I’m Not In The U.S. How Do I Get Paid?
A reader emailed me telling me she lives outside the United States. She was wondering how she could work with U.S. publishers and get paid.
I recommended PayPal. Sure, there are fees, but they seem reasonable to me… particularly for smaller payments. I once accepted a check from Canada that was under $5. My bank explained it would cost more than that to process the thing.
Of course, PayPal isn’t available in every country, but they service lots of countries. And many U.S. publisher and employers haven’t figured out just how easy it is to use the service to pay people no matter where they are. I suspect they are being provincial as we so often are in the States. So far, I’ve found out of country people much happier to pay me via PayPal than those inside the U.S.
I’ve also had people suggest that if you have a PayPal account, you should keep the balance at a minimum because unlike real banks, there’s no deposit insurance. On the other hand, they issue a debit card which can be used like a credit card which is just plain handy.
PayPal is a good solution.
Write well and often,
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POSTED IN: Business of Freelance Writing
1 opinion for I’m Not In The U.S. How Do I Get Paid?
rachel
May 19, 2006 at 12:42 am
That’s a good question. It’s something I’ve thought about as a US writer who has written for European mags, and as someone who intends to write for US mags after I move to Europe this fall.
It’s important to note that Paypal does have its drawbacks. I found an article (http://www.thefreelancetranslator.polartext.com/art4.htm) that goes into some detail. I’ve heard a few horror stories, but I haven’t had a problem with Paypal in the 7 or so years I’ve been using it.
The solution I’ve created for when I move to Europe is to maintain a PO box near my parents’ home and have one of them added to the account so they can deposit my checks. I’ll also accept Paypal. The country I’m moving to only offers electronic banking (no paper checks), so it’ll be easy for clients in EU countries to transfer money into my bank account there. I’m not sure if I’ll accept payment from EU clients via Paypal, since I’ve read Paypal does have an additional charge for European countries.
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