Oh that sounds really awful!! So sorry about that mate! :(
Why does Paypal is taking down their users' accounts by the way? Do you have more information about it?
Makes me a bit worried because PayPal is all what I can rely on for clients who ask me comission work. Most of them don't have a credit card. And commission work it's my only source of income in these moments.

It all stems from their policy against people using PayPal to get NSFW products. Ironically, the open secret is that a lot of payments through PayPal are made for NSFW art and other sorts of products.

The case that happened with my account today was incredibly strange. All of our accounts were suspended at exactly the same time. So it was basically a wave ban.

For the record, I was always extremely careful with my PayPal. I made sure to never word NSFW material when I made a purchase or anything. But the site has a weird way of making connections between your account and any potential actions you've made elsewhere. It always feels like you're walking on eggshells. One wrong purchase could bring the ban hammer down on you.

There are some rising alternatives popping up. Payoneer, Stripe, and commiss.io definitely come to mind. The latter seems like the best and the most protective of art of all forms. Its only downside is that there are some countries that aren't covered there yet like Mexico, Japan, and others. Though it is on its way to obtaining them. I would recommend Stripe and then commiss.io after it. Stripe has some other non-credit card options I believe and the fees are smaller than Paypal's.

Sorry to hear your account got shut down. I have distrusted PayPal for years and always make sure I pull my money out of there as soon as possible.

I had just gotten a refund for a pair of decently expensive commissions as well, which makes things feel even shadier as I'm certain they're just going to end up keeping that money.

Do you have any suggestions for another service?

Venmo, Payoneer, Stripe, commiss.io, and Ko-Fi (with a Stripe account) are all other solid alternatives. Payoneer is not a perfect replacement as they also have anti-NSFW rules but they seem less trigger happy that Paypal so as long as you're not obvious there about what you do you should be fine.

This sounds bad. Strangely enough I didn't hear of it until now, no artist I support seems to have problems with Paypal. How big is this? And better question: How many furry artists are affected? Do you know some answers to this questions? As written I hear of this for the first time.

They may not have issues now but I can assure you that they eventually will. As soon as Paypal obtains a credible whiff that someone is using them for NSFW means, they're gone. The great irony, of course, is that a sizeable chunk of Paypal transactions are for NSFW means. I don't know how many people have been affected by the recent wave of bans but it was a significant enough amount from people I follow on Discord and Twitter. Paypal is not a safe environment anymore. They might even punish you for actions outside of Paypal now so there's just a lot of questionable stuff going on.

Like I said, I would highly recommend looking for a solid alternative soon because the ban hammer will be coming at some point. I assumed that I was in the clear since my account was just a small personal account and I never put anything explicit in the notes I sent. Even still, here I am.

Do you have any suggestions for another service?