Alternatives to Paypal.

I figured I'd share these with folks on here

Dwolla.com www.Dwolla.com almost identical to Paypal. They only serve United States right now and you have to have a Dwolla account to receive payments. However, well worth it as there is only .25 charge to the receiver of the payment as a fee for receiving payments,the sender incurs nothing. You can receive and send payments using your email address or a special phone like number they provide.
They also offer payment disputes incase you have to go that route. In addition,they do not outsource their phone support to foreign countries so you speak to someone in the states if thats something that will give you an ease of mind. I know its less complex for me when you have clarity in communication. I have an account with them, and the simplicity of their site and service is same as Paypal.

Serve.com www.Serve.com from American Express. Comes with a tangible card which you can obtain. Linked to your checking account. You can receive payments from other Serve users and virtually pay anywhere Amex is taken only the amount you have available.Comes with a smartphone app. Unlike Paypal or Dwolla the purchase protection applies to business only. Great if you're worried about purchasing something from a new or non reputable company online and don't want use main credit card info for the fear of having unknown charges appear on there. Not saying it can't happen but this may be an extra buffer of protection.

Amazon Payments >> https://payments.amazo​n.com/sdui/sdui/person​al/money
The service allows you to attach a bank account to your Amazon Payments login and, like with PayPal, you can send funds to someone at their e-mail address or phone number. The recipient must create an Amazon Payments account. There’s no charge for the service. So no fees on your end.

Chase Quickpay is also another option for those that have a Chase bank account - www.chase.com/online/s​ervices/quickpay.htm

These are not for everyone but if you are not content with Paypal and want alternate options then look into these services. Visit their websites for more details.

Great write-up! Nice to know there are valuable alternatives!

Even when Serve was offering $20 just to create a free account nobody used it. Now that it's part of AMEX many including myself would never touch it. I don't know of many online payment processing services that accept or want anything to do with Amex. Not to say Amex is not great for extremely wealthy folks who want to charge a new Mercedes or very exotic toys.

Dwolla seems even more risky then Paypal to me as it's not even 1/100th the size of Paypal. They also have a history of doing the exact same thing Paypal does (reverse the charge) where there is potential fraud involved. In fact all of these services will freeze your account if buyers claim you ripped them off. The law says payment services must protect consumers and these payment services are virtually worthless if buyers don't feel safe enough to use them.

Amazon takes almost a week to get your money out unless you spend it on their site. With Paypal you can spend that money instantly with various merchants and other users or by using the Paypal debit card. It's not a bad service but not quite as convenient for everyone and limited to those who have Amazon accounts. I would say out of all the services mentioned i'd definitely consider Amazon as a true Paypal alternative.

ISO whats wrong with AMEX? I was thinking of getting a card with them (costco). As far as payment goes it seems like there isn't anything tailored to the personal seller. If I were selling stuff at a garage sale and you gave me cash the deal is done. You looked at it and decided it was worth the risk. If I wanted to sell some stuff on forums, post the items with pictures and give my feedback, that should cover my rep.

What I worry about is buy and try or buyers remorse. Someone buys something and decides they don't want it or found a better deal then tries to return it via dispute like i'm a store. Is there no company out there to protect the personal seller?

coolshot wrote in post #15036871
...I was thinking of getting a card with them (costco).

Don't care about Amex online payment but their Costco card is awesome...you get 3% for gas and 2% for groceries/travel and dine-out...others are 1%...plus with premium membership, you get 1%back from costco from the stuffs you buy at Costco...

I've been using google checkout and have very good success with all transactions thru them. I for one will never go back to using PayPal ever again.

I've been using Amazon Payment here in this forum, simple and easy. Everyone I know has an amazon account so it only takes couple seconds to activate your account and then Voila!!!

I don't like Paypal and how much money they are taking, even we you send gift now, you still get charged fees....

isoMorphic wrote in post #15036666
Even when Serve was offering $20 just to create a free account nobody used it. Now that it's part of AMEX many including myself would never touch it. I don't know of many online payment processing services that accept or want anything to do with Amex. Not to say Amex is not great for extremely wealthy folks who want to charge a new Mercedes or very exotic toys.

