Linda,

I use PayPal for receiving payments from my distance students. The payments are deposited into a checking account I have set up for that purpose. In the beginning, and with TransferWise (another program I was wary of at first), I used an account I left very little money in. Like others, I have never had a problem, and like Marni said, the record comes in very handy.

Note that PayPal may charge a fee. For domestic transfers, they charge 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction. For overseas transactions, the fee is 3.9% plus 40 cents (or something close to that). There is also a "friend to friend" option, which carries no fee domestically. I don't know about overseas. Tell your friend to try to use the "friend to friend" option to save you lots of money on that less-than-5M transfer. 

Best,
Gretchen

Gretchen Halpert
Illustrator/educator
Scientific Illustration Distance Program


On Sat, Sep 22, 2018 at 11:58 AM Marni Fylling <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi Linda.
I've also been using Paypal for well over a decade, with no bad experience. I didn't care for the bank account access, either, so a few years ago I finally gave them information for a checking account I rarely use- and which only contains a couple hundred dollars. Nothing weird has happened. It makes money transfer very simple, and there are detailed records available on their site (nice when taxtime rolls around).

Good luck!
marni
From: SciArt-L Discussion List-for Natural Science Illustration- <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Emily S. Damstra <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2018 11:31:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [SCIART] Paypal thoughts
 
Linda,
So far, in the 13+ years I've been using PayPal, I haven't had any bad experiences with them. My understanding about why they need your bank info. is so you can transfer your $ from your PayPal acct to your checking account, OR so that you can use PayPal to pay for things from your bank account if you choose to (if they still do that).
---
Emily S. Damstra
natural science illustration
Guelph, Ontario
(519) 616-3654
[log in to unmask]
emilydamstra.com
@EmilyDamstra


On Sat, Sep 22, 2018 at 9:44 AM Linda Feltner <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
HI All:
I have an international friend who wants to reimburse me via paypal. (Yes, I totally trust this person) (and not $3M from a dodgy bank ;)

In the past, when Paypal started up, they wanted more access to my checking account than I was comfortable with (creepy, really). They wanted all sorts of info about that bank account and it discouraged me from using their service.  I wondered if anyone had good things to say about the way they do business now.
I use Paypal to pay to exhibitons, etc.  I also get client money deposited into my checking account, but not sure why Paypal wanted access to money in and out of my account. 

Any thoughts? Do you find them reliable and safe?
Thank you,
Linda
--
____________________________
Linda M. Feltner Artist LLC
P.O. Box 325, Hereford, AZ 85615
520.803.0538
www.lindafeltner.com

________________________________________________

Need to leave or subscribe to the Sciart-L listserv? Follow the instructions at
http://www.gnsi.org/resources/reviews/gnsi-sciart-l-listserv

________________________________________________

Need to leave or subscribe to the Sciart-L listserv? Follow the instructions at
http://www.gnsi.org/resources/reviews/gnsi-sciart-l-listserv

________________________________________________

Need to leave or subscribe to the Sciart-L listserv? Follow the instructions at
http://www.gnsi.org/resources/reviews/gnsi-sciart-l-listserv

________________________________________________

Need to leave or subscribe to the Sciart-L listserv? Follow the instructions at
http://www.gnsi.org/resources/reviews/gnsi-sciart-l-listserv