Using paypal as an International user is highly ineffective. Paypal is an ebay company and it has a reputation as a very effective method of paying and receiving money online! It has received amazing reviesw from people who has been using paypal for a long time. However, this is an honest review from an International user (particularly, Malaysia and some of the SEA region) using paypal for projects and receiving money online.

First off, if you`re a user from the United States or some of the other approved countries that paypal has approved of, using paypal is probably going to be a breeze. I have not had the privilege of using paypal as a US resident (quite obviously) so, I cannot give you a review on using paypal as one! But as an International merchant using paypal, this is what I have to say - YOU MAY NEVER GET TO SEE YOUR MONEY AT ALL!

I am a genuine merchant/freelancer who was using paypal to receive money from my International clients. They have all asked me if I had problems using paypal for payment, and obviously, keen on trying to tie the project in, I said I did NOT have a problem using paypal. I figured that if I DID eventually have a problem, I was pretty sure paypal would help me get my money from the account. After all, it`s MY money in THEIR account and they cannot possibly keep the money that I have earned.

In the beginning stages of using paypal, it`s easy peasy - nothing to it. All a user has to do in order to start using paypal is to register. The registration process is easy enough. They automatically approve your account to make it easy for you to use paypal. Using paypal to get money into your paypal account is simple. Just provide the payer with your paypal ID: your email address. The payer using paypal as a payment gateway will only have to log into the paypal account and then using paypal`s tools to send the money to your account. Simple enough.

Using paypal : here`s where it gets a little tough Using paypal to receive money posed some problems to me, as an International user.

1. Verification
In order to withdraw money from your paypal account, you need to first verify your paypal account. The point in using paypal as a payment gateway is lost here because in order to verify the account, you need to have a US bank account or a credit card.

If you`re like me, an International user who does not have a means of getting a US bank account, then using paypal can get pretty rocky...ok, well, tricky. I have explored the possibility of opening a US bank account from where I live, it`s possible. But the setup fee was huge. You need to pay USD299 as a setup fee. Yes, SETUP fee, not deposit. I would understand it if they told me that I would need to pay USD100 or USD50 as a setup fee (which translates to about Ringgit Malaysia 380 or Ringgit Malaysia 190) with a certain limitations to a deposit, but having to pay a setup fee of USD299 was too much for me.

You can always get a credit card to verify your account in order to start using paypal to send money and receive money online. Sure thing. Except?.I don`t have a credit card. But I got myself a debit card cause I was sure using paypal was the only way to accepting payments from my International clients. But even if you verified your account in order to start using paypal, you cannot withdraw your money from your paypal account STILL. You STILL need to have a US bank account.

2. Sending Limit
If you have not been using paypal for a long time, like me, then you`re not always aware of the small tiny little word `unverified - Malaysia` that sits comfortably right next to your paypal balance. The sending limit is there if you`re not a verified paypal user. For starters, paypal has capped off the sending limit at USD100. USD100 limit on the amount you can ever send through your paypal account until you get yourself verified.

I found myself in a tussle using paypal when I send USD80 to someone and then they told me that I can only send USD20 more to someone before I have to get verified. So, there was a problem using paypal to send money to someone too? And using paypal a payment gateway was also shot because I can`t seem to get the money out.

You see, what I was trying to do was to send whatever money I had in there to someone else in the US and get them to send the money back to me through iKobo. And although I had found the right person for this task, I was still having problems using paypal because I can`t even get my money out of there to someone else so that they can send me the money - so that I can buy milk and diapers for my kids! Sheesh!

In summary: what was my experience in using paypal?

It was the pits! This is a user who is still hoping that paypal will brush up on their system to make it more user-friendly for International users. But unless they finetune their system to make it more user-friendly, I`d rather be shot in the foot before I`d use it again.

First off, the withdrawal process is lousy because I cannot withdraw the money out from the paypal account therefore, using paypal as a payment option means that I will never smell the money that I have earned. I couldn`t even close the account until I got verified, can you believe that? The person I spent talking (long distance) over the phone with for 2 hours couldn`t find me a solution. Secondly, the sending limit. What happens that those people who wishes to send money to someone but don`t have a credit card? What happens to the money in there?

The only way out for International people using paypal is to either get a US bank account or spend the money on ebay.

Which makes perfect sense - paypal is part of ebay, didn`t I say?

I`ll just stick to what works for now - my iKobo account.