I have had a Paypal account for a long time, and I will be honest — this is my favorite way to pay and get paid. Plus, many of the work from home companies I come across are now paying with Paypal. This is especially true of the supplemental income opportunities.
I know that there are a lot of you who are very anti-Paypal or just would prefer direct deposit or a mailed check for the work you do from home, and that is totally fine. Please don’t take this post as me trying to pressure you into Paypal. I just want to share why I love my Paypal account and hopefully this will be a little informational for people who don’t have Paypal accounts and are curious about how it works. I have included some of the Paypal drawbacks, too, because nothing is without a few drawbacks.
Why I Love Paypal
Not much waiting. If I know what day I’m supposed to be paid and the money comes as promised on that day, it’s sitting right there in my Paypal account after they send it.
I can use the money right away via my Paypal debit card or online. No waiting for a mailed check, a bank to post funds from a check, or my direct deposit to show up on whatever is the next business day. Ugh.
I can transfer the money to my bank account very easily if I need it in there. Only takes a couple of days and a few clicks of the mouse.
If I need the cash in hand, I can use my wonderful Paypal debit card and run by the ATM to get it. It’s all just so instant! However, there are still going to be ATM fees when you withdraw money.
It’s also very easy to pay individual people online with Paypal. I know a lot of people virtually and if I need to pay them for something and they have Paypal, too, I can just send the money to them in a few clicks.
It’s just as easy to send money to family members. I set my husband up with his own Paypal. When he’s at work and needs a few extra bucks for whatever reason, I can transfer the money from my Paypal account to his instantly.
Paypal makes it SO easy to ask for money! If you need to be paid for a service you provided to someone else, you can just quickly create an invoice within Paypal and send it to them.
Many, many companies are now paying workers with Paypal and only Paypal. Another great reason to set up an account if you don’t have one.
Although I have yet to use it, Paypal now has a smartphone app so if you have any money in your Paypal account, you can use your phone to pay when you’re at a store that takes Paypal payments.
Paypal Drawbacks
Right now I cannot think of that many even though I know there are more than I’m going to list. Feel free to chime in below and let me know the other bad things about Paypal.
Sometimes people pay with the Paypal e-checks. This is even worse than waiting on a bank direct deposit because the e-check process can drag on for up to 4-5 days. I hate seeing that I’ve been paid with an e-check.
Sometimes when you get paid, there are Paypal fees that come out. These fees aren’t an issue when you’re sending money back and forth to family members or friends, but you’ll often see that they come out when you get paid by a company for work you’ve done online. However, they usually aren’t much. Still, it’s no fun to see any of your hard-earned money disappear. Note – not all companies deduct the fees from your earnings, but many do.
Paypal is available to people all over the globe, but there are still some countries where it’s not available. So even though many of the jobs and side gigs I list may say they are “open worldwide,” they really aren’t if Paypal is their only method of pay.
If You Set Up a Paypal Account …
Make sure you connect your Paypal to your bank account if you can. That way, you can easily transfer your Paypal earnings to your bank if that’s where you need the money to go. Remember that depending on your bank, it will probably take a few days to get there.
I would also highly recommend getting the Paypal debit card. You will probably see that as an option after you’ve signed up. This is the perfect way to get instant access to your money. You can use the card when you shop online or offline and at the ATM. I love my Paypal debit card! Don’t get this confused with the Paypal credit card — I believe they have a credit card offer, too, and this is not the one I’m talking about.
I’m trying to find online if there is a credit check involved when you ask for the Paypal debit card, but I’m not finding anything too concrete and unfortunately, I cannot remember if they did one on me when I applied a long time ago. But I’d recommend requesting one just to see what happens.
Want your own Paypal account?
You can go here to get started.