Dwolla seems even more risky then Paypal to me as it's not even 1/100th the size of Paypal. They also have a history of doing the exact same thing Paypal does (reverse the charge) where there is potential fraud involved. In fact all of these services will freeze your account if buyers claim you ripped them off. The law says payment services must protect consumers and these payment services are virtually worthless if buyers don't feel safe enough to use them.

Amazon takes almost a week to get your money out unless you spend it on their site. With Paypal you can spend that money instantly with various merchants and other users or by using the Paypal debit card. It's not a bad service but not quite as convenient for everyone and limited to those who have Amazon accounts. I would say out of all the services mentioned i'd definitely consider Amazon as a true Paypal alternative.

Wow! As an extemely wealthy Amex member since 1983, I guess I'd better go out and charge my Benz and buy, oh, maybe an albino tiger or something.

How about albino tiger inside a Benz with a sexy blonde European model next to it? Take pics Runninman,I want to see that.

By the way, I did fail to mention was that when opening up an account with Dwolla,
they want your social security to complete account setup or else the account will not be open. Security precaution on their end ? I was a bit concerned about that, but according to the rep from their company the patriot act requires verification of all online identities when dealing with financial institutions.
I do not recall if Paypal asked me to do that when I was opening up an account with them in 2004 but with Dwolla that's a requirement. They do verify your identity right away as per my credit monitoring system received an alert that someone did check who I was. I know amazon did not ask for a social and I doubt Serve will. Chase will however.

I use Amazon payments, got an email yesterday they're sliding $1700 and change my way. For other sales I accept US Postal Money Orders.

coolshot wrote in post #15036871
ISO whats wrong with AMEX?

Is there no company out there to protect the personal seller?

Expensive for merchants (small business not Walmart and Costco) and restrictive as hell when it comes to high risk processing which is anything that does not require a physical signature. You will find more online merchants take Discover and even that is no where near as widely accepted as Visa and Mastercard. Amex is GREAT for card holders who can afford that type of service which is not like a traditional card and has lots of benefits for buyers. There is no service that can protect sellers 100% however because laws have been crafted to protect consumers to the highest degree.

I also happen to get 1.5% for every purchase with my Paypal debit card. It's my money sitting in my bank so i'm not digging myself in debt and have no need to worry about interest fees. While many other cards pay more on some things they also carry an interest fee if not paid in full each month. So while many believe they are saving by purchasing items with credit the tiny rewards tend to get eaten up by interest and other fees.

Love my Amex, it's linked to my Amazon account so I can use the points earned on it on Amazon purchases. Nope, I'm not super wealthy so it's a great card to have as it keeps me in check. As for being concerned about interest charges just play the credit card flip. Every year or so I just get a new one and transfer all my other balances to another 12/18/whatever month 0% interest plan.

Now the credit card flip is not from Amex is it ? I recall they only have two cards that gave options to keep the balance spread out over multiple months and that was the amex blue and the citi amex.

Amex does allow time payments for certain types of purchase. However the interest rate to do so is large - probably more than 15%.

Back in the day of no transfer fee, interest free card deals, I used to make large purchases on my Amex and then transfer the balance to one of those many offers. That way, i was able to get my Rewards points and an interest-free loan.

Once the transfer fees went up to 4 or 5% of the transferred balance, this wasn't as attractive. I notice that recent mailings for these offers have a 2% fee, so while they are more attractive, they still aren't zero cost.

Eiro wrote in post #15044161
Now the credit card flip is not from Amex is it ? I recall they only have two cards that gave options to keep the balance spread out over multiple months and that was the amex blue and the citi amex.

Nope not my Amex, just the regular cards. I just flipped about 5K to the new one and purchases are also at 0% for the first 18 months so by the time that one runs out if I haven't paid it off(no reason why it shouldn't be) I'll flip it to another. As far as the transfer fee I think it's nominal compared to having to pay interest on +5K.