Donation Manager [Paid] [Deleted]

[Dynamic]

Damn... I knew it would be something simple.

Thanks. Great addon!

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Robbo, when is this expected to be released as a stable product, not a beta?

 

[Robbo]

I can't give a time frame because I will just miss it again. However I have finally decided (in my head) on how to proceed with how multiple goals will work. So hopefully not too far away, I am currently working on a lot of client stuff which I am also releasing so it might look like I am neglecting this however it is just that I am very broke and working where the money is.

Also this will most likely have a price increase on stable (or shortly after and advertised as special so people who have been waiting don't miss out) to $39.95. Just telling you so you know to keep an eye to get it cheaper when it is ready.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Thanks Robbo. I will await this and your ad manager to reach stable, then purchase... as both are quite excellent mods.

 

[Dynamic]

Thanks Robbo. I will await this and your ad manager to reach stable, then purchase... as both are quite excellent mods.

Hey dude,

There is no need to wait for this addon. So far it works perfectly and made $160 in 2 days for me.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Hey dude,

There is no need to wait for this addon. So far it works perfectly and made $160 in 2 days for me.

Sounds interesting... I may play with it in beta until Robbo has a stable version for live rollout.

 

[Foxy]

Installed this evening, a test paypal donation doesn't seem to be showing in the donations list however... Am I missing something?

 

[Dynamic]

Sounds interesting... I may play with it in beta until Robbo has a stable version for live rollout.

The ONLY problem I have had so far (nothing related to the donation manager) is that paypal saw I was accepting donations and froze my account without asking questions. Now I have to do all this work to get it unfrozen because PayPal are a bunch of idiots. A suggestion for the donation manager, maybe accept other payment methods such as google etc.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

I don't understand why PayPal would freeze an account for accepting donations, as you do not have to be a non-profit to accept donations. In most countries you cannot be a business and accept donations, but you can if the site is hobby based / privately funded personal website OR an actual registered non-profit.

 

[lasertits]

The ONLY problem I have had so far (nothing related to the donation manager) is that paypal saw I was accepting donations and froze my account without asking questions. Now I have to do all this work to get it unfrozen because PayPal are a bunch of idiots. A suggestion for the donation manager, maybe accept other payment methods such as google etc.

This is one reason I edited the addon so payments would be seen as regular payments by paypal and not donations. I've heard plenty of horror stories about paypal freezing accounts that accepted donations so I wanted to ensure I avoided that. I'm sure there's a difference, perhaps fees, but Paypal has never bothered me. You can do this easily by simply editing the merc_donation_donate_confirm template and altering the following:

<input name="cmd" value="_donations" type="hidden">

to

<input name="cmd" value="_xclick" type="hidden">

It's a bit late for you (Good luck dealing with Paypal by the way), but you can still apply this to avoid Paypal's crap in the future.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Interesting... is that something Paypal view differently?

 

[Dynamic]

This is one reason I edited the addon so payments would be seen as regular payments by paypal and not donations. I've heard plenty of horror stories about paypal freezing accounts that accepted donations so I wanted to ensure I avoided that. I'm sure there's a difference, perhaps fees, but Paypal has never bothered me. You can do this easily by simply editing the merc_donation_donate_confirm template and altering the following:

<input name="cmd" value="_donations" type="hidden">

to

<input name="cmd" value="_xclick" type="hidden">

It's a bit late for you (Good luck dealing with Paypal by the way), but you can still apply this to avoid Paypal's crap in the future.

Thanks heaps for that. Too late for me, but I think this information should be bumped up to notifiy other users of this.

Interesting... is that something Paypal view differently?

From what I have understood by being on a paypal business account, donations rings alarm bells. They think it could potentially be a scam and without asking questions freeze the account. Now I must provide

1) Certificate of registered company (which I can not, as in Australia I am a business, not a company. If I register as a company there are massive fees I need to pay and I might not be allowed to anyway.

2) Business Model. This is not a joke. They actually want to know how my business functions, and how I generate my income from the business. They want to know how it works, etc. This should be illegal for paypal to ask, so the information I am planning to provide will be brief.

3) What I use the money from paypal for. So why do I accept donations, etc.


As lesertits posted, it should be changed to that. Perhaps the addon can add the feature to "Pay as donation" or "Pay as service" or similar. Once I get my money out of the paypal account I will probably be closing it down. I was on the phone for 40 minutes yesterday trying to get through and ended up hanging up. I think I may change to Google Checkout and hope that other people will also be including google checkout in their addons.

This experience has been really frustrating and PayPal needs to look over and fix the way they do things.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Ah thanks...

I just made the change myself and did a transaction to see the difference. I get what is meant now, being it shows in paypal as "Donation by...." versus with the change "Payment from ..." which seems better all round.

I live in Melbourne... just FYI, company is not that expensive... around $250 a year. What is expensive is the crap that comes with it, ie. must have accountant submit end of year tax, etc. That takes it to about $2000 per annum.

My wife does accounting and runs her own company, so I have it on first hand knowledge.

