Scope
What PactPal does, what it deliberately does not do, and why. If a feature is proposed later, check here first.
Who can use it, and for what
| Tier | Deals | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Services and digital work: art and design commissions, writing and translation, web and software projects, video and photo editing, consulting and coaching sessions, digital products (templates, presets, courses) | ✅ Supported, main focus |
| 2 | Small physical goods from small sellers: handmade or custom-made items | ✅ Supported, with shipment tracking and product details |
| 3 | Deposit bookings (events, catering, photography), monthly retainers and subscriptions, regulated professional services (legal, medical, financial advice) | ⛔ Blocked with a "not supported yet" message; on the roadmap |
| — | Anything prohibited by PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy, plus: gift cards and stored value, crypto, NFTs and investments, vehicles and real estate | ⛔ Blocked |
How it is enforced
- The seller picks a category when creating a deal.
- While drafting the scope, the AI also classifies what is being sold from the conversation itself. A mismatch is flagged to the seller; a blocked category stops the deal with an explanation.
- The notice shown is recorded in the evidence ledger.
The prohibited list is checked against PayPal's current Acceptable Use Policy before release; policy wording changes, so the product links to PayPal's page rather than restating it.
Explicitly out of scope
| Excluded | Why |
|---|---|
| Holding funds, escrow, releasing money on approval | PayPal's user agreement states PayPal is not an escrow agent; holding money raises money-transmission and liability questions. Milestone invoices give the same structure. |
| Filing claims on behalf of buyers | Buyers must file in PayPal's Resolution Center themselves. PactPal can prepare a summary for them, nothing more. |
| Legal advice, tailored legal terms, generating kill fees or IP outcomes | Avoids unauthorized-practice-of-law risk. Sellers supply their own terms; PactPal offers neutral templates and explanations. |
| AI-generated, altered or backdated evidence | It would destroy the one thing the product sells: trust. Only server-recorded events are evidence; corrections are new events. |
| Win probabilities, "you are protected", Seller Protection claims | PayPal's weighting of evidence is not public, and coverage for services is unclear. PactPal shows evidence completeness only. |
| Scraping, browser extensions or unofficial APIs on other platforms | Their terms restrict it. Paste, upload, email forwarding and official webhooks cover those users. |
| Automatic submission to PayPal without human confirmation | Wrong or incomplete evidence is hard to undo. |
| AI agents accepting or signing on a buyer's behalf | Authority and intent become unclear. Agents may prepare; humans sign. |
| Buyer identity verification (KYC) | Heavy and privacy-sensitive. PactPal states honestly that a typed name and IP address are not proof of identity. |
| Email open-tracking pixels | Unreliable because of mail privacy features. Link clicks and downloads are logged instead. |
| Live money and production credentials | PactPal runs in PayPal's test environment for now, and says so plainly ("test mode"). |
| Native mobile apps | A responsive web app is enough. |
| Running models locally | The council uses hosted model APIs only. |
Roadmap (not built now)
- Tier 3 deals: deposit bookings, retainers and subscriptions, regulated services, with the extra terms and disclaimers they need
- Production partner approval for "Connect with PayPal" (PayPal offers partner invoicing to select partners only; sellers link their own app)
- Connectors for platforms that keep disputes in-house, if official API access is granted
- Hold, reserve and account-limitation appeal pack
- Card issuer and ombudsman escalation summaries
- More languages and jurisdiction-specific acceptance text, reviewed by a lawyer
- A fuller buyer account experience (a dashboard of the buyer's own deals; the data model already lets one person be a buyer in some deals and a seller in others)