Anyone using Paypal invoices? If so, how do you like it?

Question

Is anyone currently using Paypal invoices as a way of invoicing and collecting credit card payments from tenants?

I know there have been other threads regarding other payment methods but wondering if anyone has recent experience with paypal invoicing and if so, how quickly the transaction is processed.  Any issues with the service?

Adrian G. · Answer

Paypal does not allow payments for any type of real estate, rents, land sales (what I do) and etc. They LOVE to freeze accounts and hold funds for up to 6 months.. Dont do it to yourself.

Page Huyette · Answer

Another option for using Paypal is to use Freshbooks,com for your accounting, which allows people to pay via Paypal but only charges a .50 transaction fee, bypassing the entire Paypal percentage fee.

Justin Wilcox · Answer

I have recently been using VENMO which is a break off of Paypal. I like it because renters can pay rent with their credit card if they don't have the cash. The bigger issue is, make sure that you deposit all funds into your bank account so you can verify funds for whatever you do in the future.

There is no fee as long as they use their debit card/bank account. I have yet to have any funds freeze myself. You cannot transfer more than $3000 a week though.

Paul Granneman · Answer

@david niles, I have the reader and a square-up account but cannot process any payments because I do not live in the US.  Pretty much every transaction is tied to your IP address being in the US.  I have tried VPN tunnels and other tech solutions, but it does not work for me.

Marta Creighton · Answer

For my Online Invoicing, im using fetchflow.com. Its a great invoice payment software. I can create Invoice templates, set invoice due dates, invoice follow ups, track all my expenses and finally get Paid from all my clients!!Billgrid is very easy to use and professional and secure, I just added all my clients and billgrid does all the invoice payment follow ups for me. simply signup http://www.fetchflow.com/Signup/PayPal .It's easy, simple and free.No time trial, no limitations, no pro version, no credit card.

William Bannister · Answer

Wow, sounds like I have some exploring to do on the matter of Freshbooks! Thanks Page. I use Paypal on smaller land deals Im doing outta state that I hustle on eBay. I have been buying land via tax deed and when I auction them on ebay I just use pay pal. there are a lotta fees with eBay and Pay Pal  especially when its only a 1000 dollar transaction.
   PS: One thing I like about these pay sites they sure do reduce my buyers trying to send me checks from Nigeria;)

Carlos Flores · Answer

Scott Graves Maybe you want something like erentpayment.com.  Read their FAQ to see if it's a fit.

Page Huyette · Answer

Scott,  I honestly don't use Freshbooks anymore, but not because I didn't like it.  I had an accountant that worked for me and preferred Quickbooks so I went back to that.  But I have several colleagues that do all of their invoicing through Freshbooks and swear by it.  Especially the .50 fee if you use it a lot.  Didn't know about them not liking real estate transactions.

Another option, which is a little more complicated but allows you to use a bunch of payment gateways, is to purchase a reseller hosting account through someone like Hostgator (my current favorite).  This is the type of account that allows you to host multiple sites (your own or other peoples site if you want to host others and charge for it)  BUT, even if you only host your own site, it comes with WHMCS which is an online system that allows you to set up shopping carts, send invoices and track payments for clients through your website.  You then choose the ways you want them to pay (Paypal, Google checkout, bank merchant account,offline payments, etc.) and all transactions are tracked on your personal account.

Probably a bit more than you need, but starter reseller accounts are about $25/month---subtract whatever you pay for your site hosting (should be about $5 a month) and it's probably the same you'd pay for Freshbooks with more capabilities.

John K. · Answer

Page Huyette  - even if you used Freshbooks you still pay all Paypal fees above and beyond, that would just be a Freshbooks fee.

If you really want to take credit cards - using Freshbooks is a GREAT idea, since it works really well and if you had a few old school tenants and wanted to mail invoices to them they handle the mail as well.

The best way to take credit cards with freshbooks is to use authorize.net and get a real merchant account.  That way you could get rates as low as 2.5ish percent, or better if you have a high volume of transactions.

Also, with a real merchant account through a big institution (like Chase), they deposit funds next day so if you received $1000 credit card payment from tenant on the 1st, they deposit $1000 in your account on the 2nd.  Then on the 1st of the next month they would debit your checking account for all fees (ex:  $25 on $1000 at 2.5%).  They have minimum fees, etc so if you are only running one card/month not worth it - but with volume tenants will pay faster so the trade off is for $25 you could potentially get paid quicker by a lot of tenants and spend less time trying to hassle them for rent money.

Anyone using Paypal invoices? If so, how do you like it?

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