Today I shall say why PayPal and Skrill (Moneybookers) are my preferred freelance payment methods and will share a few tips and tricks why have both active and how to get the most out of them.
If you are interested in PayPal and Skrill as freelance payments methods in general though, keep on reading!
First of all, let me say I am using an account in an Eastern European Bank.
This matters as freelance job boards like oDesk, Elance, etc. have various payment options for freelancers including:
- PayPal
- Skrill (Moneybookers)
- Local funds transfer
- Payoneer card
- Direct deposit / ACH
- Wire transfer
The fees vary per site and per country – e.g. I know Payoneer is a very popular payment method in India, Pakistan, and some more. Whereas, Direct deposit/ ACH is a popular method for the US as it is free for US bank accounts. For me though, the lowest fees both from oDesk and Elance are via PayPal and Skrill (Moneybookers). I am using those freelance payment methods so I’ll share my insights about them only.
First off – be sure to have a bank card
I know it sounds obvious but apparently it isn’t so better say it than not ๐ You can use either credit card, or a debit one. My advice is that if it’s a debit card, make it a Visa Electron as you’ll be able to use it for other things online, too – e.g. hotel bookings, air plane tickets reservation, online purchases, etc.
Open an account with PayPal and Skrill (Moneybookers)
Once you have your bank card issued, you need to register with PayPal and Skrill (Moneybookers). You need a valid email address for that. After you register, you’ll need to give some personal data like name, birthday date, address, phone number. If you plan on using your profiles for long, make sure your personal data is correct. With time, as the money you send and receive through those accounts grow, you will need to pass various verification processes (mandatory by law) such as ID verification, or address verification.
Make sure your default currency is the official currency of your country or USD
This way you will save the fee you’d have to pay for currency converting and will pay only the fee for withdrawing the money from the freelance site to PayPal or Skrill (if any).
If you are in an EU country but don’t still have Euro as official currency, then your default currency in PayPal would be euro. However, freelance sites most often useย USD. So when you withdraw your money from lets say oDesk to Paypal, it will be converted from USD to Euro and you’ll pay a fee. Then, when you withdraw your money from PayPal to your bank card, it will be again converted from Euro to your local currency and you’ll pay a second fee. Save yourself the first fee by setting your default currency to USD.
If you are in an EU country and its official currency is euro – then your default currency in PayPal would be euro as well – just make sure it IS so to avoid the second currency converting fee I mentioned above.
And if you are in a whatever country the currency of which is not maintained by PayPal, make sure your default currency is USD so that you’d pay only the second converting fee when withdrawing your money from PayPal to your bank card.
To recap, you’d potentially pay the following fees when withdrawing money from PayPal and Skrill to your bank card:
1) fee for withdrawing money from the freelance site to PayPal or Skrill (oDesk has $1 fee and Elance has no fee for this)
2) currency converting fee for withdrawing the money from the freelance site to PayPal or Skrill (your default currency is different from USD)
3) currency converting fee when withdrawing money from PayPal and Skrill to your bank card (if your default currency is different from your bank card currency)
4) bank fee for withdrawal money from PayPal and Skrill to your bank card (this fee varies by country and bank – for example, mine is $2.5 for a transaction; there used to be information for a percentage fee but they never took different from $2.5 amount).
Confirm your bank card in PayPal and Skrill
Once you set your default currency, fill in your bank card number and follow the instructions on the specific site. Although very similar, these 2 sites have their own rules and specifics so be sure to follow the instructions you get from the site while confirming your card.
I use primarily PayPal and Skrill (Moneybookers) is a back-up option for me – so I’ll tell you more about PayPal.
At first, you will have a lot of limitations on PayPal –
For withdrawals as well as for sending money. Don’t be afraid – read carefully their FAQ section, everything is explained. And if something isn’t – you an always contact their support – they seem to be improving their customer service a lot recently ๐
Make sure you see your money in PayPal after you withdraw it from the freelance site
When withdrawing from oDesk, usually you see your money in PayPal instantly. When you withdraw money from Elance, it takes 2-3 days to process and transaction request – but you will get email from Elance when they send you the payment and shortly after that (within a few hours or less) you’ll get another email from PayPal notifying you have received money from Elance. This time-frame may vary depending on your bank.
When I withdraw money from oDesk to PayPal or Skrill and then to my bank card – the fee comes to $3.5 total ($1 for oDesk and $2.5 for PayPal or Skrill) plus a minor currency converting fee for my bank.
When I withdraw money from Elance to PayPal or Skrill and then to my bank card – the fee comes to $2.5 total (no fee for Elance and $2.5 for PayPal or Skrill) plus a minor currency converting fee for my bank.
I can only imagine these fees vary from country to country so be sure to check with PayPal and Skrill what their policy for your country is.
When you reach the threshold of $2500 total amount of money being deposited to your PayPal account, it will be temporary limited.
