Tech Crunch | Catherine Shu | May 9, 2016

If you use your PayPal account to support a crowdfunding campaign, you can’t rely on its Purchase Protection plan anymore. The payment platform has announced that after June 25, payments made on crowdfunding platforms will no longer be eligible for the program, which allows users to open disputes for items that don’t arrive or are different than described.

Supporting any crowdfunding campaign comes with a degree of risk because you have to trust that your money will actually be used for the stated purpose, whether it’s helping someone reach a goal or supporting the development of a new product.

See:  PayPal freezes, then restores account of crowdfunded secure email startup

In an emailed statement, PayPal said:

In Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, United States and other countries, we have excluded payments made to crowdfunding campaigns from our buyer protection programs. This is consistent with the risks and uncertainties involved in contributing to crowdfunding campaigns, which do not guarantee a return for the investment made in these types of campaigns. We work with our crowdfunding platform partners to encourage fundraisers to communicate the risks involved in investing in their campaign to donors.

According to a report released last year by Kickstarter, one of the biggest crowdfunding platforms, nine percent of successfully funded projects fail to deliver rewards, but 65 percent of backers surveyed said their rewards were delivered on time.

Those stats only apply to Kickstarter, however, and not the many other crowdfunding platforms out there, which each have their own policies.

Back in March 2014, PayPal revised its rules for crowdfunding after some campaigns ran into problems because their funds had been frozen by the platform.

Its new policies separated campaigns into two categories: fundraising or preselling advance orders on merchandise. According to PayPal policy, preselling campaigns may still get their funds held to ensure that customers can get a refund if a pre-ordered product is not delivered as promised. TechCrunch has asked PayPal for clarification on how it will handle these types of problems in the future.

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The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support and networking opportunities to over 1300+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada. Learn more at ncfacanada.org.