With the fact that 87.5% of online buyers use PayPal, not having PayPal as a payment gateway on your store might limit your sales tremendously. So, how to set up a PayPal account even if you live in an unsupported country? Luckily, this is what I’m about to share with you!
In order to set up PayPal in unsupported countries, you would need to use a fresh proxy that will change your location in PayPal’s eyes. Although using VPNs is not recommended by PayPal, according to some eCommerce experts, there’s no hurt in using a proxy, as long as you’re using it correctly.
In this article, we’ll be discussing a step-by-step solution for how to set up a PayPal account in unsupported countries to allow your customers to enjoy a faster, safer, and easier checkout experience!
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How To Use PayPal In Banned Countries (Step-By-Step)
According to SpendMenot, PayPal has 361 million active users and it accounts for over 22% of online transactions in the US. But chances are, you might be living in a country where PayPal is not available in.
So, how to set up a PayPal account in unsupported countries? Here’s the exact step-by-step process that you need to follow:
Step #1 – Company Creation
If you’d like to open a PayPal account for your business, you need to be within the available countries supported by PayPal, and with the fact that PayPal only operates in certain countries, the best way is to register a company that allows you to prove your address and open a PayPal business account accordingly!
When it comes to opening a company, there are many trusted services out there that will allow you to easily create a company. Some of those companies are 1stFormations and Icon Offices!
Although 1stFormations is cheaper than the other one, I don’t personally use it for one main reason. The reason is that after they open a company for you, they don’t give you a physical address that proves your company’s address! Instead, they provide you with a P.O.BOX address that PayPal doesn’t accept!
Even if you use it to open a Stripe account, they might accept it at first, but eventually, they will ask for proof of address, and definitely, they won’t be taking your P.O.BOX address into consideration.
Here’s where the second option; Icon Offices, comes into play… And this is the one that I have been personally using for the last couple of years.
Icon Offices allows you to rent a shared office for as little as £60 per person, per month and enjoy a bunch of services and features.
The package that I personally use is the Satellite Office Package as it comes with a rental agreement and a proof of address that I can easily submit to PayPal to prove my company’s location.
The company also allows you to choose one of their 3 locations in the UK, and these are all real physical addresses!
Whenever you have a problem, pre-sale query, or just need support, don’t hesitate to leave them a message, they are super responsive, customer-friendly, and also available on WhatsApp!
After you choose a location and pick a monthly package, you will receive your company formation documents within a couple of days, and here’s what they usually look like:
Please, don’t share this information with anyone! These are only shared to make you familiar with the service!
Please, don’t share this information with anyone! These are only shared to make you familiar with the service!
By the time you receive your documents, the company will also send you the rental agreement that you need to sign and resend back to them for approval as it needs to be signed by both parties. (Learn more about Icon Offices by clicking here.)
Step #2 – Getting a UK Number
Upon creating PayPal and Stripe business accounts, you will be asked for a phone number. So, before creating your account, you need to get yourself a UK-based phone number.
Luckily, with companies like Vyke, getting a phone number is easy and comes in handy. From as little as $3.99, you can get yourself a UK phone number and use it to activate/verify any account you want.
To buy a phone number, watch the below introductory video and follow up by downloading the app “Vyke” on your mobile.
Step #3 – VPN Set Up
No matter what your experience and thoughts are about VPNs, you need to know that getting and setting up a proxy is not as complicated as it sounds and if you’re not sure why you need this, it will simply allow you to show PayPal that you are located in the UK (a PayPal supported country.)
The VPN service that I personally use and always recommend for eCommerce purposes is called IPBurger.
IPBurger has different plans, but the basic one will come in handy as it allows you to get a fresh proxy for your business without breaking the bank. (Learn more about IPBurger plans and prices!)
So, now that you’ve purchased your IPBurger plan, it’s time to set it up on your Chrome browser, and this is exactly what I’m going to help you with next.
In your Chrome Browser, create a new profile and name it anything you want. It can be “Payment Gateway”, “PayPal”, “Stripe”, or your “Business’s Name”.
Step #4 – Online Bank Creation
In order to be able to receive, send, and withdraw money from your PayPal account, it should be verified and should also pass a security check.
Being said, your PayPal account cannot be verified unless you link a bank account to it!
Truth is, your bank account should be in the same country you registered your company and your PayPal account in. In our case, since we are registering our company in the United Kingdom, you need a UK bank account in order to be able to withdraw money from your account.
But, what if you don’t have a bank account in the UK? I’ve got your back, my friend… Here’s where Wise Banking comes into play and solves a critical issue for you!
Creating a Wise Business account is fairly easy. Once you pay your shared office rental fee, receive your company formation document, and purchase a UK phone number, you would need to go ahead and open a Wise business account and enter all of the information that you’ve received!
When opening a Wise account, you would need to enter the information you received from Icon Offices, which are: the business address, the company name as registered in Companies House, and your company ID number.
Don’t forget, you need to make sure that you’re always connected to the VPN whenever you’re accessing anything related to your business or banking accounts.
Step #5 – PayPal Business Account Creation
Finally, after purchasing an IPBurger proxy, a UK phone number, a shared office, and registering your company with Icon Offices, you would need to go ahead and open a PayPal business account with all the information that you’ve accumulated so far…
The business address would be the one provided by Icon Offices, and the business phone number would be the same number you purchased from the Vyke app.
As for your personal information, no matter what your nationality is, you can provide it upon registering your PayPal account.
For instance, if you’re Palestinian, give your nationality as being a Palestinian, but when it comes to your business, say that it’s located in the UK. So, I’m Palestinian, but my business is located in the UK. What proves it is the papers we’re getting from Icon Offices. That’s why we created this company in the first place.
Also, we created the IPBurger special Chrome profile to prove to PayPal that we are indeed located in the UK, and the Wise account to be able to withdraw money from PayPal.
Keep in mind that it’s always preferred to log in to your PayPal account from the Chrome profile you set up earlier that’s connected to your VPN.
Conclusion
PayPal is a giant company that’s been trusted and used by millions of online shoppers over the past 20 years or so!
In fact, according to a recent experiment that I ran on my own Shopify store to test the effect of PayPal on eCommerce stores, it showed that there’s a huge correlation between having PayPal as a payment gateway and the monthly sales, conversion rates, and the average order value!
In other words, not having PayPal as a payment option may cost you more than you may have thought. But, what if you live in a country that’s unsupported by PayPal or that bans PayPal?
Luckily, in this article, we’ve quickly gone through the exact step-by-step process of setting up a PayPal account if it’s not available in your country.
Want to start a profitable online business and avoid getting into nightmares using PayPal and dealing with toxic customers or suppliers? Click below to attend the free training, and if you find this post useful, share it with your friends, please! (Virtual high fives and hugs to all my sharers out there)
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Cheers,
Odeh Ahwal