You will still be able to withdraw funds or send payment. But in relations to some European laws against money laundering, you will have 180 days to verify your identity and address – otherwise, your account will be terminated.
You can verify your identity with a copy of your national ID card. And to verify your address, you need to send them a document, where your name is visible along with the address you have provided in your PayPal account. For example, if you own a property or you get utility bills under your name (not mobile phone though) – you can give those.
If you don’t have any of these documents, you can ask your bank to give you a bank statement. In my country, it is a lengthy and costly process to do that so I managed to get a stating that [my name] is the owner of the [bank card number] with a stamp from the bank agent. It was not even in English but it did the trick – so explore your options locally!
At some point, when your work kicks off and you start generating decent cash flow, you’ll notice you have a daily withdrawal limit of $500. You can lift that if you meet the following criteria:
- You need to have verified your ID and address with PayPal
- You need to be a registered user of PayPal for at least 90 days
- You need to not have any open complaints from buyers
- You need to have no account limitations for the last 30 days
- You need to have received to your PayPal account at least $10K USD since opening you account.
You can lift your daily withdrawal limit by verifying a bank account along with your bank card or simply email support stating you meet the above criteria and your wish to lift your daily withdrawal limit.
I would recommend registering with bothย PayPalย andย Skrillย (Moneybookers)
Because having a back-up freelance payment method is always good. If there is a problem with one site’s system, you can always use the second one instead of waiting and wondering if and when you will be able to withdraw your earnings. Which of the two sites you will use as your primary freelance payment method is totally up to you and as per your personal preferences. I use PayPal and I have never had problems with it so I cannot say if it is better than krill or not ๐
I hope many of you would find this post useful and be sure to leave some comments and/or questions, too!
Note that this post contains some affiliate links – which only means that if you choose to register through those links, i may be eligible for a small commission at some future moment, at no additional cost to you.ย
I’ve been using Paypal since I started working online. Thank you for the tips Diana.
thank you for your comment, Jonan! I am using PayPal as well but from time to time, it really comes in handy to have a backup plan ๐
paypal doesnt offer services in Pakistan which paying service do i use??
Hi, Kashif – you can try Payoneer. Let me know how it goes…
~Diana
Hi. I already find this article very helpful. It cleared a few thing about converting currencies. But can you please also add the details for Skrill like you did for PayPal? Thanks in advance.
Hey, Alexander!
thanks for your comment – i am glad you find the post useful.
Unfortunately, i cannot add so many details about Skrill simply because i do not use it as much (if at all).
I know at some point you need to verify your physical location and you do it by submitting you address to the system – and they send you a code number via mail (not an e-mail but regular post mail). nd when you get that mail, you see the code and you need to submit that code number to the system and that’s how you confirm your address.
And that’s all that i have done. I have not used it ever since.
I know that i have to log in to my krill account one every 6 months or i will be charged with dormant account fees.
And that’s about all i can share about Skrill. Sorry ๐
Diana
thanks for reply Diana ๐
can i send money from skrill to my paypal?
Hey, Mae – no, i don’t think you can since those are 2 different companies.. Just in case, try asking Skrill support on this matter – they would be the best people to address this question.
hello Diana,am currently using skrill method of payment but i find it difficult to use and opting to use payoneer since am in kenya and find it more difficult to use skrill
thanks for your comment, Pavince! i am glad you have various payment options for your country which are better than PayPal and Skrill. Wish you good luck ๐
how to transfer money between my own moneybookers and paypal accounts
Hello, Mdraneo! Thanks for your comment. If you had read the post and the comments on it, you would have seen 2 things:
1) the post has nothing to do with the issue you have (and there’s no hint about my ability to help you with it)
2) someone else has already asked the same question in the comments and so you can use the answer i gave them – i donโt think you can transfer money from skirll to paypal and vise verse since those are 2 different companies… But just in case, you can try asking Skrill and/or PayPal support on this matter โ they would be the best people to address this question.
Hi Diana,
Thanks a lot for the information. Actually skrill doesn’t have good enough cutomer service. Solutions of the issues lasts too many days and they reply in more than 20 hours. I’ve came to this opinion because I tried to withdraw 650$(I don’t have any limitation for money transfer to bank card) from skrill acount to bank card, and after 10 days(it should be 7 days) I wrote them about that I didn’t get my money on my bank card. They promised that they’ll take care about it. Yesterday(20 days passed) I found that money returned to skrill account without any problem message or code or something that points to the problem. So now I’m waiting for their explanation about that which will last many days I guess. Maybe I don’t understand something?
No, it’s not you… it’s their customer service. That was one of the reasons why i gave up on using them as a primary method, actually. Not that PayPal excel in their customer service but at least they do keep you posted from time to time.
With Skrill, at least before, i noticed that it pretty much depends on your luck of getting the attention of a competent or incompetent rep. So maybe if you open a new request now explaining everything again, maybe somebody else will reply. and if not, ask to speak to a supervisor due to rep’s incompetence and lost earnings (or something) and they will escalate your request to a supervisor’s attention. Not optimal but still – better than nothing.
