For many buyers, PayPal represents a safe and secure way to shop online. For example, features like buyer protection make it easier to get your money back. That holds true even if the seed bank doesn’t offer delivery guarantees. That makes buying cannabis seeds with PayPal especially attractive. For example, many seed banks are small, relatively unregulated, and don’t offer guarantees of quality. PayPal can help to mitigate that risk.
However, there aren’t very many seed banks that accept PayPal. Why? PayPal actually explicitly bans most cannabis-related sales. This means that a vendor using PayPal could have their account suspended. This article will cover why buying cannabis seeds online using PayPal may or may not be a good idea for you. It also goes into detail on the seed banks that do accept PayPal.
TLDR: There is only one large seed bank that accepts PayPal as a payment method and that is Crop King Seeds.
Instead, most large, reputable seed banks accept other payment methods. For example, most accept Visa and Mastercard. Many also use payment methods like Bitcoin. These are ideal if you want to avoid having cannabis-related purchases showing up on your bank record.
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Which Cannabis Seed Banks Accept PayPal?
Most major seed banks do not accept PayPal. In fact, the largest such as Seedsman, ILGM, or Ministry of Cannabis don’t accept it.
However, most major seed banks accept debit and credit card payments. Others, like Ministry of Cannabis, accept bank transfers. And, nearly all seed banks accept payment via cryptocurrency. Here, Bitcoin is an international standard. However, you may see others like Litecoin and other “Altcoins”. This means that it’s normally very easy to buy cannabis seeds online without PayPal. At the same time, you might have to set up a crypto wallet. You might also have to wait for a check or cash to arrive in the mail. Both can be inconvenient.
Some seed banks that accept PayPal include:
- Crop King Seeds – Crop King Seeds launched in 1998. They’ve been a grower’s favorite ever since. The online seed bank claims to offer 31 different strains. Additionally, each of these are available as feminized, autoflower, or standard seeds. Finally, Crop King Seeds offers an 80% germination guarantee. You can also get a delivery guarantee with expedited shipping.
- Sunwest Genetics – Sun West Genetics was originally a Canadian seed bank. Today, the shop has a warehouse in Minnesota. All seeds cost $20 to ship. However, you get free shipping on orders over $20. Additionally, Sunwest offers 500+ listings in their webshop. The store launched in 2010. However, it’s quickly become one of the top Canadian seed banks out there. Like Crop King Seeds, Sunwest accepts PayPal through a separate transfer.
- Sonoma Seeds – Sonoma Seeds is a much smaller seed bank. However, the Canadian seed bank is actually a direct breeder. This means you’ll get most seeds from in-house breeding programs. That aside, Sonoma has a very large selection. The seed bank also accepts PayPal. Sonoma Seeds charges a flat rate of $20 for shipping. While high, this flat rate comes with guaranteed delivery. Like many competitors, Sonoma offers an 80% germination guarantee on all seeds.
- Beaver Seeds Canada – Beaver Seeds is also Canadian. However, the shop ships to the USA. For $20, you get a delivery guarantee. Additionally, Beaver Seeds offers a germination guarantee. However, they don’t list what it is. Beaver Seeds is relatively small. However, they do offer a unique approach to packaging and products. This might make them a good choice if you are looking for stealthy packaging.
- MJ Seeds Canada – Also known as Marijuana Seeds Canada, this seller is small. However, it was founded in 2009. MJ has over 12 years of experience delivering seeds. They’re also popular for free shipping on all orders over $200. MJ also offers a high germination guarantee. Like the other options on this list, you cannot complete checkout in one click. Instead, you’ll have to wait to receive an email address. Then, you can send your payment separately with your order number.
If you’re set on purchasing cannabis seeds with PayPal, Crop King Seeds if your best choice. This vendor uses a workaround to accept PayPal. However, Crop King Seeds is also a very reputable seed bank. In fact, the brand is one of the top global sellers of cannabis seeds. That makes them a top choice, even if you’re not looking for PayPal as a payment option.
Crop King Seeds also offers worldwide shipping. Paired with relatively standard pricing, and that’s more than enough for most growers. However, Crop King Seeds also has a good reputation for customer service. Additionally, every order with $30 expedited shipping is guaranteed to arrive.
How to Buy Cannabis Seeds with PayPal on Crop King Seeds
PayPal explicitly prohibits cannabis retailers from selling using their platform. Crop King Seeds gets around this by separating its payment method from the site. This means that buying marijuana seeds with PayPal isn’t quite as easy as clicking a button on their site. However, it is relatively straightforward.
- Choose cannabis seeds and add them to your cart
- Click through to checkout
- Choose PayPal as a payment method
- Add your details and check out
- Crop King Seeds will send you an email complete with payment details
- Log into your payment account. Use the email provided to Send Crop King Seeds money.
- Choose to pay as friends or to a seller, depending on whether you want to try to use PayPal protection for the purchase. (Keep in mind that if you tell PayPal what you ordered, they will not offer buyer protection. You may also have your account suspended for purchasing cannabis products).
- Make sure you add your order number in the payment notes
- Do not mention cannabis in the order
This allows Crop King Seeds to separate their website from the payment account. That makes it less likely PayPal will flag and suspend their account. Because suspension means they lose money in the account, it also keeps them safe.
