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Paypal is flowing around in my mentions again for being problematic. It IS, but if you use it just be smart about it.
If you are making more than a few hundred a month, make a business bank savings account. In most banks this is free or free if you have minimum balances in place
If you are making more than a few hundred a month, make a business bank savings account. In most banks this is free or free if you have minimum balances in place
Set up all of your stores to deposit directly into this account and IMMIDIATELY transfer money from sites known to lock your funds such as PayPal. You can use platforms such as stripe to take in funds on your personal stores and they have lower fees, even.
Only withdraw from this account when the funds are actually available, aka you've finished the project or paid for materials, etc. This also really makes it MUCH easier to track business sales and expenses for tax purposes.
That's the simple 1, 2, 3.
That's the simple 1, 2, 3.
This is ESPECIALLY important if you're ever working with large sums of money such as Kickstarter or other big preorders.
You want to keep funds clearly separate so you know how much money you really have and avoid spending money you shouldn't spend, or having funds locked.
You want to keep funds clearly separate so you know how much money you really have and avoid spending money you shouldn't spend, or having funds locked.
I will add this is ALSO very helpful for other expenses. I made one when I used to be the one who wrote the $2500 rent check. If collect my roommates rent and keep it in this separate account.
Currently I keep ALL business earnings separate and "pay" myself once a month from it
Currently I keep ALL business earnings separate and "pay" myself once a month from it
Ask your bank how to keep any account fee free. Many offer free student accounts. In my case I have to either deposit so much per month (so had them set up an auto withdrawal), make 10 debit purchases a month (1 self check out line and 10 cans of food lol), or keep $xx funds.
If you make a lot of big business debit purchases, and want to go EXTRA, make another account just for paying. We have an account I only put money into when I schedule an order. That way while I wait for the order to go through I don't have to do any mental math on leftover funds
So I wanted this to be more of a "ways to manage large amounts of money!"
But also looking deeper into the reason Paypal is on my timeline... PLEASE read TOS really clearly on any payment provider you use because if you go against their TOS even if the TOS is DUMB, you're
sol
But also looking deeper into the reason Paypal is on my timeline... PLEASE read TOS really clearly on any payment provider you use because if you go against their TOS even if the TOS is DUMB, you're
sol
Absolutely not blaming anyone here. TOS is often complex and changes frequently, but my philosophy is that you mitigate as many chances of things going wrong as possible. In this case Paypal technically can withhold your money if you can't ship a pre-order within 20 days.
Is that FAIR when artists stuff takes TIME to make? That's not what they'll consider when they decide to hold funds or not.
Anyway, yet again I recommend keeping a separate business bank account that you directly manage for all funds and use a payment system that works with that
Anyway, yet again I recommend keeping a separate business bank account that you directly manage for all funds and use a payment system that works with that
Okay, since this is doing the rounds:
(1/2)
I make a ton of products (Primarily Purrmaids! http://purrmaids.com ) and do contract work and commissions as a living, and my partner's company helps artists and businesses make products.
LOTS we learned was trial by fire.
(1/2)
I make a ton of products (Primarily Purrmaids! http://purrmaids.com ) and do contract work and commissions as a living, and my partner's company helps artists and businesses make products.
LOTS we learned was trial by fire.
(2/2)
My DMs are always open if you have questions about making stuff, legally importing, protecting yourself with trademarks/copyrights, running Kickstarter, dealing with funds, shipping, etcetcetc.
I'm not a financial advisor or legal expert, but will offer what I can!
My DMs are always open if you have questions about making stuff, legally importing, protecting yourself with trademarks/copyrights, running Kickstarter, dealing with funds, shipping, etcetcetc.
I'm not a financial advisor or legal expert, but will offer what I can!