Keep my fingers crossed for you and thanks for stopping by, Nerses!
Can we send money from our paypal account to skrill moneybookers account. Pleae, tell me. If this be possible than how can we do this.
Hey, Varun!
Thanks for stopping by and for your comment… although i am amused why you ask me this – 2 people already asked me this question in the comments before you, didn’t you see what i replied to them?
The answer to your question is literally 2 comments above your question – here’s a quick link to it if it is that hard to find… i would appreciate the effort to read it instead of wasting everyone’s time with asking without reading first, thank you.
Maybe i should blog about this – even if only to channel comments like yours ๐
hi Diana, can you please tell me about the withdrawal fees of both paypal and skrill, currently m using paypal and its fees is 4.4 % + 0.3 dollar, please tell me about skrill
Hey, Shiwali! Thanks or your comment.
To your question, as i have said in the post, the fees vary depending on country, type of account and/or payment method (bank account or card). I am not qualified to answer your question.
A quick Google searched returned the following links to the websites help sections: PayPal withdrawal fee calculator and Skrill fees schedule.
I suggest you look through them or even ask support if they are not what you are looking for.
Hi Diana,
I would like to know more about account limitation when you reach 2500 dol on it .(paypal) . I have aprox 2700 dollars on my paypal and I withdrawn more money from odesk yesterday but they didn’t show up on paypal although odesk said that transaction had been proceed. now… I am thinkning that its maybe because of limitations that you had mention in this article. but on my paypal profile I don’t see I have any limitations. when I clicked under ”limits” I can see that I am able to receive money. besides they had never send me an email saying that my account is limited due to bigger amount that is there. Now I have no idea where are my money and why they didn’t show up on paypal
Hey, Anna!
Thanks for your comment – and i am sorry to hear you are having problems with PayPal.
I remember i once had a similar problem but to be honest – i don;t remember if it was around a time of limitations or not. But let me tell you a few things regarding your question:
1) the limitation is for when you have reached $2500 in transactions (doesn’t matter how much money you have actually IN your account)
2) f you have reached this milestone and don;t have a “warning message” on your account about this limitation – please check with PayPal FAQs if the amount of money has changed. I did the PayPal verification years ago – maybe they have lifted the amount to reach before they limit the account
3) Even if you have such warning message and your account is limited, you will still be able to receive and send money. That “warning message” says it all – that your account is limited and you have a certain period of time to take action and verify your account and only if you fail to do that, your access will be frozen. In the meantime, you can fully operate your account. I think that period was 180 days. in any case, if you withdrew money from oDesk and oDesk says the transaction is done but you don;t see your money in your PayPal account – email support immediately and treat this matter with urgency, It is NOT due to the account limitation i talk about in this post.
Remember – PayPal support is always the best source of information and help in case of failed transaction or suspected fraud, security breach o any other suspicious activity in your account.
Hope this helped and come back to share what happened, good luck!
Hi Diana,
Can i deposit different currency into those payment accounts other than account currency such as Euro in INR account or INR in USD account?
Thanks for your comment, Sid! But i am not sure if i understand your question correctly…
When you deposit money in your account, they automatically get converted in to your default currency. So if you have IND and you want to deposit it to your USD PayPal account – you can, but the IND that you deposit will be converted in to USD the moment they enter your PayPal account.
So you won’t see IND in your account – unless that is your default currency.
Here is the list of currencies that PayPal supports – you can add one by logging in to your account, then selecting “Currency converter” somewhere mid screen next to your account balance; then you will see the currencies YOU have in your account as well as a button to add currency. That is the place where you can change the default currency as well. As far as i can see, IND is not supported but you can double-check; maybe it varies from country to country.
I hope this was your question. If i misunderstood you and didn’t answer it – please, write again and try to explain with different words; i want to help ๐
Hi, I cam across your post after my paypal got closed and my money stuck there even though I did as instructed. I asked them why and they say because my got link to another got closed recently which is my customer account. I was first ask to verify my address and when I use Moneybooker I think MB offer more convenience to customers. Paypal insist on utility bill and bank statement while Moneybooker will send you a mail by post with the verification code to your registered address. It took more time about 1 to 3 weeks but It surely come if it is your real address and your account got verified.
Hey, Lam! Thanks for sharing your story with us. It;s true it is more difficult to verify your identity with PayPal than it is with Skrill but… the limits of transactions (deposit and withdrawal) with PayPal are way better than with Skrill at this level of verification. If you want to have the same freedom and amounts of transactions, you should go through tougher verification process with Skrill, too.
But if the limits are not a problem for you, Skrill is a good option ๐
I am using Elance for a long time and happy with their service and its ok to give a 9% commission to them for each transaction. Any way, recently i got one client out side of Elance and he is also agreed to make payment via Elance or Skrill. So, I am going to try Skrill first time. On Elance, if I am transferring 500 USD to my account, I will get 455 USD in my account (approx INR 26000). Let’s see how it goes with Skrill. I will update in this blog once I get the payment. On several blogs, it says that, Skrill is cheating customers by deducting much amount.
