Are there any viable alternatives to Paypal for a small site?
I found out about Google checkout today, it looks like it may meet my needs, but I'd still be interested to find out about other options. While I've never used the service, there's also Amazon Flexible Payments Services (AFPS): (emphasis below is mine) Amazon Flexible Payments ServiceTM   (Amazon FPS) is the first payments   service designed from the ground up   for developers. It is built on top of   Amazon’s reliable and scalable   payments infrastructure and provides   developers with a convenient way to   charge Amazon’s tens of millions of   customers (with their permission, of   course!). Amazon customers can pay   using the same login credentials,   shipping address and payment   information they already have on file   with Amazon. [...] Considering Amazon.com is an e-commerce heavyweight, it might be worth a look.
As I recall, the Scottrade minimum is only $500. (By the way, Scottrade has a feature to automatically reinvest any dividends which the securities pay) Once you have an account, you can buy into an index fund.  SPY tracks the S&P 500. It is also currently paying nearly 2% in dividends.  You can shop for other alternatives here: http://seekingalpha.com/insight/etf_hub/etf_guide/selector/article/39431-core-building-blocks-large-mid-small-cap-us-etfs "Practically, as an ebay buyer I have never seen any way to keep a balance in paypal and top it off from my bank account under my own control.  It is all automated, and as I seem to recall linking with a bank account or credit card was necessary to get some kind of ""confirmed address"" status out of Paypal so that eBay sellers would be more willing to trust me as a buyer and know that my shipping address was legitimate.  As a seller, I can keep a balance at paypal from eBay sales and ask for it back in my checking account instead of keeping it in paypal to purchase items later. In terms of advice, in my opinion the paypal transfer limits or how to set them is not the answer needed to protect one's finances in this situation.   In an error or cyberattack scenario, you have to consider the possibility that any limits are exceeded.  When your online activity of any kind is linked to a bank account, any amount in that linked bank account is probably at risk.  It doesn't really matter if it is paypal, or a server rental account, or amazon.  If it can be abused, and it is linked to your bank account, then someone might abuse it and leave you with a bill. That you might be ultimately victorious is of little consequence if someone steals money you really needed right now and the devotion of time and energy to ""work the bureaucracy"" to get your money back will distract from performance at work or school. So the next step up in protection is to firewall the bank account you use for online purchases from your other bank accounts where your salary is received.  The best way to do it is with different banks instead of merely different accounts, but that is also the most inconvenient for filling the account back up.   Nowadays -- at least in the USA -- at several banks you can open a ""free"" checking account for a minimum deposit like $500 or $1000 that must stay in the account to be fee free at the end of each month.  Whatever balance you keep in the account you use for your ""risky"" online transactions will be the maximum that can disappear in an incident, downside being you have to feed the account from time to time to keep it above the minimum as you make purchases." Does the above mean I will not be able to send money to myself or my mother Yes that is right. PayPal will only be used for small trades. The credits into PayPal cannot be used to purchase anything, and will have to be credited back to the linked Bank Account. This is to ensure right reporting and taxes are being paid. You could use alternative Bank channels for getting funds. I agree that there is a lot of filtering going on. I run filters for people's blogs and news sites I rarely read. The caveat is that I unblock sites I use frequently, and pay for YouTube Red, music streaming and Patreon to support content creators that I enjoy. This, to me, is an issue of the ad targeting not being mature enough yet. Once companies figure out that I'm responsive to ads on certain sites but will blacklist others that do the same, they can selectively serve ads on platforms I'm more likely to engage with. In the meantime the shotgun approach is what advertisers go for.   The future is really in honing how and when these ads are delivered, as well as offering more widespread alternatives to ads, such as subscription services.  For what its worth, I also run noscript. I've had ISPs in the past that had data caps, and given how much data I already use via streaming and Steam, I need every spare Mb I can get. There is nothing called best; Depending on the amounts there are several options and each will cost some money.  If your business is still small customers are individuals try PayPal it will be easy for everyone. The other options are accepting Credit Card, you would need to set-up card gateway on your website etc Simple wire transfer, it will cost more both for your customers and to you. fx-rate.net offers a AUDUSD exchange rate comparison, which includes paypal: Currencyfair    $1.14 Transferwise    $ 2.29 Worldremit  $ 3.50 Xendpay $ 3.71 Tranzfers   $ 5.52 Ukforex $ 7.35 Skrill  $ 15.13  Paypal  $ 25.77  Kantox  $ 27.76  http://fx-rate.net/currency-transfer/?c_input=AUD&cp_input=USD "One of the things that make internet companies so profitable is that there is no additional costs to ""sell another widget"".  With something like EBay, there is no additional cost to add another auction/sale.  While this is true for a single auction, it eventually becomes untrue.  If you add one million auctions, the company may pay additional bandwidth, storage fees, system engineering fees, and even development fees to make the site able to handle that much volume. Sorry that I am unfamiliar with GoodGuide but I am sure you can extrapolate." "The only way to prevent it is to not use PayPal. The terms of usage are draconian, and by using the service you agree to them. I'm sure that when the case gets to a court of law, they will find where it is authorized. Paypal is not a bank, and the money there is basically ""entrusted"" with the company and is not insured by anyone. They don't need or have to be subject to the regulations on the banking industry, and they're no different than your neighbour carrying money for you to the grocery store when you're sick. Other options are wire transfer, services like Western Union or Moneygram, checks (better certified/cashier's checks), money orders or even cash. You can also charge via credit card, but you can get similar problems there (although it is still safer than PayPal because with credit card - the card owner must initiate the charge back, it doesn't appear on its own because they feel like it)."