Interesting though how Paypal differentiate the two without question... all based really on a third party add-on that uses "donation" in the processing form instead of the standard "payment" option.

 

[Robbo]

Installed this evening, a test paypal donation doesn't seem to be showing in the donations list however... Am I missing something?

Do a file health check to make sure it is fine.

The ONLY problem I have had so far (nothing related to the donation manager) is that paypal saw I was accepting donations and froze my account without asking questions. Now I have to do all this work to get it unfrozen because PayPal are a bunch of idiots. A suggestion for the donation manager, maybe accept other payment methods such as google etc.

This is definitely on my radar however adding such things isn't easy. For example I can't even test google checkout because they don't support Australia. The good news on this topic is that I will be working with Naatan some time soon on a payment gateway integration type add-on that we can both use to add a lot of gateways across different add-ons.

Thanks heaps for that. Too late for me, but I think this information should be bumped up to notifiy other users of this.
...
As lesertits posted, it should be changed to that. Perhaps the addon can add the feature to "Pay as donation" or "Pay as service" or similar. Once I get my money out of the paypal account I will probably be closing it down. I was on the phone for 40 minutes yesterday trying to get through and ended up hanging up. I think I may change to Google Checkout and hope that other people will also be including google checkout in their addons.
...

Hmmm. This is a worry. I'll do what you have said and make it an option to use one or the other. I might "hack in" an alternative gateway sooner than doing what I had said above, just need to find an easy one to test etc.

 

[Dynamic]

Great news to hear all around. Now I just need to deal with the idiots over at paypal. I was willing to let the money go as a loss, but they wont even let me shut my account down.

Anthony, $250 is still money, then you have tax etc. If it is a company I think you need to pay yourself super (from memory) and you also need to aquire a pty ltd. Again, not certain, but just from memory. Either way, it is a lot of work to do just to be able to use paypal for a hobby site :/

 

[Robbo]

Can't you just provide your ABN? I still need to register as a company myself instead of a sole trader but I can't cover the costs as of now. All my add-on payments go through PayPal as you know and I have always been worried about them freezing my account at some point after reading the stories of it happening so often. Also, due to you being in Australia you won't be able to use Google. At least it wasn't possible last time I looked at it.

Amazon Simple Pay might be where I first go.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Either way, it is a lot of work to do just to be able to use paypal for a hobby site :/

That is the silly thing from Paypal IMHO... as a hobby site is allowed to have people donate their time or money to assist, providing it is a hobby and falls within, I think from memory $3000 per annum total earnings for hobby... then IMHO, Paypal should not be interfering with hobby sites, whom many ask for donations to assist with costs, just as developers here ask for such with free add-ons.

The only difference is that the donation is not tax deductible, which the person would know from the onset when providing it.

 

[Dynamic]

Okay here is the simplest way I can put this disaster of a system. Please note, this is for Australian users only.

1) To register the .com.au you need an abn. You can not aquire an ABN if the business is for a hobby, so you need to bend the truth a little by saying you expect to make money from it. Then you get the ABN. (There is a "Hobby" box in the form when registering an ABN).

2) For some services, you can not use a normal paypal account, you need a paypal pro account for features you wish to use. With this, you must provide paypal your ABN and a bunch of other information.

Now, here is the information paypal wants me to give them in order to unfreeze my account. If you have food in your mouth, spit it out now or you will choke from laughing.

All steps below must be completed using a dark pen and either faxed or scanned and sent to PayPal.

#1 - Please provide a copy of the ASIC-issued Certificate of Registration of Company or, if applicable, Certificate of Change of Company Name.
#2 - Business model and transaction information;

Please answer the following questions then fax or upload them in the Resolution Centre.

Please tell us how you plan to use your PayPal account in the future by answering the following questions.
2. How much money do you expect to receive in your PayPal account each month?
Less than $300
$300 - $999
$1,000 - $4,999
$5,000 - $19,999
$20,000 or more
4. What do you plan to use your PayPal account for?
Operating a business on eBay
Operating a business using my own website
Assisting a community or neighbourhood organisation that is not a registered non-profit organisation
Operating a registered non-profit, charity or political fundraising operation
Other:__________________ (please specify)
3. My business is primarily:
Local
National
International
1. I plan to use my PayPal account to:
Receive payments
Pay employees or suppliers
Other:__________________ (please specify)
Buy inventory
PayPal handles



#3 - Transaction information and mission statement

Purpose and mission
Please answer the following questions then fax or upload them in the Resolution Centre
1. Provide your organisation’s mission statement:
2. What products or services do you offer?
3. If you plan to accept donations, what will they be used for?
Mission statement
Purpose of transactions
Donations
PayPal

This is ********.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Pretty easy questions... provide answers and problem solved.

 

[Dynamic]

Not really, I am not a company. I am a sole trader, so I can not provide the papers they want. I submitted the form days ago and still have heard nothing back, so my funds are sitting there doing nothing. I can not even use PayPal to pay someone. Tis a ****ing joke.