# Don't want people to know my real name, how do I get paid for commissions?



## skreltch (Jul 14, 2019)

If you sign up for a personal account on paypal, it tells everyone who you interact with your real, legal name that you signed up with. The only way to hide your name is to use a business account, which requires you to have an actual incorporated business, and also costs more. I could sign up with a fake name, but I worry that they could freeze my account at any time and ask for details for my identity. How have other people solved this problem?


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## Asher Grey (Jul 14, 2019)

Make a second account with a different email?


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## skreltch (Jul 14, 2019)

Asher Grey said:


> Make a second account with a different email?


Yes, but if I use a fake name I am in danger of losing my account and all my $$$ in it permanently if they ask me to prove my identity


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## Asher Grey (Jul 15, 2019)

skreltch said:


> Yes, but if I use a fake name I am in danger of losing my account and all my $$$ in it permanently if they ask me to prove my identity


Honestly considering it's paypal, there's a lot of reasons your account can get closed. At some point you just learn to not let money sit around in it


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## SLCMedia (Jul 16, 2019)

Paypal business accounts don't cost anything to start (or at least are no more expensive than personal accounts), nor do they require you to actually be properly registered as a business. Give the business account a try.


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## Jarren (Jul 16, 2019)

I'm running a business account, don't need to actually be incorporated. I was running a spoofed account for a while but then they required verification and shut it down. Lost $11 to the PayPal demons :c

But yeah, a business account is the way to go and it doesn't cost you much at all, just a tiny cut from business transactions.


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## MadXStitcher (Jul 16, 2019)

I run into this with other aspects of my work life.  I have a DBA (Doing Business As) and a PayPal business account.  In the extremely rare case that something happens, and personal information from my PayPal gets out, it's set up under the DBA.

I also use a PO Box under the same DBA.  Less relevant if you're not sending out any physical goods, but if you're sending out badges or anything physical, someone can find your name and other info with your address if they're determined enough.  With the PO Box, they'd pretty much have to get private info from the system to get my name, but just in case something unexpected happens, the DBA is there.  Otherwise, all they get is that it's a UPS Store.

The PayPal fees are really negligible, and nothing's stopping you from incorporating fees into your pricing model.  Fees are a business expense, so if that means increasing your prices by a couple bucks and treating that increase as money that isn't yours to begin with, you'll never even notice it nickel and diming you.


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## F.lee_art (Jul 18, 2019)

Don't use PayPal, square is a better alternative and doesn't penalize it's users for dumb stuff.


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## MadXStitcher (Jul 18, 2019)

I disagree on Square, hard.  Their online marketplace is terrible, and their policies can actually discourage buyers.  I bailed on them a few years ago when they made a change that made certain types of businesses unmanageable, and their response was basically, "You're not important enough for us to care."

If you don't have a brick and mortar, Square would really rather you not do business with them.


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