Hey guys,

Looking to get rid of some gear soon but, have never really used paypal before to receive payment. How do the transactions work and the best way to pay as little as possible in fee's?

Any help would be appreciated!

if you go to their website it is really self explanatory...

this is what you do... create an account... they'll want you to associate a bank account to the paypal account you create...

when someone pays you they have to send you the payment as gift so they don't pay any fees and you don't pay any fees and you get the whole amount they sent you...

whatever help you need PM me... you could call me and I can walk you trhough it...

in return... always a catch right? ... let me know what you are selling so i have first dibbs :D

What if you have paypal hooked up to a credit card and not a bank account? Do they credit the card?

I could be wrong, but I believe you need to have a bank account linked to your PayPal account. You can add a credit card as well and actually use that to send money, but I think you always need a bank card. Then you can send money from either your bank card, credit card or account balance. I think cash withdrawals from your account are always to your bank account, but again I could be wrong.

For fees, normally the recipient is dinged the fees which tend to be around 3-4%. So if someone pays you $100 then you would actually receive about $96. The only way around this is if someone sends it as a 'personal payment' which means they will cover any fees. If you send a personal payment using your credit card, then you get dinged the fees but if you use your paypal account balance or your bank card then I think it's free. This is changing though...Paypal might be charging fees on all transactions now, so it's really a matter of who pays them. Generally as a buyer you are better off to not pay the fees because if you send it as a personal payment then you can't really complain if the seller doesn't follow through.

Nope. You can get a PayPal debit card and spend the funds accumulated that way. They will mail you a check too. Of course you can "spend" the PayPal funds on eBay purchases or any on-line merchant who takes PayPal. Works across currencies too.

Caveat emptor: the folk who are doing the "gift" option on PayPal to save 3% or 4% in fees are wide open for fraud. If you do a "gift" payment and you don't get the goods, you don't have a leg to stand on. Think of those fees as insurance. Always use shipping with tracking or delivery confirmation, as the receiver can say he never got it and you will be tagged the funds. I would insure anything expensive, so you are covered for damage or loss, although I have never had USPS loose an item.

Also, if you use the "goods" option, you can do your postage right from the PayPal site and get many more options than you can from the USPS site, including USPS First Class Parcel, and Parcel Post. You print your label and packing slip on the spot and can drop it off at the post office without standing in line. My local post office lobby is open 24/7 and I can drop off anything that will fit in the "APC" chute, IF the #$%^& thing isn't jammed. You also end up with a nice electronic record of the whole transaction. No finger pointing sessions!

to withdraw your paypal balance u need a bank account. with only a credit card, you can only purchase things through paypal.

i could be wrong but thats what i remember

It's best to tie your Paypal account with both a checking account and a credit card. Why?

1. When you get paid, transferring the money to your checking account can be done electronically -- at no charge to you. No checking account? Then unless you sign up for a Paypal debit card -- Paypal will have to mail you a paper check -- and charge you a fee for the trouble.

2. When you buy stuff and pay through Paypal, charging that payment through your linked credit card gives you the usual credit card protection -- and your credit card number is never exposed to the seller. Got a dispute? Reading the posts here, it can take up to a month for Paypal to resolve the dispute and credit you back your money. But with a credit card, you can get your credit back right then and there -- without further hassle or wait time.

I highly recommend linking both checking account and credit card to Paypal. Paypal is reputable. I've had this set up since 2004 without any problems whatsoever.

I believe that you cannot file a dispute with paypal related to a "gift" payment, so be careful advising people to use gift when it is actually a purchase they are making... could be wrong about this, but the standard user agreement seems to imply that you can only dispute a payment made for GOODS and SERVICES. Gift transactions seem to be excluded from the dispute process. All I'm saying is... read the "small print". Good luck!

Thanks for the info Benjamin.

Sean -- You are welcome.

James raised a very good cautionary point up above! When making payment through Paypal... you can do it one of two ways. Say you are paying $100:

1. Designate payment as "Purchase" -- You pay $100 -- through your choice of linked checking account or linked credit card -- Paypal takes a 3%-5% cut -- and your seller/receiver gets the net amount. This is where I highly recommend that you pay via credit card to get protection from your credit card issuer. Paypal will also provide protection, but to me, theirs is a slower and more drawn out process.

2. Designate payment as "Personal" -- You pay the same $100 -- your receiving party gets the full $100 -- and Paypal gets nothing (i.e. no fee). Obviously, most all receivers will prefer that you take this option. But there are two caveats for you. First, "no fee" applies only if you pay via your checking account (note that you won't get the credit card protection in case of dispute). If you wish to pay via credit card -- then either you or your receiver (you the sender get to pick) will have to pay the Paypal fee.

EDIT: Made correction to tem No. 2. Thanks, Sean and Mark.

Edited by ben2world on 01/23/2011 10:17:47 MST.

Thanks for all the comments and PM's from members. I did link up my bank account to paypal. They send you two small deposits in about 2 days after entering your account info; then you just go back to paypal and put in the amounts and your accounts are linked. It was pretty easy.

I'll be posting some stuff in a few days....

Thanks again!

Cool!

Now, what size do you wear? I have some goodies you might like :) Muhahahah!

Hi Peter,

Something else I found out last transaction, and should go here in case anyone searches the forums. The 'Purchase' option also doesn't charge a currency exchange fee, as it does when you use the gift option. This can actually make the Purchase option cheaper for all concerned than the Gift option, when buying internationally on smaller ticket items.

I'm not sure how it might work on something for say $300-400, heh heh, but if it lets me use my Mastercard, I can get a much better exchange rate than the crappy one Paypal offers

Rod

Another quick note. If you start using the Paypal account quite a bit, as Dale mentioned earlier in the thread, you can get a Paypal debit card and an interest bearing money market account. The account used to be one of the top rated money market accounts in the country before the economy took a dump and I used to be at a little over 5% interest which was awesome (it's now at like .15%...boo). Another nice benefit of the card and money market account is that when you use the card as a credit instead of debit, it gives you 1.5% back on all of those purchases at the end of the month which can add up. Just thought some folks may be interested!

quote "2. Designate payment as "Personal" -- You pay the same $100 -- your receiving party gets the full $100 -- and Paypal gets nothing. Obviously, most all receivers will prefer that you take this option. But there are two caveats for you. First, you can only pay via your checking account -- NOT your credit card. So NO credit card protection. Secondly, my understanding is that you also get NO protection from Paypal. So, I would only use this method to pay someone I trust." quote

Benjamin.i have used the personal option of payment with my credit card many times. Seems to work for me.

there are a lot of incorrect statements in this thread.

go to Paypal and read there for yourself.

You do not have to use a bank account, I didnt have one associated for years. You also can do a personal or gift with a credit card, you just have to pay the fees yourself.

Lately I have not seen any transactions that did not require a fee on one end or the other, but again, go read on the site, as I may be missing something.

Sean and Mark:

Thanks -- I've edited my post above.

As for transactions that require a fee on one end or the other -- if you use Paypal, select the "Personal" option, and pay using your checking account -- then indeed it's "no fee" -- to you and to your receiver.