update
Added 2023-03-17 10:17:14 +0000 UTChi everyone, i hope you're all doing okay!
i phoned paypal this morning and didn't really make any progress. they've said the only way to unfreeze my account is to prove im shipping orders, which is difficult because they're withholding the funds and most importantly- the shipping costs.
it looks like my only option will be to ship the existing orders out of pocket, then reopen my shop in future without paypal as a payment option. i won't be able to do this until next month, nor will i receive the held funds from my paypal until next month. after researching paypal and their disputes with artists/small businesses this morning, i'm honestly not even hopeful i'll receive the funds then.
it's all been super stressful and a bit upsetting- i'm so sorry to anyone who missed out this time around.
i'm going to order the products for the existing orders today and hopefully ship them asap, so if you did place an order, please don't worry. you'll receive your items!
apparently if i ship the orders, they'll release my funds on the 17th of april, so i'll use that as a preliminary shop reopening date- exactly a month away. however, i will no longer be accepting payments via paypal. i've added 'stripe' as a payment option, so you'll be able to use apple pay or a debit/credit card. i know this isn't ideal, but i hope you understand. mostly I just feel relieved that i was keeping an eye on my account as the orders came through- i dread to imagine how much money could have ended up frozen if i hadn't noticed the freeze when i did.
hope that all makes sense, please feel free to ask questions in the comments if you need any clarification!
take care and speak soon, friends x
Comments
Minnie is who popped into my mind too. Running a small business is stressful enough without adding ridiculously convoluted and unhelpful bureaucracy to the whole thing. Super Villain is right…grrrr! Typical of a big company 🤨 I bet it’s basically just all about them increasing their profits. ☹️🤬 Hope this gets solved quicker than expected and that everything goes smoothly in the future. Fortunately the Patron community seems supportive and understanding. At least the ones I’m a part of are anyway. Doesn’t resolve the source of the stress I know, but at least it’s not adding an additional layer to it.
Parker
2023-03-21 16:41:13 +0000 UTCYes same! I even checked if in my Paypal account it said something like "suspicious payment" or whatever and then with a button to authorize it once again. Like just let me support Megan 😭😭
Laura✨️
2023-03-18 22:20:19 +0000 UTCi’m so sorry this happened to you! can’t imagine how much stress this is & i hope you can find a way to take care of yourself in all of this 🤍 i missed the reopening of the shop but hopefully i’ll be able to purchase some stickers / gloomies when paypal isn’t this dumb & holding onto your funds. i’m not sure i’ve heard about stripe before, but i really hope it’ll work out better with them! 🤍
Kim
2023-03-17 22:12:19 +0000 UTCI wish we could just tell PayPal to stuff it on your behalf, we're the ones who placed the orders after all :-/ I just wanted to mention that if you go ahead and open the shop with preorders now using Stripe, you could use the profit margin from those funds to cover the missing income that paypal is holding onto rather than paying out of your own pocket, borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, so to speak. Still not perfect or ideal, but maybe not quite as devastating for your personal finances. Just a thought. Good luck with this! I have heard the same about PayPal, they're terrible!
Sarah Bailey
2023-03-17 20:04:54 +0000 UTCIf you need anymore to confirm that you intend to ship orders and that orders got shipped, please tell us - we sure can confirm that! What a shitty situation for small business…. How you get out of this soon and if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask!
Sebastian Wolf
2023-03-17 19:10:05 +0000 UTCsending you very gentle and compassionate vibes ✨ I have been super excited for the gloomies and will look forward to them next month! 💙 in the meantime, I wish you lots of treats and favorite things to comfort you.
paulathevalley
2023-03-17 16:42:12 +0000 UTCsending good vibes that things work out! thanks for doing your best and know we're here to support you though it all
Lindsey
2023-03-17 16:29:15 +0000 UTCWe’re all so sorry this is happening to you. Please take care of yourself and get some rest! We will always be here to support you no matter what & we will be patient. I think we’re all just happy to be able to support you and see you flourish in what you love doing most. We are fine with stripe whatever is easiest 🤍 If we can help just let us know!
jaime marie
2023-03-17 15:35:12 +0000 UTCMe as well!!