Thanks for your comment, Firosit.
I am not sure why you compare Elance and Skrill like this – one is a freelance website (with job posts and all) – the other is a online payment platform (nothing to do with work).
Elance commissions are not for money transactions – they are for the service they provide (enabling you to find clients and freelancers through their platform).
I discovered Skrill have introduced some new fees and increased their old fees the last few months (i am not very active user of skrill, using them as backup payment and as payment method for some gaming sites which don’t work with paypal) – so please do tell us how ti goes and what your experience is ๐
Thanks Diana for the details.
Sure, I will let you know when I get my first payment through Skrill.
I was comparing both skrill and elance in the sense of money withdrawal only.
On Elance one time withdrawal in a month is free of charge. Its 10USD for multiple withdrawals in a month. Any way, I withdraw only once in a month to avoid that fee.
If I am getting a client through internet (not through freelance websites), for payment purpose, I was asking them to do with elance and they will register there and I get money by deducting elance commission of 9% on each payment. I had no any choice until now. (I hate paypal) That is why I thought about Skrill now.
Once I withdraw monthly balance from elance to my Indian bank account, seems only less amount is charged. The only concern is elance commission. For 1000 USD, they take 90USD as commission. In fact, that client I got out side of Elance.
Oh, my – this gotta be a country specific issue. These are HUGE commissions you are talking about. A withdrawal from Elance or oDesk to paypal or skrill costs me $1, always – one or multiple transactions per month; and then – $2.50 to withdraw from PayPal to my bank card. It used to be the same for Skrill but just yesterday i found out that those fees are now increased and directly related to the currency you withdraw and its amount… for $100 it took $4 yesterday, not sure why… If i withdraw directly from Elance or oDesk to my bank account – it varies but it is about $4-5 roughly.
Bottom line – the fees you quote are super high from my experience so i guess it is specific to your country. Good luck with Skrill – hope it works better for you ๐
Hi Diana
I have a question about Moneybookers. The last time i deposit 10 pounds in account they take me off 8 pounds i think is annual fees.
But my doubt is : Why i payed fees if i never use moneybookers CARD?
thank you
Hey, Tiago! It seems to me you need to direct your question to Skrill’s support – i am not associated with the company and i in no way represent their fees schedule or anything. Sorry i cannot help you with this one ๐
Hello Diana,
I have an Paypal account and a skrill account, but i haven’t used them very much.
I was wondering about the diffrences between those two. When i use paypal I simply logg in and pay, as simple as that.
But when i pay with skrill I must deposit money from my bank account to skrill before i kan make a payment. Is this the way it should be? Or can it be used like Paypal without firstly funding the account?
Greetings,
Polat Iraz.
Hm, Polat, i think you do need to upload funds to skrill before you can send money and/or pay or goods. However, i have not used Skrill this way recently so i cannot really say from experience if there is a work-around. I suggest you contact Skrill’s support with this question as it is quite possible their policy varies from country to country, too! ๐
Hi Diana
The post was really very helpful for me.
thanks.
Thanks for letting me know, Ajeet, that this post was helpful to you. Hope you’ll find other useful resources here as well ๐
Hello from Cape Town, South Africa! ๐ Thanks for this article! I am new on Elance and was trying to find out what the costs would involve to withdraw my money from Elance to Paypal to bank; this helped a lot. I also followed the Paypal link you put in; seems I will only be charged fees by my bank here. Lots of blessings to you.
Thanks for your comment – i am glad i could help. But please, always be sure to check the specifics for your country as well as with your bank – fees do vary not only from country to country, but from bank to bank within the same country. Good luck and happy earning ๐
Hi Diana,
I have been reading the blog with interest and hoping to get some thing concerning my problem.
I did have paypal account and use to receive some payment from US clients to my paypalm account which remit it automatically to my RBI account. I do not know what happens , they have made the account limited statuing reason that it is limited. I tried to contact them but it was of no use. So I opened a second account under the name of my Business and linked it with different bank account, Which was also lmade limited now the charge was ” Multiple account”
1. Do you know a way to close the account on paypal. So it would be possible to get my details free from paypal and I would be able to use somewhere else.
2. I did opened a skrill account , do my client also need to ahve a skrill account to pay to my skrill account.
3. May you please suggest any other payment method to receive payment from US / Canada to India for my web development services.
Looking forward to your help.
Thanks in anticipation.
Hello, Vijay!
Thank you for your comment and sorry to hear about your problems with PayPal.
When your personal account was first limited – what wad the reason for that? You say you contacted PayPal customer service but it was of no use – what do you mean? PayPal customer support is the only party who ca help you trouble shoot and resolve any limitations you have with your account.
