Buyer getting weird about ways to pay their invoice

[amyscheidegger8]

Hi all,

I am an American now based in Ecuador and have a buyer in Belize that found my artwork online and commissioned a few pieces that I've finished, packed up and am getting ready to send. She also requested that I use PannExpress, (I looked them up and they seem legit. I communicated back and forth with them separately about getting a shipping quote and arranging pick u), a door to door courier that ensures international shipments don't get caught up in customs, etc. Shipping the artwork is going to cost a little over $1,000. She asked that I add that shipping cost to the total of the artwork in one invoice so she could pay it all at once. I sent her an invoice via regular Paypal services, she said her card didn't work and asked if I could set up the PaymentPro/Virtual Terminal to try that instead. My question is, because I don't know this lady, is there a scam wrapped up in her requests or am I being overly paranoid? I'm semi afraid that maybe she's using a stolen credit card and wants ME to manually input the numbers so that her email/identity isn't attached to the transaction. Has anyone else had this issue?

Thanks,

-Amy

[Oregon11]

@amyscheidegger8

If you sign up for Payments Pro and Virtual Terminal, there will be a credit report check, and since you will be attempting to sign up from outside the US, the system may or may not have an issue with this. These PayPal products are not available in Ecuador or Belize.

PayPal accounts in Belize have full access to PayPal services including withdrawals. While it's possible that your buyers PayPal account can't pay the invoice (this can happen when attempting to send over $10,000 in a single transaction), they should be able to use/add another funding source in their account, or split the payments into two parts if the sending limit is the issue (with two invoices). If their account is unverified this would also be a reason why there is a sending limit.

Keep in mind that with a long term stay outside the US, you will need a PayPal account registered in the country you're living in. Here are PayPal links with details on having an account in another country and having multiple accounts.

https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/can-i-change-my-paypal-address-to-another-country-faq143...

https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/can-i-have-multiple-paypal-accounts-faq762