How to get paid online

Lyndi of Nice2All had left question in my Skribit widget “As a South African I cannot use PayPal to receive funds. Any suggestions?” As she knows I am in exactly same situation (except South Africa part) and being excluded from main financial loop online is far from convenient.

So how do you get paid online if common methods fail?

Photo by tao_zhyn

Disclaimer

Some of methods covered here may be recipe for disaster, depending on your location. Do not try anything if you are not sure it is legal in your country and country you receive payments from. If you are not sure then go and consult someone who is.

White area

Simply put if something fails to work find alternative. Even if bulk of crowd does not bother with options beyond mainstream of PayPal and direct bank deposits – there is someone who does.

• Payment by check. Quite common option of mailing check that you have to turn into cash at local bank that provides such service. It is often worldwide option (or at least where mail and banks reach) but process can be very time-consuming (weeks, months).
• Western Union Quick Cash. Western Union mostly work with private non-commercial transfers but they have this option for businesses to send money to individuals (but not other businesses). Western Union has worldwide network (usually piggybacking on local banks) and transfers are fast (days).
• Electronic payments. Boom of electronic payment systems has long passed and PayPal is one of the very few survivors on global scale. Still in come countries there are quite successful local payment systems and businesses may have agreements with them. Quite fast and convenient but unfortunately rare.

Grey area

There are often ways to bend rules a little. These methods are (usually) perfectly legal and moral but still may get you in trouble with companies who consider themselves to have final say about your money they hold. There are considerably more ways to get in trouble with these so consulting professional is necessary.

• Using foreign accounts. If payment option is not available in your country then route it through country that is available. In case of PayPal that usually means finding foreign bank that is willing to open account for non-resident and provide debit/credit card for it.
• Using third party companies. These are usually local companies than turn virtual currencies or checks into cash and take their cut for that. Quality and legal side varies greatly from large established companies to simple scams. But it can be very convenient if you have an option of reputable company. Otherwise be careful to not lose your money by putting them in wrong hands.

Black area

Some methods are from really questionable to completely not legal. These go beyond foreign accounts and into whole virtual identities.

I will not list options here because at this stage it would require way more effort and serious planning than I have experience about.

Just remember that if someone gets away with questionable methods that doesn’t mean you will.

Overall

While staying on safe side (good idea when money are involved) it is less about available payment methods and more about businesses that actually support those.

Make a list of payment options for you country and try to look up which of companies you want to work with who support these. Then go to alternative companies. And only then look for something that might exceed usual boundaries.

Do you make money online? What payment methods work for you?