Warning for CAD Makers Using Personal PayPal Accounts with MakerWorld

MakerWorld
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I’ve been a personal PayPal user in Canada for over 25 years. A few weeks ago, I added a $3 “Commercial License Membership” on MakerWorld—essentially a “buy me a coffee” option for those who appreciate my 3D models. One person subscribed, and $2.28 was transferred to my personal PayPal account.

I didn’t think much of it until PayPal suddenly asked for documentation explaining where the money came from. I sent them screenshots of the MakerWorld subscription and explained it was just a simple tip. Within five minutes, my account was permanently limited.

I spent over 10 hours trying to get a clear answer. Unfortunately, speaking with their AI system leads nowhere—it just repeats, “Your account is permanently limited and cannot be restored.” Eventually, I stopped asking for reinstatement and just asked for an explanation. Still, the same vague reply.

Today, I opened a business PayPal account. While linking my bank account, I had to call customer service, sit on hold for an hour, and give my full credit card number for manual verification—something that felt quite odd. That account is now on an 8-day hold, and the rep could only say it’s likely due to “AI security checks.”

While I was on the phone, I also asked about my personal account. The representative confirmed that it’s permanently blocked but couldn’t say why. She guessed it was due to the $2.28 transaction from MakerWorld, and suggested personal PayPal accounts in Canada are not allowed to accept business-related payments—even small ones.

I immediately removed PayPal from my MakerWorld account, but it was too late.

If you’re in Canada and have a personal PayPal linked to MakerWorld:

  1. Do not use your personal account for commercial transactions.
  2. Set up a PayPal business account instead.
  3. If PayPal asks about incoming funds, do not mention MakerWorld—just say it was a payment from a friend.

MakerWorld should clearly warn Canadian users: Use a business PayPal account—never a personal one.

I won’t be using PayPal anymore—not because they blocked my account (which I can live with for security reasons), but because of their complete lack of transparency. After 25 years as a loyal user, being permanently banned without explanation is unacceptable. If my livelihood depended on PayPal, this could have been devastating.

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Thank you for your post !
Canada is not the only country suffering from the Paypal systems.
I am in AU and had a quite similar experience earlier this year.
Every now and then I help a family member with a shopping gift card and every now and then I start a new project and order lots of parts from multiple places.
Sadly I decided to also order a few STEM kits for my little niece and to have them delivered to her instead of going to my address.

Two days later I get an Email from the shop informing me that my payment was put on hold by Paypal.
Could NOT find this info in my account anywhere, just said ‘pending’ on my end.
Contacted Paypal and after the usual fights with their AI I was informed that my entire account is blocked and under investigation for suspected fraudulent activities.
Three days wasted on their AI system by running in circles until finally a human decided to start a chat with me.
My account got blocked based on their AI having triggered it.
Explained how I used the same addresses and names for years and that I send things or money on a regular base.
So I wanted to know the actual reason for the investigation.
“Your account got flagged by the AI system and the AI system is checking the account activity.”
How long does this take, why is an AI doing it if a human would be able to sort it within minutes?
No answer.

Long story short >
Paypal does not care whether or not you use a business account.
The later of course makes a lot of sense if you do sell things or get donations and such coming in.
Not for ease of use but for tax purposes.
Paypal does not care about the hassles their faulty AI might cause you and offers little to no help sorting the matter.
The triggers are surprisingly low and seem quite random.
It can be money coming in, money going out or just you using Paypal to have something delivered to a different person.
And there is really no logic, other than this new system randomly picking accounts.
What would help here for incoming money would be a meaningful text coming with the money.
See it that way: Paypal provides the incentives for “Buy me a Coffee” options and quick payments.
They also provide the tools to integrate these services.
By all means Paypal should be in full control and knowing what they are doing.
A decade old and well used account does not suddenly turn into a fraudulent one through a single transaction…

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Sorry to hear this.

Transparency is hard to see (pun intended, but not for humour) in many businesses.

@MakerWorld do you have a public statement for this from your side?

Are you aware of any reasons, for example, does it appear this was the potential cause for the problem @Sebo3D1 has experienced, or are you unaware of such a block that can be so dangerous?

All of us need to understand…

Giving away models is a hobby, but receiving any form of money for any reason is considered a business in one form or another in many countries.

This is not a reflection on @Sebo3D1, just something that doesn’t always make sense unless you are on the other side of the equation.