jaime marie
2023-03-17 15:27:03 +0000 UTCJust to jump in to reemphasize the same everyone else is: 1. This ducking blows and I’m sorry this is happening 2. Don’t worry about us, we’ll be here when it all gets sorted (and in the meantime) and 3. Take care of yourself! I think I would temporarily lose my mind if something like this happened so take care of you when you can. 💜
ash dietz
2023-03-17 14:06:10 +0000 UTCWow I am so sorry they’re being so shitty to you. That is ridiculous. I wish there was another way we could help with these costs (maybe the gift card option someone mentioned?), but please try not to stress too much. I think we all understand this was totally out of your control!! Hope you were able to get some rest ❤️🩹
Isabel
2023-03-17 13:09:16 +0000 UTCI'm so sorry that this happened to you. I was wondering is there way for us to help you
Milica Laptosevic
2023-03-17 12:45:37 +0000 UTCOh Megan, you did well sorting everything out so soon. I wonder if PayPal has considered changing its customer service! Can you imagine any indie/small business treating its customers this way? It’s upsetting to hear just how inflexible and not meeting customer needs they are. I remember seeing a video on YouTube from Minnie Small, some time ago now, and why she no longer uses PayPal. I’ve heard good things about Stripe. Hope you’re doing okay, if there’s anything we can do to help let us know x
Kay
2023-03-17 12:27:14 +0000 UTCthis sounds so very stressful, i am so sorry. is there any way we can help? like a ko-fi or something? i would like to help take some of the weight off of your shoulders 💛
jasmine
2023-03-17 12:17:50 +0000 UTCThis is a really good idea!
ash dietz
2023-03-17 12:03:25 +0000 UTCThat's so awful. I'm sorry you're going through this 😔
Sherilyn Leanne
2023-03-17 11:42:12 +0000 UTCI prefer Stripe anyways! :) I wish you lots of patience and calm! Hope you are doing more or less ok with this situation. ❤️
Wanda Siegenthaler
2023-03-17 11:36:11 +0000 UTCI second this. Great idea.
AutomaticOtter
2023-03-17 11:25:05 +0000 UTCThat would stress me to tears, I'm so sorry. I hate that they are taking money from you! Would it be possible to put gift cards to buy via stripe or square? People who are able could buy one now to help offset shipping and use it after the shop reopens. Just an idea!
Devon
2023-03-17 11:16:15 +0000 UTCOh goodness, I’m so sorry you have to deal with this but glad you noticed it early on. I hope it resolves smoothly for you ❤️🩹
Jesse
2023-03-17 10:56:35 +0000 UTCUgh that’s awful 😞 sorry you’ve had such a rough experience with it… At the very least, hopefully this shouldn’t happen again with stripe when you’re store opens up again, but I imagine you’re devastated 😢❤️🩹
Hayley Burlinson
2023-03-17 10:42:30 +0000 UTChonestly so wild lol! when I pointed out i'd run my shop this way for years without issue, they just kept saying "have you considered changing your business model" as if im able to run my tiny one-person art shop like a mcdonalds lol. thank you, so much stress 🫠
Megan Rhiannon ✸
2023-03-17 10:41:53 +0000 UTCSo so so frustrating… i hope I speak on behalf of everyone who supports you and your work when I say we’d rather you ensure you get paid for you amazing work and look after yourself! 🧡🧡
Lani Merrell
2023-03-17 10:41:51 +0000 UTCthanks caitlin, i really appreciate that! supposedly the only evidence i need is tracking numbers, so hopefully once the orders are on the move things will improve 🥲
Megan Rhiannon ✸
2023-03-17 10:40:17 +0000 UTCthank you, I really appreciate that ❤️🩹
Megan Rhiannon ✸
2023-03-17 10:39:29 +0000 UTCthankfully my dad is able to lend me a bit to help cover the shipping costs! otherwise i'd be a bit stuck, especially with how much postage costs at the moment. hopefully they'll unfreeze my account next month and i can move forward with stripe and be excited about ghosts again!
Megan Rhiannon ✸
2023-03-17 10:39:03 +0000 UTCIf I could slap PayPal right now for you, I would…but I’ll just boycott them instead. I’m also more than happy to pay you privately for my order if that helps at all, I just want to support you and your amazing work!
