question about paypal

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robby

MVP
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I see more and more people selling on here and on other sites requesting payment through paypal as a gift. Now I understand how to do it and am assuming its being asked to circumvent fees. But if money is sent in gift form dont you give up buyer protection through paypal in case something does go wrong. Meaning arent you out of luck on recouping anything if you get taken.
Wasnt sure so I figured Id ask as Ive been very weary about sending money this way.

thanks
Robby
 
yes, you are absolutely correct .... that is why I only do it with members I have dealt with and trust - erik
 
See I think its really good for smaller purchases because isn't paypal fee structure something like .39 + some percent? I don't know the exact figures but it seems worth it to me to take the chance on smaller deals but bigger ones like 30 dollars or more have the seller pay a dollar or two in fees.

Ben
 
lep is very correct....no protection offered....

personally i will ACCEPT gift payments , but i will NEVER ask for one since it is a blatant violation of pay pal's TOS to do so :

* 4.2 Receiving Payments for Commercial Transactions and Personal Transactions.

1. Section 4.2 of the user agreement will read as follows:

"4.2 Receiving Payments for Commercial Transactions and Personal Transactions. a. Fees depend on whether you are making a commercial transaction or a personal transaction. A commercial transaction involves buying and selling goods or services, and payments received when you send a "request money” using PayPal. A personal transaction involves sending money to and receiving money from friends and family without making a purchase.

b. If you are selling goods or services, you may not ask the buyer to send you a personal payment for the purchase. If you do so, PayPal may remove your ability to accept personal payments.”



also , in regard to carribeankid's comment on the fees : standard rate is 2.9% plus 30 cents (lower for hi volume sellers)....really not a bad rate at all....
 
PP and credit cards payments, always an interesting topic when debated by those in this hobby.

The convenience of being able to take PP or credit card payments really opens up the door for those sellers doing so. It also makes payments instantaneous. There are some risks, such as charge backs, but that is probably rare. However, with that convenience comes a price. The fees are what enables those sellers to accept credit cards where they otherwise would not be able to do so or where they would need their own machine and likely pay more.

HOWEVER, many sellers in this hobby are not true businesses and most of the money they make is probably used to buy more cards. Many of these people are trying to avoid paying the fees by charging more to cover their fees (something ebay made illegal long ago), switching it around so the buyer pays the fees (gift transactions, etc), etc.

It all comes down to what expense a buyer is really willing to assume when buying from these people. Sometimes I am willing, other times I am not. I'm already paying a cost for the item and a shipping charge. Sometimes there is even a handling charge as well. If the buyer wants to sell me his card, maybe he needs to pay that PP fee.
 
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