Paypal Advice

[NickF]

I already agreed to accept paypal for an apartment I am renting to someone. I set up a paypal account, and it appears to be an Argentine account. The person renting the apartment sent me payment through Paypal. If I accept payment it appears that Paypal will send me a check in dollars in Argentina. Is that right? Anyone that uses paypal to accept payment, is this your understanding of how paypal works of you have an Argentine account? Can you have it deposited to a U.S. account instead? (probably not!) Thanks.

 

[Girino]

You have to specify:

• What country is the sender registered from
• What country are you registered in
• What currency is the transaction in
• What is the currency you would like to receive

Then we can help.

 

[NickF]

You have to specify:

• What country is the sender registered from
• What country are you registered in
• What currency is the transaction in
• What is the currency you would like to receive

Then we can help.

The sender I believe is registered in Wales.
I'm registered in Argentina.
The transaction is specified in U.S. dollars.
I would like to receive in dollars, ideally deposited to my bank account in the U.S.

 

[bdk1]

You should always open your PayPal account for the country you have your bank account in. For example, if you have a bank account in the UK, you want to open a PayPal account on www.paypal.co.uk, if your bank account is in Brazil, then go to www.paypal.com.br, etc. I have 3 PayPal accounts: one in Brazil, one in Argentina and one in France, and I use each one depending on what bank account I need the money transferred to. But you can't get a payment on an French PayPal account and have the money transferred to a bank account in, say, Brazil.

However, luckily for you, since PayPal is an American company you can always transfer the money to a US bank account, regardless of where your PayPal account is based. Just log into your account and go to "Withdraw > Transfer to bank account", and you should see "United States" as the only option (since PayPal Argentina does not allow transfers to local banks).

Do not select the cheque option to withdraw your money. The only way you will be able to turn that cheque into cash in Argentina is to go to Banco Piano. They will use the official rate, take a cut, and ask you for a factura to prove where the money comes from. Some people used to do this before the cepo and often they did not get the cheque at all.

 

[NickF]

If it were possible to check "like this" more than once, I would have done so. Thank you bdk1.

 

[NickF]

Bummer. Just tried to do what was suggested above and got a message that said "you cannot add a bank at this time." Doesn't say anything else. Maybe they don't let you add a U.S. bank now? I don't know as it's not clear. Guess I'll have to give them a call. If I learn anything that could be helpful, will let you all know.

 

[Girino]

Why don't you simply open another PayPal account with a different email address, registering as from the US? Be sure to connect to Paypal.com to get the US website. I don't think it is necessary IP masking.

The ability to link your PayPal account with a bank account may vary depending on the country your PayPal account is registered into. Maybe it is not at all possible in Argentina, nor with US accounts nor with Argie accounts.
I too have two separate PayPal account, one for the US and one for EU.

 

[nikad]

You cannot transfer from an Arg PP account to a US bank account. Both the PP account and the bank account must be in the same country. I suggest you close your Arg account and open a US PP account. I am not even sure why being American you opened an Argentine PP account given the zillion restrictions that there are. If payment was made already, you are more or less stuck. You can either refund it and get your tenant to pay again to a US Paypal or find an exchanger that will buy your Arg Paypal balance.

 

[NickF]

To close the loop on this... I called Paypal this morning. I was able to add a U.S. bank account to my Argentine Paypal account so I can receive payments via electronic deposit. I wasn't able to do it myself online and I am still not clear why I wasn't able to, but she was able to do something on her end to add the U.S. account.

I conclude that what bdk1 says above is correct. I did see the option to add a U.S. bank account online. Only difference was that I couldn't add online but had to call to add it.

 

[Girino]

Remember to open a balance in USD, otherwise when you receive the USD they are automatically converted to ARS at the official rate.