Thaaat's a really good point. Way better safe then sorry I say :'T

Unfortunately I think that’s true. This sounds like a honey pot set up by PayPal...

Your concerns are completely valid, and I totally agree.

That's the first thing that I thought about too! It seems rather suspicious, but I guess I tried not to be too paranoid about it, as if the site would be setting a trap on their own users.

Guess we'll have to see how it develops.

Commissions are the main source of my income, and if it's cut off then I wouldn't be able to pay my rent or bills, lol, so I can't help but be suspicious.
It sounds an awful lot like a honey pot to me. I would LOVE to be proven wrong about this, as it would be a nice service to have. It's too early to say. Time will tell though.

I disagree, this sounds more like a conspiracy than a valid concern. Furaffinity talked with paypal when creating the system, sure, but do you think they'd really allow the system to exist in the first place if the goal was to shut users down?

"Trusting Paypal's track record" has nothing to do with it. They've started explicitly that they do not allow the sale of digital, sexually oriented goods, yet they've approved this, knowing full well that the digital sale of sexually oriented goods is the main focus.

Right, they've stated they do not allow their website to be used for that purchase. So, does it not stand to reason that this could possibly be used as a tool for finding accounts that are using it for that purpose anyways?
They told FA that the tipping system would be okay as it was not for the direct purchase of said digital goods. But if they can check an account that's using this system and find it being used for transactions other than the tipping service, then the nature of those transactions could possibly be called into question.

It might be unlikely, and I'm probably being more than a bit paranoid. But the fact is, the possibility exists, and I would rather not risk it.

Just for additional information:
PayPal used to have a ToS against strictly pornographic content because, like many other services (ko-fi recently for example) had their hands tied by credit card companies like MasterCard and such which in turn feared adverse reaction by advertisers - PayPal doesn't have such an explicit/strict ToS anymore because they became big enough to more or less shrug it off;
Ko-fi on the other hand, being still small, has no choice but bend their knees at the requests of CC payment processors and advertisers, so had to put up a warning against NSFW content.
So this is gonna go two ways: either FA/IMVU had the bare *minimum* of brain and made SURE PayPal was ok with this before pushing it through (very likely, as IMVU is also tied to advertisers and payment processors and would very much dislike any sort of dispute with PayPal) or we're gonna say bye-bye to the FA staff in a week or so.
If the former is true, there should be nothing to fear from this! Besides, PayPal is already the primary service used by 99% of NSFW artists worldwide, so I doubt there's gonna be severe aftereffects.

So for anyone perplexed about this, I can most definitely assure everything will be fine. Nothing will happen if you use this vs Ko-fi or Patreon or other payment platforms linked with PayPal. If anything, you might have more chances of getting in trouble if you transferred directly to CC.
Either way, using it or not I'm sure won't diminish any artist's business and they'll continue to be paid as they always have, so it's up to them!
Hope this helps! :D

I double-checked the site before posting this journal. Here it is, cut and pasted from the site itself:

What is PayPal’s policy on transactions that involve sexually oriented goods and services?
We permit U.S.-only transactions for certain sexually oriented physical goods that are physically delivered to the customer. Videos, DVDs, and magazines are examples of physical goods. (We don’t allow transactions for such goods outside the U.S.)

We don’t permit PayPal account holders to buy or sell:

Sexually oriented digital goods or content delivered through a digital medium. Downloadable pictures or videos and website subscriptions are examples of digital goods.

If they amend their site to remove this contradiction, then I might consider it. Until then, I can't help but be suspicious of a service they are offering that seems in direct conflict with their own ToS that they have been known to act upon in the past.

The policy in question is a bit confusing and it's been mentioned tons and tons of times (including the official thread about shines right at the top of the page if you're interested in checking the comments, very useful info!) but it can be more or less summed up as such:
- the policy on PayPal is first and foremost for legal reasons, and partially serves as a façade for reps, CC, lawyers and advertisers - the end user or a service wanting to partner with PayPal should instead ask them directly (and usually with the help of a lawyer)
- the policy against pornography is specifically meant to address real-life pornographic work, imagery, cam-girls, photos, videos, etc. (which PayPal considers "pornography") whereas drawn art is considered just "adult art" and albeit a grey area, is generally accepted
- FA has worked specifically with a PayPal rep at all times to make sure everything was in order and accepted; in synthesis, this is a tipping system and not a way to perform comissions, which further exonerates gallery material
- Patreon has recently also announced they have worked out with PayPal about Adult contents, and officially decided that it's gonna be all ok with them (as long as it doesn't still promotes or sells real life pornography, work with minors, etc.)

The confusion and the doubt is 100% fair and understandable - and absolutely, we still have to see the day where PP and other services open up completely at NSFW works - but the likelihood that either Neer and the whole staff (or the rep) straight up 100% lied about this being ok with PayPal, or that PayPal is gonna change their mind tomorrow and sever the head of a huge chunk of legitimate businesses that go through them, is absolutely not gonna happen.
Again, nothing wrong with playing it safe! It's the artist's choice to manage their own business as best as they'd see fit;
but I can 100% assure you nothing is gonna come out of this :D

Really, it's the ambiguity of the wording along their past behavior that gives me cause for concern. Don't get me wrong, this SOUNDS GREAT and I would love to be proven wrong, lol
As it stands, I'll just have to wait and see what comes of this before I consider using it myself.

Yeah I absolutely getcha, I really hate how they always word things in their policies and ToS, super confusing and ambiguous never helps anyone... if anything it makes people not want to use their service out of legitimate fear of repercussion, so I really don't get why they do it xD
And here's to that! I'll be drawin my kinky stuff no matter what happens, and nobody wants that lovely Vir art to get shut down so noone will fault you for playing it safe

Imagine considering others paranoid for wanting to put their source of income in as little danger as possible.

Not exactly a honeypot situation. I just find providing more reason to possibly have your account banned to be the less wise choice. This effect would be more of a dangerous possible side effect than anything else. Intentional or otherwise is not important. the plausible risk is.

I can understand the paranoia. If PayPal goes in that direction, I feel they'll be more at a loss since the uproar could cause FA to drop the system altogether.

As far as I know the Shinies are just considered donations that everybody can give to everybody. It's not necessary to be an artist, it's possible to support friends or people in need who enabled it with that too. No business is involved. So this transactions shouldn't give Paypal any reason to be suspicious and check everybodies accounts. I assume they could do that anytime anyways. At least that's what I think.

Right, and I get that. However I specifically wrote this in response to a few people who have approached me asking if I was going to enable Shinies on my page because they would have liked to donate to me.
If you don't regularly use PayPal to process a number of other transactions that is your main source of income, then this would be a great service to use. And you're right, they could ask for verification of the nature of a transaction every time. But a lot of people use PayPal. They can't check EVERY transaction, all the time.

Using this service, however, could narrow that search down for them. All they have to do is look for users who are both enrolled in this service, and also participating in the buy or sale of 'digital goods' on a regular basis.