# Paypal as a means of payment:



## Sanat (Mar 20, 2013)

So, I've been a Paypal user for who know's how long at this point. I've always taken commissions on it, but recently I went into more depth with the TOS (and from reading about Paypal on the A_B community), and saw that you can't receive money for adult/sexual products or work.
I've never done a NSFW/adult commission before, but I see a  lot of people on here who have.

How exactly are you able to do that without having your account frozen?  What happens if a chargeback happens and you were found to have done adult artwork in exchange for money?

Seems like a huge risk I wouldn't want to take with my Paypal account. Anyone have any input on this?


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## BRN (Mar 20, 2013)

It's pretty simple, really.

Remember, Paypal is a massive system, processing millions of payments per day. It has no way of detecting who is paying who for what service; so long as you avoid mentioning what you're purchasing, it's impossible for Paypal to know what you're doing.

This is still true if a chargeback occurs - unless you or your client volunteer the information, Paypal simply *can't* find out.

If you want assurance, I've commissioned a few dozen adult pictures through Paypal over the last couple of years, and there has still been absolutely no disciplinary response to any of my accounts.


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## Taralack (Mar 20, 2013)

Basically what SIX said. They're such a large company that they have much bigger issues to deal with than freezing some small time artist's account over accepting adult commissions.

As long as your client refrains from mentioning that they're paying for their murry purry double penetration sex pic in the payment's message then you're fine. In general I find that people seldom even put a note or their usernames in the subject or message of Paypal payments, I've had to include a clause in my TOS to "include your username so I know who it's from".


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## Sanat (Mar 20, 2013)

Toraneko said:


> Basically what SIX said. They're such a large company that they have much bigger issues to deal with than freezing some small time artist's account over accepting adult commissions.
> 
> As long as your client refrains from mentioning that they're paying for their murry purry double penetration sex pic in the payment's message then you're fine. In general I find that people seldom even put a note or their usernames in the subject or message of Paypal payments, I've had to include a clause in my TOS to "include your username so I know who it's from".



Ahh, that is a good idea. I've started using invoices (so that people aren't tempted to write whatever when they send me something, and also to avoid having something sent as a gift). Seems like a good way to confirm who the item's being sent to. But good that you haven't had any problems thus far!

I was just curious because I saw a pretty popular dA artist finally get shut down for accepting payments for porn. Guess she got the permaban for it!


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## Sanat (Mar 20, 2013)

SIX said:


> It's pretty simple, really.
> 
> Remember, Paypal is a massive system, processing millions of payments per day. It has no way of detecting who is paying who for what service; so long as you avoid mentioning what you're purchasing, it's impossible for Paypal to know what you're doing.
> 
> ...



I'm thinking as well that if a chargeback were to happen, the client could also have their account compromised if it was found they were paying for adult work. 
I've briefly entertained the idea, but I'm still way too nervous about getting my account shut down over it, haha. But you said you haven't had a disciplinary response; no warnings or anything either?


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## BRN (Mar 20, 2013)

Sanat said:


> I'm thinking as well that if a chargeback were to happen, the client could also have their account compromised if it was found they were paying for adult work.
> I've briefly entertained the idea, but I'm still way too nervous about getting my account shut down over it, haha. But you said you haven't had a disciplinary response; no warnings or anything either?




Genuinely nothing. Remember, from Paypal's perspective, there's nothing special about any particular transaction. The only information they can find out about it is what you, or the consumer, volunteer yourselves.

Because of that, unless you tell Paypal what it is you're buying, it remains impossible for them to know. It's a good idea to use invoices if you want to avoid the risk of your client saying anything, but in general, us clients don't want to volunteer the information either.


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## Teal (Mar 20, 2013)

Hey OP here's more on the subject. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6903907/







I'm sorry Toraneko, I forgot, I just wanted to help the OP.


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## Taralack (Mar 20, 2013)

Teal said:


> Hey OP here's more on the subject. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6903907/
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You're good, mate. That would have been the next thing I'd link.


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## Zydala (Mar 30, 2013)

Kagisnad said:


> I doubt there is a better alternative anyway.
> I've my own concern on the subject- I've heard of artists being scammed out of a commission by the commissioner who, after sending the money, called back a refund and left the artist with nothing in their Paypal? How can that be avoided? [Other than the obvious don't do business with suspicious peeps]



Dispute the chargeback with paypal and give all the evidence you have that you did the work they asked for. that's basically all you can do.


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## Arshes Nei (Mar 30, 2013)

That might be difficult for some if they worked on items that violated Paypal's rules. So you take that risk.


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## Taralack (Mar 30, 2013)

Kagisnad said:


> I doubt there is a better alternative anyway.
> I've my own concern on the subject- I've heard of artists being scammed out of a commission by the commissioner who, after sending the money, called back a refund and left the artist with nothing in their Paypal? How can that be avoided? [Other than the obvious don't do business with suspicious peeps]


I've never actually heard of people doing that. I doubt most people are malicious enough to do that, and at any rate as an artist you should always check Artist Beware to see if a customer has the potential to give you trouble.


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