Paypal question

[woolybear]

I have only used paypal in the past for buying and it was always non cc. So, I posted my for sale items the same way. I have a buyer interested but said she can only do a cc paypal payment. How does that work? Is there an extra fee charged? Or can only certain accounts take cc?

 

I looked on the Paypal website, but couldn't get the info. I also tried calling but waiting and paying to be on hold wasn't good.:)

 

Thanks for any help.

[Scuff]

Paypal has changed the way they charge fees. Tell her to choose the personal option and then she can pay however she wants and choose to pay the fees herself. In the future, to avoid fees, request payment be sent personal.

[woolybear]

Thank you. I did request personal. Does that mean one cannot do cc with a personal payment?

[ConnieB]

Personal payments that are funded through a linked bank account or a balance in the buyer's Paypal account do not incur fees for either party.

 

Personal payment that are funded through debit or credit cards incur a fee....however, the buyer can check a box agreeing to pay those fees. If the box is not checked then the email the seller receives saying there is money waiting for you will indicate the amount LESS the fee. If the seller does not want to accept paying this fee they should refund the entire amount to the seller along with a note that they need to accept the fees or pay by linked bank account/balance in paypal account.

 

 

As the seller, this is a great thing because you get to accept paypal but not pay fees.

 

As the buyer...this can be a VERY bad idea. Because a "personal" payment is NOT supposed to be to purchase something...it's supposed to be for personal reasons, like I'm buying dinner and you'll paypal me your share....or we're getting tickets to a play and I'm buying them so we sit together and you're paying me back...etc. Which means that if there is a problem, the normal dispute procedures DO NOT APPLY. Because it's supposed to be between friends. So if the seller doesn't send your items....or they're damaged or whatever else can sometimes go wrong in a SALE transaction...you as the buyer are at the mercy of the seller doing the right thing....with no help from Paypal.

 

Technically if you're selling items you are not supposed to be using the personal option. Paypal doesn't seem to be taking much action to verify that the transaction fit their "personal" category.....except when a complaint is filed and the fact that you were selling merchandise is stuck in their face...then the reports are that seller's are getting their paypal accounts closed.

 

Not judging you....just being sure you understand how it's supposed to work. I use the personal option to accept money from folks in my homeschool group when we go on a field trip...they paypal me the money, I pay the museum/theatre ahead of time as required to get the great rates. I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with Paypal making sure that I wasn't breaking the rules by accepting Paypal to save folks to time and trouble of mailing me a check....or of me having to wait a week to collect everyone's money so I could pay the museum! I also did a lot of reading online which is where I found over and over that Sellers trying to save the fees were getting their accounts closed when Buyer claimed something was wrong (which we know is not always a reflection on the seller:confused:). Not sure why the buyer wasn't shut down too, but I didn't want to ask Paypal because I was planning to do it the way it was intended.

 

As the seller, you're taking the risk of losing your account (though again, those that I read, lots of them just went and opened another account, so I'm not positive what real punishment it was). Buyers are really the ones taking the risk because they're giving up their right to dispute.

[6packofun]

So, how do both buyers AND sellers avoid paying fees?

[Mrs Mungo]

So, how do both buyers AND sellers avoid paying fees?

 

You can't, not while using a credit card because cc companies charge a fee per transaction.

[woolybear]

Personal payments that are funded through a linked bank account or a balance in the buyer's Paypal account do not incur fees for either party.

 

Personal payment that are funded through debit or credit cards incur a fee....however, the buyer can check a box agreeing to pay those fees. If the box is not checked then the email the seller receives saying there is money waiting for you will indicate the amount LESS the fee. If the seller does not want to accept paying this fee they should refund the entire amount to the seller along with a note that they need to accept the fees or pay by linked bank account/balance in paypal account.

 

 

As the seller, this is a great thing because you get to accept paypal but not pay fees.

 

As the buyer...this can be a VERY bad idea. Because a "personal" payment is NOT supposed to be to purchase something...it's supposed to be for personal reasons, like I'm buying dinner and you'll paypal me your share....or we're getting tickets to a play and I'm buying them so we sit together and you're paying me back...etc. Which means that if there is a problem, the normal dispute procedures DO NOT APPLY. Because it's supposed to be between friends. So if the seller doesn't send your items....or they're damaged or whatever else can sometimes go wrong in a SALE transaction...you as the buyer are at the mercy of the seller doing the right thing....with no help from Paypal.

 

Technically if you're selling items you are not supposed to be using the personal option. Paypal doesn't seem to be taking much action to verify that the transaction fit their "personal" category.....except when a complaint is filed and the fact that you were selling merchandise is stuck in their face...then the reports are that seller's are getting their paypal accounts closed.

 

Not judging you....just being sure you understand how it's supposed to work. I use the personal option to accept money from folks in my homeschool group when we go on a field trip...they paypal me the money, I pay the museum/theatre ahead of time as required to get the great rates. I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with Paypal making sure that I wasn't breaking the rules by accepting Paypal to save folks to time and trouble of mailing me a check....or of me having to wait a week to collect everyone's money so I could pay the museum! I also did a lot of reading online which is where I found over and over that Sellers trying to save the fees were getting their accounts closed when Buyer claimed something was wrong (which we know is not always a reflection on the seller:confused:). Not sure why the buyer wasn't shut down too, but I didn't want to ask Paypal because I was planning to do it the way it was intended.

 

As the seller, you're taking the risk of losing your account (though again, those that I read, lots of them just went and opened another account, so I'm not positive what real punishment it was). Buyers are really the ones taking the risk because they're giving up their right to dispute.

 

 

OKay....so my account is just linked through my checking account right now. If I want to continue with this buyer would you recommend I have her do a purchase payment with her cc and she pays any fees incurred or I just accept it and pay the fees myself? And how do I find out what the fees would be?

 

Thanks for everyone's help on this.

[ConnieB]

So, how do both buyers AND sellers avoid paying fees?

 

The buyer would need to do a personal transfer using either a balance in their Paypal account already, or using a linked bank account.

 

Linking a bank account to your Paypal account is a pretty simple process....takes 2-3 business days, while Paypal makes a small deposit and you then have to tell them what amount was deposited. This is to verify that you are the owner of the bank account.

 

If a credit card is used then someone has to pay the fees to Paypal. Remember that Paypal would be charged by the credit card company so that's why bank/balance transfers are free while credit are not.

[ConnieB]

OKay....so my account is just linked through my checking account right now. If I want to continue with this buyer would you recommend I have her do a purchase payment with her cc and she pays any fees incurred or I just accept it and pay the fees myself? And how do I find out what the fees would be?

 

Thanks for everyone's help on this.

 

 

The fee is 2.9% of the transaction total, including shipping/handling fees, plus .30 per transaction.

 

So basically, if the purchase price was $100....the fee would be $3.20 (100 x 2.9% = $2.90 plus .30 = $3.20).

 

 

I'd ask the seller to pay the fees. If she balked at doing that I guess I would have to weigh paying the fees vs. losing the sale. The fees aren't ridiculously high unless you're selling the item at bargain basement prices already in which case you probably have other buyers that you turned away so if this buyer won't pay the fees, I'd move on to the next buyer.