PAYPAL is shutting down e-cig companies

[RexFollett]

--- On Sat, 10/30/10, service@paypal.com <service@paypal.com> wrote:

From: service@paypal.com <service@paypal.com>
Subject: Your account has been limited until we hear from you
To: #############
Date: Saturday, October 30, 2010, 5:50 AM

Dear ########,

We appreciate the fact that you chose PayPal to send and receive payments
for your transactions.

However, your account has been limited for violating PayPal's Acceptable
Use Policy. Under the Acceptable Use Policy, you may not use PayPal for
the sale of certain products that present a risk to consumer safety. To
identify products that jeopardize consumer safety, PayPal reviews laws,
regulations and other government actions, other available evidence, and
marketing content related to the product. The sale of e-cigarettes from
your jurisdiction is covered by this policy.

The complete Acceptable Use Policy can be found at the following URL:
https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/m...ntent_ID=ua/AcceptableUse_full&locale.x=en_US

To learn more about the Acceptable Use Policy, please refer to our Help
Center page here:
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?&cmd=_help

We are hereby notifying you that it has been determined that you are in
violation of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy regarding your sale of
e-cigarettes on ########. To appeal the limitation on your
account, you will need to:

1. Remove PayPal as a payment option, as well as all references to
PayPal, including the PayPal logo and/or shopping cart, from your
website(s), ###########.

2. Submit the online Acceptable Use Policy affidavit.

To appeal your limitation, login to your account and select the "Resolution
Center" link. On the next page select the "Resolve" button(s) located in
the Steps to Provide More Information section and follow the applicable
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This is not intended to be an all-inclusive review or list of your Internet
sites in violation. Furthermore, the violations of the Policy described
above are not intended to be an all-inclusive list. It is the
responsibility of the user to ensure that all transactions comply with the
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For more information about the status of your account and for instructions
on how to restore full use of your account, please login to your PayPal
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period of time, it may result in permanent limitation.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. If you have any
questions, please contact the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy Department at
aup@paypal.com.


Sincerely,
PayPal Brand Risk Management Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

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[kanadiankat]

This has been going on for quite some time.

Paypal received a threatening letter from the FDA during their court case earlier this year. The letter informed Paypal that they could be sued for providing a payment service for ecigs.

Paypal simply rolled over and did whatever they said.

Shame really.

 

[pkj]

Wonder what this will do to Eastmall payments.
They are located in China.

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

Have a business address outside the US and you'll be fine. Look at TW, LF, EM, HG. all use PP.

It's a US rule.

 

[pkj]

OK - Thanks for that info about overseas suppliers.
I did not know that.

Thanks, Bert.
Paula

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

OK - Thanks for that info about overseas suppliers.
I did not know that.

Thanks, Bert.
Paula

No problem. Just passing along info that was passed on to me when i had questions about it.

 

[MsOceanCity]

Really? Not all suppliers are being shut down, as I placed and recieved an order, within the past week, from TrueSmoker without a hitch.

 

[7thCabal]

Have a business address outside the US and you'll be fine. Look at TW, LF, EM, HG. all use PP.

It's a US rule.

Happyvaper in Canada no longer uses PP because they got jammed with that Acceptable Use Policy BS-- that was several months ago. I think its more how it's marketed while doing transactions through PP.

 

[Roger-J]

Really? Not all suppliers are being shut down, as I placed and recieved an order, within the past week, from TrueSmoker without a hitch.

I do not live in USA, nor do I buy from companies in USA, but Paypal has started blocking payments in other countries too. Four weeks ago I sent for a bunch of atomizers from a company in another country, and Paypal refused to transfer my money to that company for the first time in over two years, so I paid directly with my credit card instead. Three weeks ago I sent for 750ml 24mg e-liquid from another country and Paypal had no problem with that payment.

Conclusion: Paypal, and maybe FDA, knows about some companies which deals with e-cigs and e-liquid, and do not know about other companies. So please do not write about companies they have not discovered and banned yet. FDA or Paypal may have informers in big e-cig forums. For companies it also helps to have a company name which does not contain words like e-liquid, e-cigs, smoke, etc in the company name. The company which I no longer can use Paypal for has the word e-liquid in its company name.

 

[ironslave]

i wish people would stand up to the FDA, this is bull honky. PayPAl is a huge company and they should stand up for their rights!

