paying someone through paypal???? service fees

[mlktwins]

Question - If I am paying someone to do something for me, and I am using PayPal to pay them, can I bypass the service fee if I pay them through their regular PayPal account and not through Pay Me on PayPal?  And...if that person refunds me some money, they could send it back to me the same way without the service fee?

If we can do that, what are the cons (if any) to doing it this way?

[SereneHome]

You can sent it as "sending to  a friend", but then paypal doesn't protect you in case the product is defective or something else goes wrong

[mlktwins]

3 minutes ago, SereneHome said:

You can sent it as "sending to  a friend", but then paypal doesn't protect you in case the product is defective or something else goes wrong

Would you do it this way if someone was grocery shopping for you - personal shopping (not Instacart)?

[Ailaena]

If I knew the person, maybe I’d use Friends and family, otherwise I’d just pay the fees and be protected in case that person never showed up with my groceries.   
 

I think refunds would not incur fees if you use the pay a business feature.

[SereneHome]

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

Would you do it this way if someone was grocery shopping for you - personal shopping (not Instacart)?

i am not a good person to ask - I am super skeptical 🙂

I guess if I had to and kind of resigned myself that I may loose the money.....

[katilac]

1 hour ago, Ailaena said:

If I knew the person, maybe I’d use Friends and family, otherwise I’d just pay the fees and be protected in case that person never showed up with my groceries.   
 

The sender doesn't pay the fees, the receiver does. If she's meant to pay them $50 for shopping, the only way they will get the full amount is sending it Friends and Family. And if she's wanting to pay for the service plus the groceries, I don't think that would work, because the percentage fee will be deducted from the total.  

 

[SereneHome]

1 hour ago, Ailaena said:

If I knew the person, maybe I’d use Friends and family, otherwise I’d just pay the fees and be protected in case that person never showed up with my groceries.   
 

I think refunds would not incur fees if you use the pay a business feature.

She would not be paying the feels - the person she is sending it to would be paying the fees.

@mlktwins - another idea - just send more money to cover the fees??  this way you are protected and it will only cost you a bit extra?

So, to make it clear. Let's say the whole order is $100.  If the person is not honest you can loose $100. But if you send $110 - to cover 10% fees - the most you will loose $10 bc if the person doesn't deliver, paypal will take care of $100 - does this makes sense?

[katilac]

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

Would you do it this way if someone was grocery shopping for you - personal shopping (not Instacart)?

How did you find out about this person? Do you know others who use them, were they recommended on social media, or did they just start doing this in the wake of quarantine? 

What's their usual process? 

If it's a person who is somewhat known in the community or your social circle, I'd feel like the chances of them not delivering my groceries was quite small. The worst scenario would be not being happy with some of their choices, or a few things being wrong, and I'd be okay with that risk. 

If it's a complete stranger who popped up on Craig's List during quarantine, I think I'd give the whole idea a pass. 

[katilac]

8 minutes ago, SereneHome said:

 So, to make it clear. Let's say the whole order is $100.  If the person is not honest you can loose $100. But if you send $110 - to cover 10% fees - the most you will loose $10 bc if the person doesn't deliver, paypal will take care of $100 - does this makes sense?

This would work, and luckily the fees aren't that high. They usually wind up just over 3%. 

This calculator lets you enter a number and then tells you how much to send to cover the fees. For example, if you want to send the person $225, you should send $232.03.

[mlktwins]

Thanks everyone!!!  Yes, I trust her.  It all went as planned today.  I just looked and she definitely ended up with the fee.  She is trying to work extra to keep her teenagers in food, I know how much mine eat, so I really don't want her having an extra fee  :-).

All of this really helped!   Thanks so much!

Edited April 2, 2020 by mlktwins