission for the transaction.
    4. Forward the 90% balance after deduction of your commission to our
    branch office in west africa via western union money transfer.

    Please get back to us if you are interested in working with our company.

    Regards
    Nelson Smith.

    My question is: Is this a scam? And if not, is it possible for me to do business with him?
    Thank you,
    Tim McDaniel

    • Tim, ask yourself why would there be two different names Ernest
      Jones and nelson smith (which, by the way, are NOT Nigerian names)?

      This looks VERY SUSPICIOUS and even though the hidden motives are not apparent, I’ll bet that this guy wants to use you to collect payments from his victims. Being a scammer-gone-clean myself, I’d say: RUN WITH YOUR EIGHT LEGS!!!

    • Ok, I was going through old threads on PayPal and this one caught my eye.

      I would like to advice you that this is a 100% scam. You may make some money alright, but its possible that your “partners” will be sending money to you using hijacked PayPal accounts, or a forged e-check. The real owners of those accounts may not even be aware some money is being taken from their accounts. So, once you receive it, you are supposed to send the cash to “Nigerian” partners (most of this types of scams is actually carried out by Ukrainians) using Western Union, which if I may add leaves no paper trail. If the fake echeck is discovered, you will be forced to pay that amount, and your account may also be slapped with several chargebacks from account holders whose accounts had been hijacked. Ultimately, you may have the account limited or suspended and won’t access it or the money stashed there for 180 days.

      My advice, don’t touch that business proposition with a 10-foot pole, coz you might live to regret it. (I hope it’s not too late, seeing this was posted sometimes ago)

  11. HI, EVERY BODY HERE, PLS CAN ANYBODY PLEASE HELP ME OUT, AM LOOKING FOR GENUINE HYIP, THAT REALLY PAYING, HAVE BEEN SCAMMED FOR MORE THAN 350.000 NAIRA SO AM TIRED PLS, HELP ME OUT GOD WILL HEL U AS WELL.THANKS. I WILL TEACH ANY BODY WHO CAN HELP ME OUT ON HOW TO DESIGN WEBSITE, U CAN VISIT MY WEBSITE:www.yempetinternationalventures.page.tl .

  12. hey everyone,whats really puzzling me is that i havent heard a single person saying he got paid or made a transaction successfully via paypal. tried purchasing a laptop online,and when i was redirected to paypal,my account details where declined,now how am i supposed to trust that very site again? i have a pretty good feeling that this is another case of scam.

  13. Yes its very easy to make money online and get paid through PayPal,moreover pay-pal happened to be one one of the most secured online transaction,ok we can talk of liberty reserve,alert pay but to me i prefer liberty because in PayPal there’s a lot of restrictions,liberty restricted a lot of countries,mainly African countries,but liberty accept all country.

  14. WOW….This posts are to nice,very informative and educating.David was right.well i have tried so many times to have a paypal account from Nigeria after the first one i had was lost because paypal demanded for some documentations which i was not able to provide as the account was created for me by a friend who was in Belgium.

    I have created another paypal account with the help of a friend in Philipines,i have also decided not to check the account from Nigeria,all i need do is check reports and payment notifications in my paypal email address and inform my friend in philipines to withdraw the money from her paypal,take her own share and send me mine through any other legitimate and convenient means here in Nigeria.

    I have not started using that paypal account because am still waiting for my friend in philipines to verify the account before i start to use it.

    But for now,am seriously making and receiving payment through my ALERTPAY account.it has been going well for me because i run a money making program online that pay directly and instantly to my Alertpay account and i withdraw through it to my bank here.

    Uptil now the commission i made with click bank have not been paid to me because i must reach the specified amount for payout.

    Now i dont need to wait for clickbank or other affiliate cheques that stays 4 to 6 weeks to be received and will then wait for another weeks to be cashed.I get my cash instant to my alertpay and make withdrawals immediately to my bank here.it will stay for just few days(2-3days) to show up in my bank account here in Nigeria.

    I think its better for me this way pending when the almighty paypal will decide to accept Nigerians into their ecommerce world.

    I wish everybody here the best .

    Ifeanyi.

  15. Sorry friends,i forgot to add that my ALLERTPAY account is already configured or programed inside my website as everything is already setup for me.so the only thing i do is just to promote my website and any person you click on the payment button on the site sends the particular amount straight to my alertpay account and the product paid for is delivered instantly.

    I hope this help.

    Ifeanyi.

  16. Hey thank you for this blog!I am algerian and it always makes me happy to see successful africans :))
    Anyways,keep up the good job man!good luck!AFRICA<3

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