 

[reverendg]

A lot of the larger companies in China that I order from also allow the use of paypal, but only for amounts up to $1000.00 , some only 500.00 and then you have to do a wire transfer. I think that's how they get away with using paypal.

 

[sherid]

A lot of the larger companies in China that I order from also allow the use of paypal, but only for amounts up to $1000.00 , some only 500.00 and then you have to do a wire transfer. I think that's how they get away with using paypal.

Just today, I received a message from PayPal saying that they would hold all funds from my account for 21 days. I have no complaints on Ebay, have no ecig related sales, nothing that would trigger such a move. I have 100% rating on ebay, and have no disputes....yet it does not matter. I will use PayPal for NOTHING other than paying for anything that accepts it. They are NAziS. I despise them.

 

[StormFinch]

Just today, I received a message from PayPal saying that they would hold all funds from my account for 21 days. I have no complaints on Ebay, have no ecig related sales, nothing that would trigger such a move. I have 100% rating on ebay, and have no disputes....yet it does not matter. I will use PayPal for NOTHING other than paying for anything that accepts it. They are NAziS. I despise them.

One of the reasons, followed closely by their e-cig rules, that I cancelled my decade old PayPal account and told them exactly why in the comments box. They will NOT be getting any more of my money ever, even if it means I can't purchase in the classifieds section here. They do business outside of any kind of financial laws and can get away with pretty much anything they want. Try googling PayPal complaints sherid, you definitely aren't alone. I just hope they didn't "hold" too much of your money.

 

[DCrist721]

I too have an issue with paypal. I got scammed out of $120 in what was supposed to be a protected transaction (that's not the right term exactly but I can't think of the proper term) and it took PayPal two months to go through the whole investigation process in which they finally ruled in my favor, and they sent me an email telling me "Congratulations, the dispute was ruled in your favor, and we are pleased to inform you that we have retrieved $0.01 of your money." One cent, one fvcking cent. They should have frozen the guys account during the slow (I'm talking DMV slow) investigation process, instead of giving him two fvcking months to empty his account.

Anyway, during this same time I had purchased something else and didn't have enough money in my account to cover it, but somehow it went through, so obviously I was given a negative balance (of $20). So I'm on the phone with PayPal about the dispute mentioned before, and I ask them...
Me: "Well the dispute was closed in my favor, so why can't you give me my $120 and just give him a negative balance of -$120?"
Them: "I'm sorry, but we can't do that."
Me: "What do you mean you can't do that?? You did it to me! I'm not complaining that you did because I legitimately owe you the money, I'm just saying that I know it can be done"
Them: "Well you see Sir, we really have no way of forcing them to pay back the money"
Me: "So then you have no way of forcing me to pay you back? Cool. Thanks for your help then, and fvck you guys."
[I hang up the phone]
/End Scene

So I'm not surprised at all that they're pulling this crap with the e-cig companies; they can do whatever the hell they want to.

 

[zadane]

I've noticed the lack of suppliers using paypal, what is the list of ones that openly use paypal?

 

[pkj]

Has anyone here heard of Dwolla?

Dwolla

I just heard about them. Fees are Zero to send money.
25cents each transaction to receive money.

I'm finding this a little too good to be true. It is worth taking a look at.

 

[btngchck]

Wow Paula, looks like a very nice site. I wonder if it will catch on in the classifieds. I registered but still doing some research on it. So far from what I've seen it looks legit. Maybe more people will look into it as well.

Thank you for sharing this.

 

[webvapor]

Shame on you PayPal... no pal o' mine..... Gotta look into Dwolla. Thanks for that info Paula!

 

[ec!gg]

Never heard of Dwolla... Do you know anyone that has ever used them?

 

[aprioristic]

I've used Dwolla for a few transfers related to trading bitcoin (watch the video there for what that is..)

After I filled out a Dwolla survey last week I got an email from the communications director of Dwolla and I am going to be talking to him sometime next week. I'm prepping some questions from the bitcoin community for them, but I can also ask about ecigs.

The catch with Dwolla is that it uses ACH, so it takes more time than credit cards. My bank doesn't charge for ACH, but some crummy ones do. You can look at some places like USAA or Ally if you have a crummy bank.