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Just curious, what does permanently blocked mean? Are you able to access your funds that are there? I have mine tied to cults3d as well

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Here is PayPal Message:

## We’re no longer offering PayPal services for this account

Sometimes we can’t process account activity for a variety of reasons, including local laws, our policies, or the policies of our partner banks and card networks.

Based on the information we have today, there was activity on this account that we cannot support.

What can you do with your account?

Your account has been permanently deactivated. However, you can still view your transaction history, download account statements, or request copies of your data.

Before you can withdraw or transfer any remaining funds from your account, we need to hold them for up to 180 days to cover things like chargebacks or other financial liabilities.

We’ll review the account and email you when funds are available.

Every conversation—whether through chat, messaging, or even with a live agent—feels like reading from the same script. No one provides any real help or says anything beyond repeating the standard message. Everything on my account is disabled, and I can’t even remove my credit card or banking information from the system.

The last transaction was just $2.88 in April from MakerWorld. They claim it’s all about security, but what really concerns me is that during a phone call, the agent asked for my full credit card number instead of verifying my identity through the security questions I had previously set up. Now an agent has access to my credit card information, which doesn’t feel secure at all.

I would have expected that speaking with a representative directly would resolve the issue—especially since I’m willing to provide any information needed to verify my identity. I don’t make many transactions through PayPal; I mostly use it for occasional purchases on AliExpress, DHgate, eBay, etc. Still, these are infrequent.

At this point, it almost feels like they’re intentionally making it harder to do business with platforms based in Asia, like MakerWorld or Patreon. Maybe I’m reading too much into it and it’s just another case of flawed AI logic—but if that’s the case, why can’t a human agent intervene and actually help?

Since PayPal is now completely unusable for me, I’ve had to create an account with Payoneer just to receive funds from Patreon.

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3D printing is purely a hobby and passion for me. I have a full-time job, but I absolutely love everything about 3D printing—there’s something magical about turning a spool of plastic into something real. Maybe I’m a little crazy, but it brings me the greatest joy.

I’ve always shared my models freely, but after a number of people asked if they could buy a license to use them, I decided to set up some commercial tiers—mostly to make people happy and, honestly, to get them off my back. I created a simple $3 “buy me a coffee” tier for those who enjoy my models, and an $8 physical seller license (which no one actually bought, since most people asked if I had a Patreon instead).

It also helped support my filament addiction—mainly by giving me a way to justify my purchases to my wife. With that small income, buying something from Bambu felt easier to explain!

I don’t believe this is Bambu’s fault at all. If anything, PayPal should’ve flagged my account back in April when I linked it with MakerWorld, or when I received the $2.28 from the $3 coffee subscription (after fees). Instead, they suddenly decided months later that it was a “commercial transaction” and permanently limited my account.

PayPal constantly talks about security, but their approach feels like a complete joke. In Canada, there are limits to how much you can receive as a “gift”—I believe it’s $200 or $500, though I’m not exactly sure. Just to be clear: I received $2.28. One person bought me a coffee for a month. That’s it. My $8 subscription tier never saw a single subscriber—people preferred to use Patreon instead.

I’ll share more if PayPal decides to provide an actual explanation in the near future. But that said, I would never use PayPal as a primary business tool or source of income. If they can shut you down completely without a word of explanation, I can only imagine how painful that would be if larger amounts of money were involved.

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Reading this, I remember that Paypal nearly killed the activity of Josef Prusa a few years ago, almost turning them bankrupt. His account was frozen and all payments for printers were hold under investigation for 180 days, while he had just released a new printer that was driving attention like crazy.

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After another day of going back and forth with PayPal, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a completely unhinged corporation. Here are the latest messages I received from them:

Me: Can actual person answer my question: WHY? not Ai

PayPal: My name is Praveen, please find above given response.

Me: Dear PayPal Team,

Please answer my question: Why was my account permanently limited?
I accept your decision, but I would truly like to understand the reason behind it.

I also have another question:
Am I allowed to create a new PayPal account using a different email address? I’m not trying to bypass any rules—that’s why I’m asking directly. I want to make sure I’m not violating any policies or seen as trying to game the system.

Am I permanently banned from using PayPal, with no possibility of return?

I’ve been a loyal customer for 24 years, even though I haven’t used PayPal very frequently. In April, I received a $2.28 transfer from a $3 subscription. At the time, there were no issues. Now, suddenly, my account is permanently closed.

Please help me understand what exactly triggered this decision. If I truly am banned forever, I would at least like to know the cause so I can avoid such issues in the future.

Sincerely,
S.

Me: Praveen can you help with above ?

