Dwolla vs Paypal (1 Viewer)

[Joe Harris]

I have only casually followed the poker chip forums in the last few years, and may have remained a lurker forever except for the desire to finally create a nice set of customs. As I've been reading through various relevant posts, I've gained an understanding of the communities dislike for Paypal. I'm afraid I share that sentiment.

So, why not Dwolla? It works similar to Paypal. The major advantage is that...there are no transaction fees. The major disadvantage is that bank transfers often take 3-4 business days (unless you pay extra). Transfers of a balance inside Dwolla are instant.

I am not affiliated with Dwolla in any way, I just hope to offer it as an alternative to the numerous pains of Paypal.

Cheers,
'Joe Harris'

 

[manamongkids]

same thing applies for Venmo, had this discussion years ago on CT and PCF and PayPal seems like the favorite

 

[CdnBeerLover]

Dwolla seems to be US-only. For those of us outside of the US, it doesn't appear to be an option.

 

[Joe Harris]

Dwolla seems to be US-only. For those of us outside of the US, it doesn't appear to be an option.

An excellent point. I wonder what the limiting factor is for that. In any case, it is disappointing. They did bother to put up a page so one can get notified if they add international support, maybe the need a certain number for it to be viable.

 

[sleepypiggly]

I think the issue is that our online transactions already carry a degree of risk for both buyer and seller. At the end of the day, both parties just want to safely do the transaction, and using paypal is at least comfortably familiar for most people.

Think of it this way – if I’m about to sell $1000 worth of chips, and the buyer insists on paying me via Dwolla, something I’ve never used. Guy has 0 feedback. Alarm bells instantly starts ringing in my head. I have reservations and want to protect myself from being scammed. It’s like someone trying to western union me money or doing some kind of escrow.

I’m actually not opposed to using Dwolla. I’ve paid/receive money via other channels – Square, Citi’s Popmoney, Chase quickpay, and bank checks using online bill pay. My point is that it would require both parties in the transaction to be comfortable using Dwolla, which is something that is difficult to achieve.

There had been online billpay companies that turned out to be frauds / Ponzi schemes. Gunpal is an example – it was a startup for the firearm community to fight against Paypal which has anti-gun policies but came crashing down as a fraud:
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2010/12/robert-farago/feds-finger-gunpal-as-possibleponzi-scheme/

And for the record, I have always hated Paypal for their policies. But I am forced to use it because most others are comfortable with it.

 

[Joe Harris]

My point is that it would require both parties in the transaction to be comfortable using Dwolla, which is something that is difficult to achieve.

Indeed. At the end of the day, I suppose incentive must be the driving force. That is easily accomplished by passing some of the fee-savings onto the seller, a happy situation for all involved. It's too bad Paypal has to stick around for those outside of the USA.

There had been online billpay companies that turned out to be frauds / Ponzi schemes.

Funny you mention that..Paypal seemed like a massive scam at first..after all, they were giving out free money. Turned out to be a pretty good incentive. Then eBay got involved and

 

[sleepypiggly]

Funny you mention that..Paypal seemed like a massive scam at first..after all, they were giving out free money. Turned out to be a pretty good incentive. Then eBay got involved and

Paypal is a standalone company again, spun off from eBay, I suppose to unlock value for pureplay investors in the electronic payment space and to better attract capital to compete against the likes of ApplePay, MCX, etc.