Why Use Seed Banks that Accept PayPal
At the same time, many buyers like using PayPal. The platform is well-known. In fact, millions of U.S. sellers already have an account. That makes PayPal easy, trustworthy, and reliable.
Here are some features of PayPal which make it an attractive payment method for buying marijuana seeds online:
- Payment Security – PayPal launched in 1998. That means they’ve processed payments for over 15 years. Additionally, the site uses full encryption. You an increase security using 2-factor authentication. The site is fully secure. This means you’ll have less to worry about, even if purchasing from a less than reputable site. That’s especially true considering most cannabis sellers ask you to open the app and send the payment through your own account. That further reduces the chances of phishing or losing data to an insecure site. Essentially, it’s a very safe way to pay.
- Privacy – PayPal does not share payment details with the vendor. This means you get more privacy and more distance from the cannabis purchase. For example, if your seed retailer is flagged as making illegal sales in your area, it’s much harder to trace customers if you use PayPal. Of course, this is unlikely to ever be an issue. For example, simply buying seeds is not generally illegal. Additionally, paying with PayPal means that a cannabis seed vendor isn’t showing up on your bank account or credit card statement. That can be advantageous if your payment provider has a strict “no cannabis” policy. However, you can achieve the same by using a payment method like checks or cryptocurrency.
- Purchase Protection – PayPal offers purchase protection or “Buyer Protection” of up to 180 days on many orders. To get this, you’ll have to pay as a buyer. This adds additional fees. In addition, you may not qualify for Buyer Protection if PayPal discovers the product in question is prohibited. This means Buyer Protection may have limited value for buying cannabis seeds.
- Mobile App – PayPal uses a mobile app, which makes many payments more convenient. Additionally, you can set up 2-factor authentication with the app for maximum security.
- Discounts – In some cases, PayPal offers discounts. For example, you can save a few dollars off your order. Or, you can refer a friend and get a $10 discount. This isn’t normally much, but it can help with reducing the cost of your seeds.
- Ease of Use – Most people appreciate PayPal because it’s easy. For example, you click a few buttons, and money is sent. You don’t have to worry about anything but an email address. Unfortunately, much of the convenience is lost when paying for cannabis seeds. That’s because seed banks don’t integrate PayPal into their website. Instead, you’ll have to use a roundabout method to send money separately, from the app.
Overall, there are a lot of reasons to use PayPal. On the other hand, PayPal might not be the best solution for buying cannabis seeds.
Disadvantages of Buying Weed Seeds with PayPal
Most seed banks do not accept PayPal. Buying cannabis seeds online with PayPal is complicated. That’s because many international laws explicitly prohibit cannabis. In fact, some cannabis stores that previously accepted PayPal no longer do. Weed Seed Express is one of those. For example, in the United States, cannabis is still illegal on a federal level. That means you cannot send or transfer money for cannabis sales without risking a federal investigation at some point. However, this is extremely unlikely.
It does mean that PayPal adopts this anti-cannabis policy as part of compliance with international law. Preventing cannabis seed banks from selling using their platform protects them from potential seizure by any government they operate in. This means that when you do buy seeds with Crop King Seeds you should:
- Take care not to mention cannabis in the order or order notes
- Reference a product of equal value if you want to get your money back with buyer protection. However, you may want to discuss that with the seed bank upfront.
- Always send the payment as a purchase rather than “as friends” if you want buyer protection.
You’ll also notice that most of the cannabis seed banks that accept PayPal are located in Canada. That’s because Canada has a federal legalization program. It’s less likely that PayPal will take offense or seize and account. However, PayPal still forbids cannabis sales. That’s why all seed bank options still use indirect payment options.
Additionally, PayPal can use high fees. For example, if you pay with Bitcoin, there is a 0% markup. If you pay with PayPal, you’re looking at fees starting from 2.30%. In many cases, you’ll also see a flat rate transfer fee of $0.30. However, this depends on your location and the value of the order.
At the same time, you can skip many fees by paying “As a Friend”. However, this also means skipping the buyer protection. That makes it more important than ever to choose trustworthy seed banks when using PayPal.
Eventually, it’s up to you whether you want to prioritize finding a seed bank that accepts PayPal. However, with all of the fees and few of the benefits, it’s unlikely you want to invest time in specifically seeking them out. At the same time, the peace of mind and convenience may be worthwhile to you.
Next Steps
Crop King Seeds is the best seed bank that accepts PayPal as a payment method. However, there are others. Most are small. Additionally, most do not advertise that they accept PayPal. You can also go to other highly reputable seed banks without worrying about payment methods. For example, IGLM accepts Visa, Mastercard, and Bitcoin payments. Seedsman accepts two types of cryptocurrency, cash, and bank transfers. While these payment methods are risky if you don’t know who you’re buying from, large seed banks are very well known. Most also have up to decades of history and reviews, making them a trustworthy place to buy seeds.
Harry is a cannabis growing veteran, recognized marijuana seed cultivation expert and founder of GrowReporter. Harry has spent the last 20+ years educating thousands of people about his techniques and methods.