PayPal: We unfortunately do not disclose the specifics that resulted in our decision. We review many factors before coming to a decision to restrict an account permanently. This is not something we do without proper consideration.
I would like to inform you that, at this time that the limitation applied is a permanent one. For whatever reason, it has been deemed that there is potential risk associated with your account to allow it to be used any further. PayPal reserves the right to limit access to any account, in accordance with our PayPal User Agreement. Here is the link to view the user agreement PAYPAL USER AGREEMENT

PayPal: Please note, I don’t have specific information regarding why, but essentially, we are parting ways at this point and the decision cannot be overturned, and I am truly sorry I don’t have better news at this time.
I do appreciate your interest in PayPal, however, since the decision is final, our services cannot be offered anymore to you. I appreciate your understanding in this matter. Thank you for contacting PayPal.

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I had two Canadian bank accounts linked to PayPal— one in USD and the other in CAD same bank two different accounts. However, I don’t believe this caused the issue, as I never even attempted to withdraw the funds. I received $2.28 USD in April, and when I logged into my PayPal account a few days ago, I was asked to provide clarification and documentation regarding that particular transaction. I complied and explained that it was from a “Buy Me a Coffee” subscription on MakerWorld. I also submitted a screenshot from the MakerWorld website as proof.

The next day, my account was permanently banned.

I suspect the ban may be related to linking my personal (non-business) PayPal account to the MakerWorld platform. I’m curious if anyone else in Canada has linked a personal PayPal account and not been banned. Of course, this is only my best guess, as PayPal has not confirmed the reason.

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I received an email from Paypal today titled “We’re making some changes to our PayPal legal agreements”. Their policy updates page mentions that these changes are due Canada’s Retail Payment Activities Act which is due to come into effect September 8th, 2025. I’m guessing your issue is related to this.

I’ve used Paypal to withdraw money from Cults often in the past, but it appears that’s no longer an option :frowning:

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Drives me nuts to see stuff like this, but seems a part of the digital world these days. To protect us from bandits, fintech seperates people from their money without warning or explanaition, effectively becoming bandits themselves. I understand there must be security measures in place to protect customers and their business, but the irony…

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Its not even bandit protection, it’s lazy-bandit protection

File for an LLC and paypal says you can be a bandito all day er’ryday till they get the subpoenas

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I just checked my paypal and realized 4 of my makerworld subscription payments are still pending. Paypal received the payment but has put them on hold. The oldest one goes back to June 16th.

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I had the same issue. I tried to be honest and explained that the money was from Maker World for a coffee subscription, even provided the requested screenshots—but my account was permanently blocked and still is. I spent over 20 hours trying to get it unblocked, with no luck. At this point, I’ve given up on PayPal.

If you want to save your account, you’ll likely need to come up with a story framing the money as non-commercial. According to PayPal in Canada, even someone “buying you a coffee” counts as a commercial transaction if it’s a monthly subscription.

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When did your account get blocked in the timeline? I’m wondering if it will happen to my account or what the deal is. I do have the ability to refund those transactions which I might do and then just cancel the membership. I might just pull my money out of there then and just count that account as dead.

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I received $2.28 in April, if I recall correctly. My account wasn’t locked at the time, but the payment was placed on hold until I provided an explanation. I submitted the explanation a few days ago, and within literally an hour, my account was permanently closed.

You might still be able to receive payments until you’re asked to explain the source of income from Maker World. My account was a personal one, and I believe personal accounts aren’t meant to receive business-related payments.

You could try saying it was a sale on eBay or a personal gift, but I think they’re aware that Maker World is a commercial platform and may flag it. If you don’t come up with a convincing explanation, your account may also get locked.

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surely maker world isn’t a business transaction unless your running g an actual business on it?

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wrong. Any money derived from you making something and selling it is a business EVERYWHERE.

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Guys, Paypal has done the same sort of thing to thousands of folks, business included, since they have been in existence. And they WILL definately freeze funds for 180 DAYS in a heartbeat. Was a guy in England making hardcover books a couple years ago. Was reprinting his OWN book from a decade earlier and selling all over the world. Unfortunately used Paypal and after about 3 or 4 months of selling, had his entire paypal account frozen. They wanted him to PROVE that he had shipped items to the US. Physical items. And a label wasn’t enough, they wanted his CUSTOMERS to Prove that they had received a BOOK. He stopped selling and was still fighting them several months after that.
Do NOT leave money in a Paypal account.

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This has been the usual for me with the makerworld subscription payments. They eventually clear, but it feels like incoming payments get put on hold for a month +.

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