PayPal Fees

[Matt Meiser]

Jim, FYI, there's a "send money to a friend" option on Paypal now where there are no fees when sending cash, or the sender pays the fee when using CC. I've been requesting/using that option when buying and selling on the forums. Afterall, we are all friends around here, right? ;)




FOLKS: THIS WAS SPLIT OFF FROM AN AD IN THE CLASSIFIED SECTION SO IT DOESN'T QUITE FLOW. --MOD

Thanks Chris--this took on a life of its own when I originally posted as a suggestion to someone as an alternative to charging a buyer a few bucks more to cover PP fees. --Matt

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Jim, FYI, there's a "send money to a friend" option on Paypal now where there are no fees when sending cash, or the sender pays the fee when using CC. I've been requesting/using that option when buying and selling on the forums. Afterall, we are all friends around here, right? ;)

Ah, but when using a cc through Paypal, the cc company treats this like a cash advance and whacks the sender with heavy interest compounded daily. I learned this the hard way. Ouch. Beware!

That's a great price on a great coping sled. I have one myself. Good luck with your sale!

[Matt Meiser]

Good to know.

By the way, I have and love this sled too.

[David Weaver]

The sending friends thing is best used if you have the balance to send it as a friend.

I don't want to come off as a weenie, probably will anyway, but I am always turned way off when someone requests an extra 3% or whatever when they sell someone something paypal.

I've only been requested to send as a gift once because I had a balance at the time, and it didn't matter, but I don't think I've ever bought anything where someone requested another 3% from paypal buyers.

Just an irk, and I know a lot of people are different and aren't bothered at all by it.

(Matt, I hope this doesn't come across as I'm coming down on your post, because I'm not - it's only the for sale posts that wind me up).

I wonder if you get buyer protection when buying something as a gift.

So far, I have managed to recover about $400 from bogus sellers using the paypal dispute process (two different sales), i'm kind of reluctant to avoid that coverage.

(I won't say whether or not I've paid more than that in paypal fees, because my wife might read the forum :o)

[Bill Miltner]

Paypal transactions utilizing a CC are NOT treated as cash advances when they are payment for goods or services (i.e. not "send a gift to a friend").

There is no buyer protection when "sending a gift to a frien". Makes sense, there is no buyer.

[Matt Meiser]

This should probably get split off as a new thread, but hey, keeps the OP's ad at the top.

All that makes sense. In the past I've usually padded my price a little when selling to make up for the PP fee so someone paying cash or check gets the shaft. And I probably wouldn't use the send to a friend option with someone who wasn't an established member of the community as a buyer. When I posted I guess I was thinking of the situation where I know the seller because I've known them in person or for a long time through the forum--like the OP.

[Jim McFarland]

Edited to fit in context of separate thread:

I'm not a fan of paypal so as a seller -- I offer only as a convenience to the buyer and at the buyer's expense.

As a buyer, I expect to pay the paypal fees on a woodworking forum "classified" transaction with another woodworker. I would expect a business to include the fees in their costs but not an individual selling a surplus woodworking item. I prefer to pay with check or money order and will continue until I get "burned" someday. I buy from individuals with a track record of posting on the forum and difficult to imagine someone like that risking their forum reputation for the typical small amount of money involved. Large amount of $$$s or individual with no track record then I understand the need for the buyer protection aspects of paypal.

[Matt Meiser]

Jim, I feel the same way. Personally I felt there was a benefit to me for accepting Paypal when they had the Paypal Toolbar which let you generate a single-use CC number and pay for anything with funds on account at PP. Now they've discontinued that so now not so much unless there's something I need to order from a seller who only accepts PP. Otherwise it would be faster to have the buyer send a money order or check (if they are a trusted seller) than wait for Paypal to put the money in my bank account. Its amazing how fast they can get it out but how slow they put it back in.

I got a PM implying that I was plotting to swindle Paypal, so I went to Paypal and looked at their wording. First thing I noticed is that its now called a "personal" transaction. Under personal transactions, Paypal gives the option of sending money as: A Gift, Living Expense, Payment Owed, Other, or Cash Advance. Under the last there's a note that the credit card issuer might charge a fee. I suppose for any type it would be up to your card issuer. They say that Personal is to send money to friends and family. There's no definition of either. Since I've personally done very little trading with anyone on a forum who I wouldn't consider to be a friend on some level I'm not to concerned about it. If Paypal is, then I guess I'll just be among the growing number of ex-Paypal users and they'll lose a lot more revenue from purchases I make from businesses than they'd ever have gotten by defining who my friends are. That or just offer that buyers who would consider me a friend can use that option and others can send a couple extra bucks.

And of course a big caveat pointed out by David is that if you don't know and trust the seller then this isn't a good option anyway. Even with Paypal's so called buyer protection you can still get shafted. Personally I would be very hesitant to make a significant purchase without American Express or my credit union backing me up any more. Paypal protects you IF they can get the money. If they can't get the money from the seller's bank account, they'll tell you that you'll get money when they get theirs. On the other hand my credit union has backed me up very quickly on a couple issues I've had.

[Jim Becker]

Please note when you use the "send money to a friend" type of personal transaction with PayPal, you lose buyer protections. So think carefully about using it to purchase from folks you don't know. I know of a bunch of folks on the horse forum that I frequent that have been scammed big-time and couldn't recover their money because they used the personal money options to supposedly reduce fees for the seller.