Opening a second account breaches their terms of use – unless it is a business account under your name, used to open the first personal account.
But then, the limitation of the first account would still be an obstacle for you to do business. In any case, you need to work with customer support to lift the limit on your first account. This is the best way – work with their support; no matter what bloggers tell you ๐
And to your questions:
1. i won’t give you how-to tutorial for closing your account as it most probably won’t help you. Please, contact PayPal support for help and to find out what the best action is in your case.
2. yes, your client will have to have a skill account in order to send you money to skrill.
3. No, i cannot recommend another payment method suitable for residents of India as i am no a resident of India.
Sorry i cannot be of more help and good luck! ๐
Thanks a lot for the information on Paypal and Skrill Diana, much appreciated! You helped clarify things out. I’m still not sure about which one to choose though…I might subscribe on the 2 services like you!
Do you use a Paypal or Skrill credit card too? Do you advise us to get one?
Cheers!
Marie
Hi, Mary! Thanks for your feedback – i am glad the post helped you sort things out ๐
I am not using any of the prepaid cards (PayPal or Skrill). I was considering it about a year ago… then PayPal didn’t have it yet, i think – and Skrill’s fees were too high, considering i didn’t really needed the card.
In relation to another “research” i am doing about the 2 services, i may opt-in for a skrill card. But i really cannot recommend or not recommend any of the service – never used it; and i think it all boils down why do you need a card and how much it will cost you (in your country).
Sorry i couldn’t be of more help on this one, Mary ๐
Hi Diana, I am a freelancer on ODEsk (& Elance). I opted for Paypal and Skrill because Local Funds Transfer was killing me in currency conversions. I have completely setup my account, and I am ready to withdraw my payment from ODesk for the first time using PayPal (or Skrill). Now here is something that is bothering me, I would be glad if you can help my in this respect:
1) I have read on several forums that Skrill recently stated that freelancing is a service, hence started to charge merchant fee on withdrawals from ODEsk to Skrill (which is 4%+0.4euros). Is this true? They also converted personal accounts to business accounts just because guys tried to withdraw ODesk funds into his Skrill account.
Can you please shed some light on this fee, because I do not find this anywhere in your article.
If this story is true, is there any similar fee in PayPal?
Thanks,
Hi, Danish!
Thanks for your comment. I cannot tell you anything specific about Skrill because i use it as a back-up payment method – i am more active (and thus, knowledgeable) about PayPal.
I haven’t used Skrill for withdrawal for months now – so i cannot confirm or deny your statement that they would convert your account from personal to business type if you try to withdraw money from oDesk.
They do have a note that they “identify as a commercial user every account holder who offers any kind of service or product (s) that generates means of profit or income either directly through its own web site or indirectly through freelance platforms, auction sites, classified ads or other 3rd party sources.” – but then again, i think it has always been like this; they didn’t really check where your money came from. Maybe now they do…
As to your question about fees – recently i did make a transfer through Skrill (sending money) and i did notice they have increased their fees… Cannot tell you more details though, sorry.
I suggest you check their HELP center and ask their support for help, if needed – on both your questions about business account and about fees. As fees and regulations differ a lot depending on your location and type of payment method you have verified with them, the situation may be one for me and totally different for you.
Sorry i cannot be of more help and good luck figuring this out! If you came back and shared your findings, i would appreciate it a lot – and i am sure my readers would, too ๐
Hi Diana,
This post is a very timely one especially to me.
I had an account with PayPal few years back when i was a regular contributor at Associated Content. But at a later stage AC was gradually changed and the Asians are an untouchable lot for them and many Asians left AC. But the money earned thru AC writing was jammed up in PayPal and again the new restricted policies of PayPal was again hard to the Indians and Pakistanis. Lot of process and restrictions made to operate the account and I could not go forward further since there was some bank restrictions, but now as you said the PayPal changed many of its policies to a user friendly way, with the recent association with Kingged i am forced to open another account with PayPal and there was some change in my original name and my Pancard name, that was not matching and I made a complaint regarding this to its customer service and they promptly settled things just over a phone call. I am really surprised to note the great change they made in their policies and as you said here in this post. Now i am able to get back my old account opened years back and my balance amount intact in the account ๐ They renewed it and some verifications reg bank accounts,statements etc done successfully. All after a cordial telephonic conversation with one of its executives @PayPal. That is really praiseworthy of their services.
This post really brought out some more vital information one need to know about PayPal and Skrill, I just opened an account @ Skrill and just got verified too.
Thanks Diana for your valuable service
~ Philip
PS:
Hey, Diana, I just submitted this informative post at Kingged.com and kingged it and posted this comment there.
Thank you very much for this valuable information
Thanks for reading, commenting and sharing this post, Phillip – i am glad you had positive experience with PayPal customer service.