Ashleigh
2023-03-17 10:37:53 +0000 UTCthank you! such a nightmare 🥲
Megan Rhiannon ✸
2023-03-17 10:37:24 +0000 UTCoh noo im so sorry they've been difficult about things, its ridiculous that they decided to just freeze you like that :( i hope things will be resolved soon, i cant imagine the kind of stress that you're under right now. sending so much luck to you, im sorry 😣🤍
bug stoner
2023-03-17 10:34:28 +0000 UTCThanks for the update Megan, so sorry you're struggling with this, please let us know if we can help by providing evidence of receiving these or previous orders, best of luck 🍀
Caitlin Teoh
2023-03-17 10:32:36 +0000 UTCThat’s completely fine. I’m so sorry this has happened. It’s not your fault everything will be sorted and we’ll still be here. 💜
Mam Jallow
2023-03-17 10:31:02 +0000 UTCit's honestly so wild lol. thank you!
Megan Rhiannon ✸
2023-03-17 10:30:10 +0000 UTCthank you, i really appreciate that 🙇🏻♀️ it's so disappointing lol. i really wanted to share my silly little ghosts with everyone
Megan Rhiannon ✸
2023-03-17 10:29:35 +0000 UTCyeah! basically, despite my years of reliable shop history within the same paypal account, because the shop was closed for a time and then suddenly opened to take in a lot of orders "all at once" the activity is considered suspicious. even though i've been working like this for years 😵💫 they've said i cant even refund the withheld balance back to the customers, if i issue refunds, they'll come out of my "active" balance- not the held money. so i'd be even further out of pocket lmao. the whole thing is absolutely wild. the problem with offering alternative payment options/digital products in the meantime is that i'm worried if i remove my paypal account from squarespace before shipping the orders, they'll see that as even more suspicious and i'll lose the funds forever. so the only way forward i can see is to ship the orders, then hopefully unlock my funds, then remove paypal, then reopen with stripe. 😥
Megan Rhiannon ✸
2023-03-17 10:29:15 +0000 UTCOh mate, that sounds so so terrible. What a difficult thing to go through. I hope you are not too stretched financially and can regain the excitement of the project. And don't worry, we're not going anywhere. Happy to stand by as long as needed. 🧡💛🧡
AutomaticOtter
2023-03-17 10:28:42 +0000 UTCDon't worry about it too much!! we understand it wasn't your fault at all. we completely understand that you need to sort out your finances first, and we understand that covering shipping costs and the cost of ordering the products, without the money from the orders, is hard🫶🏻
Judith Hernández
2023-03-17 10:24:12 +0000 UTCI’d also be happy to do this!
Ashleigh
2023-03-17 10:24:02 +0000 UTCI’m truly sorry this happened to you and I’ve heard about other artists having issues with PayPal as well, so I hope you can get your funds back soon. Sending love your way💌
Sara
2023-03-17 10:23:32 +0000 UTCi appreciate that, but it's okay, thank you! you guys all already paid, so regardless i'll be fulfilling the orders. hopefully they'll release the funds in april when the orders have been shipped!
Megan Rhiannon ✸
2023-03-17 10:23:24 +0000 UTCThat really sucks. I know that PayPal is unhelpful at the best of times, but this is just shitty. Please take care of yourself and don't worry too much about us, we completely understand!
nico
2023-03-17 10:23:15 +0000 UTCDon’t worry about us, we understand. I can’t imagine how disappointing and frustrating this is. I really hope this gets resolved and you’re taking care of yourself 💜
Emily
2023-03-17 10:22:58 +0000 UTCThat’s so frustrating, surely the fact that we’ve given you our address and we have made orders shows that you intend on shipping? I’m so sorry they’re making this so difficult and even more stressful than needed. I’m wondering, if you take PayPal off as an option, would releasing the digital versions for us to buy maybe help out with costs? So money would still be coming in to your bank, but since the digital versions don’t need shipping you could use that money for the current orders to make things a little easier on yourself?
Ashleigh
2023-03-17 10:22:52 +0000 UTCthat sounds awful! as someone who's ordered the gloomies, if you don't receive the money from PayPal in April I'd be happy to send the money personally to you again as I love your work and hate the idea of you being out of pocket!! hope you still manage to rest in this stressful time 🦇
Ellie
2023-03-17 10:20:37 +0000 UTC
