Can I use Venmo to sell goods or services?
The only way to accept payments for goods and services on Venmo is to be explicitly authorized to accept Venmo for purchases. This can be achieved by applying for a business profile or by having the sender tag a payment to a personal profile as a purchase.
How does buying and selling work on Venmo?
Buying: As a “buyer”, you may use Venmo to pay for goods or services by paying an authorized business profile or by tagging a payment to a personal profile as a purchase.
Eligible payments will be covered by the Venmo Purchase Protection Program if this option is selected by the "buyer' and Venmo will charge a small fee to the payment recipient.
- If you tag a payment to another user's personal profile as a purchase, we’ll let the recipient (seller) know about the fee.
- If you’re the buyer, and what you bought isn't delivered, arrives broken, or is just plain wrong, let us know. Venmo Purchase Protection may be able to help make it right.
Venmo’s Purchase Protection Program is designed to help both buyers and sellers manage their next steps when things don’t work out with an eligible purchase
Selling: Users who receive payments tagged as purchases will incur a fee. This fee amount is automatically removed from the total amount received. For example, if a $100 payment is tagged as a purchase by the sender, the recipient would get $98.
If you’re the seller, Venmo Purchase Protection can help prevent you from losing money due to unauthorized transactions or claims that the buyer never received their purchase.
Venmo may NOT otherwise be used to receive business, commercial, or merchant transactions, meaning you CANNOT use Venmo to accept payment from (or send payment to) another user for a goods or services, unless explicitly authorized by Venmo.
If something goes wrong with a payment sent to a personal profile and that payment was not identified by the sender as a purchase, please contact our Support team as soon as possible. You may also consider working with local law enforcement, depending on the situation.
- Please note that we may be unable to recover funds or merchandise lost as a result of non-approved purchase activity
For more information about accepting payments for your business in the Venmo app, you can read more about business profiles or learn about making payments for goods and services to personal profiles.
What is the Purchase Protection program?
Buyer: If you receive something that’s different from what you bought, an item was damaged in shipping, parts are missing, or your purchase never arrives, and you tag the payment as a purchase your payment will be covered by the Venmo Purchase Protection
We’ll investigate any eligible purchases that did not go as planned, and you may receive a refund if the investigation is decided in your favor.
Seller: Venmo's Purchase Protection program can help prevent you from losing money due to unauthorized transactions or claims of missing merchandise.
Some examples of situations that could be covered by Venmo’s Purchase Protection program include:
- If you bought a book, but received a DVD
- If you purchased an item described as authentic, but received a knockoff
- If the item you bought is missing major parts that the seller didn't report
- If you purchased three items but only received two If the item was damaged during shipping
If payment is eligible the seller (recipient) will pay an associated fee. The seller fee for payments tagged as purchases enables Venmo to provide the Venmo Purchase Protection Program for eligible payments.
This payment wasn’t for a purchase. What do I do?
There isn’t a way to un-tag or recategorize a payment after the sender identifies it as a purchase, but we may be able to return the fee for payments tagged in error. If you accidentally tagged a payment you sent as a purchase, or if someone accidentally tagged a payment they sent to you, please contact our Support team.
It’s important to understand the potential tax implications of receiving payments tagged as purchases, especially if the amount received meets or exceeds the reporting threshold. Please visit our Tax Center for more information.
Disputing these transactions will not rectify this situation, but if there is an issue, please contact us as soon as possible.
Why isn’t the ability to tag a payment as a purchase showing in my app?
If you don't see the ability to tag a payment as a purchase, it means the option isn't available for that particular payment. You may have this option for other payments in the future, but please note that not all payment activity is eligible for Purchase Protection.
If it’s a time-sensitive payment, you can also check out our parent company, PayPal.