I have heard a lot of people complain about their crappy service – i have never had any problems with them. And i strongly believe that they don;t offer crappy service to people on purpose – they are trying really hard to cater to everybody’s needs. It;s just that being so big as they are, and operating in such an industry, that they have to comply with a lot of regulations… which can be challenging in certain parts of the world, apparently.
If we approach each situation with a positive attitude and patience, we may make more out of it and in due time ๐
Hi! This is a very helpful article.Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.
You’re welcome, Asfandyar – glad i could help.
hi i have register myself on skrill can you help me how can i use this on freelancer. i have also receiver email verification from skrill but i am not able to use skrill on freelancer please guide me
Hi, Sameera – i am afraid i cannot guide you with the provided information. I am not a representative neither of Skrill, nor of Freelancer. I suggest you contact the respective website support with your specific questions and request for guidance.
Hi Diana,
Thanks for your encourament and all your help. I just want to ask you one thing. I hope you know the answer to it… I never had a PayPal account before. I want to open one but I’ve heard many negative things about it, mainly because it’s not a bank and it may, at their own discretion and without much explanation do as they see fit, for them.
I’ve heard that they can freeze your account for an undetermined amount of time. How can I avoid “violating” the terms and becoming another statistic on that issue. I’m barely starting my freelance business and need enough assurance that PayPal is a good company. Thanks in advance for your reply!!
Hi, Adolfo – it’s true there is plenty of negative feedback about PayPal out there – but it is inevitable for a company their size, i think.
I don’t know how much truth there is to this statement though:
it is a company and as such, it obeys certain rules (local and international due to the niche they operate in). I don’t think they close accounts based on the factor “hm, we don’t like this guy, let’s kick him out”.
If you want not to violate their rules, then i suggest you start by getting acquainted with them. Their terms of service for both users AND sellers are very well written. You also pay extra attention to the sections where they explain how you as an account holder can be “penalized” so to speak by association – if you exchange money with someone who has violated their rules, i think then you are violating their rules “by association” but you have to double check that… i have not read their conditions in a while now.
Of course, I cannot give you any guarantees (especially since i am not affiliated with PayPal in any way). What i can tell you is that i am using their platform actively for 5 years now and i have never had any problems.
The only limitation of my account that i have had is the one described in this article – but it was a legit limitation, described in their documentation; a limitation which was lifted immediately when i went through the procedure for verifying identity and meeting all requirements against money laundering.
Hope this helps ๐
Wonderful post Diana! I do have question: If I have added my bank account to Paypal and now I wish to hire 2-3 freelancers on elance or freelancer com and have set Paypal as my primary payment method..can I pay via Paypal (where my bank account is linked) to my freelancers?? Or will this be a violation? If I can pay, will it attract any additional charges?
Hi, Natasha – These are questions you should ask the support of each site. Ekance and Freelancer are different entities and as such, they have their own rules and fees schedules. I do not want to mislead you so I would recommend you get in touch with both sites’ support team and ask them this very same question. Hope they’ll reply in a timely manner and help you out. If they do, please come back and tell us what their answer was… it’s useful info! ๐
Hi Diane,
I did contact Elance regarding the above-mentioned question and after several other discussions with freelancers who have worked on both Elance and Freelancer, the solution is – you have to add a credit card to your Paypal and set the same as your payment method for the new freelancer/s you wish to hire. I did try the solution and it worked well for me. ๐
Thanks for the update, Natasha! I have 2 follow up questions:
– does it need to be a credit card or a VISA debit card would do the trick?
– what additional charges come into play? (from Elance, I mean – bank related fees are specific and probably different for each country and bank)
Thanks,
Diana
Hello ,
You are Creative and wonderful ,,,,,,
Could you tell me which of the following methods is the most fastest methods to transfer money from ODESK to my Bank account in my Country “Egypt” ::
1- Wire Transfer .
2- Skrill
3- LFT ( local fund transfer )
In time being Paypal not support withdraw money to Egypt .
Thanks ,
Mahmoud
Hi, Mahmoud – I am not in Egypt and I cannot answer your question. Besides, it probably depends on your bank, too. I mean different banks in Egypt might have different policies and different time tales for international wire transfers.
I suggest you read oDesk terms and conditions to find this info and whatever you cannot find – contact oDesk support team to explain in detail your situation. Also contact your bank and ask for their fee schedule regarding wire transfers and local fund transfers, as prices may vary, as well as time needed to execute both.
Good luck!
Dear Mahmoud,
1-Wire transfer takes 30$ per transfer and it arrives in less than a week.
2-Skrill has recently stopped supporting US$ to Egypt, you may try setting up a skrill account with Euros instead but I am not sure if that will work with oDesk. Before that, it used to take from 3 to 5 working days and also it used some intermediate banks from skrill to your bank account in Egypt and each bank took its own fees and you can’t even calculate the fees because you don’t know all the stops in between. Skrill was the best method for me few years ago, but now it’s just not that good.
3- I don’t know about this LFT, it doesn’t appear on my profile.
4-You can try using Payoneer cards, they seem to work fine in Egypt.
Anyways, you can find some answers to your questions in this group https://www.facebook.com/groups/odesk.egypt/ it’s for oDesk freelancers in Egypt.
Good luck.
Hi Is it possible to transfer money from Skrill to your paypall account?
Hi, Anna, I don’t think so – but I am surprised by your question. Didn’t you see the beginning of the post you just left a comment on? it goes like this:
Hope this helps and good luck!
Diana
Recently Skrill introduced additional fee for transfers from oDesk. Say, 3.9% for Russia. So, now Skrill is not option for work with oDesk.
Hi, Aleksey – what do you mean it;s not an option? Are you not able to withdraw money from oDesk to your Skrill account in Russia?
An increase in their fees may make it a more costly method of money withdrawal but it doesn’t mean it’s not an option. It’s just a more expensive one. Please elaborate and thanks for informing us about this change!
~Diana
Hi,
May seem like a stupid question but.. when you’re talking about a paypal account, is it the personal one or the business one?
Hi, Ida – it’s not a stupid question, thanks for asking it ๐
I am talking about a personal account as when starting as a freelancer, you are most likely operating as an individual…
If you work as an individual, I think a personal account is all you need (that’s what I use for years). If you want to take payments through your site, for example, but still keep your books as an individual – you might upgrade to a Premier account. And the business account comes into play only if you have a business (registered business, say Ltd or some other form which is valid locally, in your country).
Hope this helps ๐
~Diana
Hi Diana. my name is George form Sri Lanka. I am using skril last 3 years. but all the time some issues. my current issue is last 5 months I try to withdraw money from my skrill account, they are not allowing to withdraw money. I send them several e mails but they are not replying my e mail. Please suggest me what can I do?
Hi, George – I am not in Sri Lanka so I am unable to help you with the issue you are having. The best option you have is to contact Skrill support directly. You say you have sent them emails but they don’t reply – this is very unlikely since they are a reputable company and if you contact their support properly, it is close to impossible to not get a reply, let alone several times.
How did you send them email? Did you go through their help and support center?
~Diana
hi diana im from philippines also
i have an eon visa debit card already. and im planning to open an account with skrill. so my question is after successfully linking my eon card (this means that i enter the exact amount they debit in my card) ..do i need to verify my identity first before i can actually withdraw or send money? so lets say i uploaded funds to my skrill account using my eon card. can i use that immediately to send money?or i should give them proof of identify first before skrill allow me to do that? and if someone send money in my skrill account . can i withdraw my funds immediately? or still provide them proof of identity before i can withdraw?
aand regarding the proof of address stuff. is it a requirement also before they allow me to send and withdraw money in my skrill account? or just a requirement for me to increase my transaction limit…?
thaanks
Hi, Louie – I am not in the Phillipines so I do NOT know if there are any country specifics. What I can tell you is that I don’t think you don’t need to verify your dientity to send money to another Skrill user and you definitely need to verify your identity and address to be able to withdraw money from your Skrill account. Here’s a page in their help section that should guide you through the process.
In this case and in any other case, really, I strongly advise you to contact the support of any given site for guidance and best suited advice. Bloggers can mislead you if/when not aware of the details of your specific case.
Hope this helps!
~Diana
how can i contact their support diana??? theres no particular thing of how i can contact their supportit seems its limited .. so basically wat youre saying is i need to first verify my account by giving them my proof of identity and proof of adress even if i already link my visa card in my account successfully?? thanks for the info
Hi, Louie – No, I told you that I am not aware of the specifics of your situation and for that reason, not quite qualified to help you. I am not part of Skrill’s support team, you know. I gave you a link to follow instructions as I thought it might be relevant to your question. I also told you Skrill support is the best party to address your concern.
As to your question how to contact them – well, log in to your Skrill account, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Contact” link in the footer. It opens a direct contact form. They have really made it easy for their members to contact them, should they need assistance.
hi diana, i am thinking to use paypal personal account. but i am afraid because some of my family member live in usa. they wanted to send some money to me online. but i dont know much about payapal. so can you suggest me that can i go ahead and create new paypal account. and what is my limitation to receive money from my family..
Hi, Mike – i cannot help you because i don;t know you, don’t know anything about your family situation, who lives where, what the local limitations are (if any), and so on. So I urge you to contact PayPal support with your specific questions and concerns – they will be able to address all of them properly. Good luck!
Hi! Can you recommend more specific bank account?
Hi, Konstantin – how do you think I would be able to do that? I don’t know who you are, where you are, with whom your work, how do you work with them, how do you get paid and so on, and so on – many many questions.
Short answer – no, I cannot recommend a specific bank account for you – I am NOT a bank consultant and I strongly recommend you hire an accountant or some other type of financial specialist to consult you what the best course of action is for you, specifically. Good luck.
Hi! Where I can find account number or something like that which I can give ti payer?
Hi, Janne – both PayPa and Skrill don’t have account numbers. Payments are made via emails. You give your client the email with which you created the account in the first place.
***I strongly recommend, before you proceed, you read their HELP sections to get acquainted with the way these 2 websites work.***
Good luck!
~Diana
Hey, just a quick question. There’s no fee levied by PayPal for transferring funds from Elance/oDesk/Freelancer.com to PayPal?
I don’t know about Freeancer com and I don’t know if things have changed in Elance (have not withdrawn money from there since mid. 2014) but in oDesk – yes, there is still no fee in PayPal when withdrawing money from oDesk. $1 fee for oDesk and then $2.5 fee for PayPal when withdrawing to a bank account or card.
But note that this probably also depends on the type of account you have (personal premier, business) as well as the country your account is associated with (e.g. in some countries you can add cards, in other countries you can add bank accounts). Maybe fees is yet another thing that varies depending on country of residence.
I suggest you contact PayPal support for questions and details relating specifically to your account.
~Diana
Hi Diana,
I am new freelancer on elance. I earned few money i want to withdraw my money. but i don’t know why every time my transaction is denied. My elance Email ID and Paypal ID is different.
Please help me
Hi, Babita – I don’t work at Elance so there’s not possible way I can help you. I strongly recommend you contact Elance support for assistance in your specific case.
~Diana
Hi Diana ,
I appreciate your work.
I have just opened an account with Skrill and have received my first Payment from an Australian customer.
Being an Indian , I kept my Default currency as ‘INR’.
However , when the amount was transferred and it finally reached my HDFC bank , I noticed that the amount was significantly less than I had expected.
It appears that I have made a mistake in selecting my Default currency as amount was first converted to INR then from INR to EURO and then finally from EURO to INR.
I am now considering opening another account or may be closing this one and re-opening.Can you please advice which default currency will best work for me.
Thanks
Hi, Shal – unfortunately, I cannot hep you decide which currency is best in your case. It depends on too many factors, specific to your work and process – e.g. in what currency do you usually receive your money, where you live and where your account was registered (if those are two different countries)… I am not even sure why the money came in as INR, then got converted to EUR and only then – converted back to INR. This doesn’t sound right. I strongly recommend you contact Skrill support and discuss your specific situation and questions with them. I am not working at Skrill and I cannot possibly give you advice what the best course of action is for you.
~Diana
Very useful post.Thank you!
You’re very welcome, Maria ๐
Useful post, but I am little confuse right now, I used to send money via skrill to my local bank in Pakistan, my default currency was USD, now after a couple of years I’m using Skrill again. There seems to be a change! They’re telling me I can’t withdraw money in USD from my skrill anymore, there is a policy change or something.
And if I send money in Euros, as I don’t have an option to send USD, there will be an additional fee. I hope you’re getting what I mean here. What should I do? How do I change the default currency in my Skrill account and should I change it to Euros to avoid the additional cost?
Hi, Rabia, I don’t think you can change the default currency in Skrill, unless you close your account and open a new one, with another default currency.
I am in no way affiliated or representing Skrill so I cannot advise you how to proceed in relation to their changed polices for your country of residence. I suggest you contact their support and explain in detail what your problem is. They should be able to help you out.
~Diana
Hello , I understand your point but do you know How Elance verify Bank accounts? I have to create this kind of functionality. So i am asking you. Thanks
Hi, Selliby – thanks for your comment. I suggest you contact Elance support. They will give you the best assistance, specific to your situation.
~Diana
Hello, can you tell please how exactely to withdraw money to debit card in Paypal? i cant link my bank account .
Hi, I suggest you get in touch with PayPal support and ask them for assistance. I am not a representative of the company and cannot troubleshoot or assist in the way you require. Good luck.
~Diana
Thanks for the article. I’m still a bit confused if Skrill could work for me. Maybe you can assist Diana. I’m a freelance graphic designer. I use Paypal to receive payments from customers. What I like about Paypal is that clients can pay via their Paypal account OR they can pay by credit card through Paypal even if they don’t have a Paypal account.
I’ve yet to find another payment service that allows a client to pay without an account. Does Skrill also allow people to send payment via credit card without having to create a Skrill account? The only reason I want to find an alternative to Paypal is because I want to find a service that takes less than Paypal’s 3%. $60 in Paypal fees is a lot of money for a $2,000 project. It would be nice to find a service that charges less money, but also allows customer payments without the customer having to create any accounts.
Can you recommend any payment services other than Paypal which offers a lower rate, allows easy credit card payments without the customer having to create an account, and is trustworthy and safe? I’ve yet to find an alternative. The info on Skrill’s website is vague and doesn’t answer my question.
Thank you for any input on this.
Hi, every service provider terms vary from country to country and from entity to entity, so I strongly suggest you contact Skrill’s support with your specific questions. They will be able to best answer your questions about fees and anything else you might need. Same goes for any other website you might consider. I am sorry I couldn’t be of more help.
~Diana