Idiots guide to PayPal please
Discussion
I have a few bits of a value of approx £50-60 that are going to be worth more if I sell worldwide on eBay. Whats the best way to get payment from them ? would you give out bank details for a money transfer or sign-up to this PayPal thing that everyone keeps telling me I should.
Would anyone be kind enough to explain how I receive payment and what are the typical scams that people are going to try if I offer PayPal payment for overseas buyers .
Thank you muchly
Would anyone be kind enough to explain how I receive payment and what are the typical scams that people are going to try if I offer PayPal payment for overseas buyers .
Thank you muchly
You basically set up a PayPal account and by default all you can use it for is to BUY stuff (i.e. make payments). You have to upgrade it to a "premier" account or something to accept payments. This is still free. You will need to validate addresses and bank details, which is done by them paying a small amount into your account, and you then tell them what that value was, thus proving that the account is yours. Can't remember how you validate the address - think it is via the registered cardholder address.
So, now people can pay you. You have to pay a fee if you accept a payment. Many ebay sellers pass this fee onto the buyer. ebay have banned this, but people get around it by upping the postage cost.
The horror stories surround PayPal accounts which get suspended by PayPal for unspecified reasons, leaving sums of money trapped within them and no timescale for the account being re-activated (if at all).
Scams are usually aimed at the buyer IIRC - basically copies of the PayPal site getting you to enter your username and password which is then captured and used to buy stuff with your account.
Edit: see also here: www.paypalsucks.com - lots of horror stories but aren't there horror stories about everything these days?
>> Edited by miniman on Tuesday 1st March 20:47
So, now people can pay you. You have to pay a fee if you accept a payment. Many ebay sellers pass this fee onto the buyer. ebay have banned this, but people get around it by upping the postage cost.
The horror stories surround PayPal accounts which get suspended by PayPal for unspecified reasons, leaving sums of money trapped within them and no timescale for the account being re-activated (if at all).
Scams are usually aimed at the buyer IIRC - basically copies of the PayPal site getting you to enter your username and password which is then captured and used to buy stuff with your account.
Edit: see also here: www.paypalsucks.com - lots of horror stories but aren't there horror stories about everything these days?
>> Edited by miniman on Tuesday 1st March 20:47
Just a word of warning as I today cancelled my Paypal account:
I had a dispute (still have) where I bought a Router from ebay and paid using paypal. The long and short of it is I ended up making a claim against the fraudster using Paypal's non 'delivering' claim procedure. This t
t that I bought the Router from begged me to cancel the action and promised me hand on heart that he would send me it, so like an ever bigger tt I cancelled the claim...and you guessed it he never sent it, nor refunded anything and doesn't answer any emails!
Now here's the bad point: Paypal won't reopen an investigation after its been closed, which makes me wonder exactly what services I am paying for at 3% on all transactions. So in this situation there is nothing that can be done - its just a loss. Also when you pay someone the money is transferred immediately from your bank/card into the buyers' bank. However, when you pay money which has been deposited into your Paypal account into your Bank Account it takes another 3-5 working days.
Also did you know that Paypal is an ebay company? Thats right, they fleece you for your auction charges at around 3-30% then fleece you again when you use Paypal to collect your money. Its a big scam and I wish I had bothered to read all the T&C's. My fault for not reading it through.
Today I decided to close the account and accept payment from direct bank transfer which is free.
I had a dispute (still have) where I bought a Router from ebay and paid using paypal. The long and short of it is I ended up making a claim against the fraudster using Paypal's non 'delivering' claim procedure. This t
t that I bought the Router from begged me to cancel the action and promised me hand on heart that he would send me it, so like an ever bigger tt I cancelled the claim...and you guessed it he never sent it, nor refunded anything and doesn't answer any emails! Now here's the bad point: Paypal won't reopen an investigation after its been closed, which makes me wonder exactly what services I am paying for at 3% on all transactions. So in this situation there is nothing that can be done - its just a loss. Also when you pay someone the money is transferred immediately from your bank/card into the buyers' bank. However, when you pay money which has been deposited into your Paypal account into your Bank Account it takes another 3-5 working days.
Also did you know that Paypal is an ebay company? Thats right, they fleece you for your auction charges at around 3-30% then fleece you again when you use Paypal to collect your money. Its a big scam and I wish I had bothered to read all the T&C's. My fault for not reading it through. Today I decided to close the account and accept payment from direct bank transfer which is free.
PayPal costs 3.4% + 20p of each transaction. I put this in my T&Cs, and assuming I can get the invoice out before they pay me, I add it to the postage. No complaints yet.
I sense people dislike PayPal the same way they dislike Microsoft, eg it's a monopoly and they feel trapped. Feelings aside, it works well enough for me and 90% of transactions use it. Fast and convenient.
However you can alway try MoneyBookers and NoChex - latter works well as you don't an account to pay, but MoneyBookers is pain for buyers - you have to open an account, transfer funds and then wait 3 days for them to clear.
I sense people dislike PayPal the same way they dislike Microsoft, eg it's a monopoly and they feel trapped. Feelings aside, it works well enough for me and 90% of transactions use it. Fast and convenient.
However you can alway try MoneyBookers and NoChex - latter works well as you don't an account to pay, but MoneyBookers is pain for buyers - you have to open an account, transfer funds and then wait 3 days for them to clear.
parrot of doom said:
I think Paypal is great. Never had a problem with it, the charges aren't that bad.
By the way, its against Ebay policy to surcharge for paypal payments. You can get suspended for doing that.
So you obviously don't mind paying Paypals and Ebays fees all together then (same company)?
Almost 10% minimum of your sale goes in their pockets.
Also see my point; if it does go pear shape you get stuff all support. Up until now I was all in favour - now things are different.
As mentioned earlier I would have liked to try and add the cost of the paypal to my auction or postage costs and wait till they notice but till then hey I just cancelled instead
If they settle my claim (now going to the European Courts) I may be back.. Convenient it is. Safe it is not.
ultimasimon said:
So you obviously don't mind paying Paypals and Ebays fees all together then (same company)?
No, because Ebay is an excellent service. Paypal is extremely convenient, and saves me the hassle of banking cheques.
Then again, you could always accept credit card payments. But, they're not cheap either.
parrot of doom said:
So you obviously don't mind paying Paypals and Ebays fees all together then (same company)?
No, because Ebay is an excellent service. Paypal is extremely convenient, and saves me the hassle of banking cheques.
Then again, you could always accept credit card payments. But, they're not cheap either.
..or just do a bank transfer online they're free
ultimasimon said:
makes me wonder exactly what services I am paying for at 3% on all transactions.
I think you’ll find that you only pay this if the buyer pays using their credit card rather than credit in their Paypal account. Not everyone has access to getting paid by credit cards at home, maybe this is what you pay for?
ultimasimon said:
Also when you pay someone the money is transferred immediately from your bank/card into the buyers' bank. However, when you pay money which has been deposited into your Paypal account into your Bank Account it takes another 3-5 working days.
No different to any other on line banking.
ultimasimon said:
they fleece you for your auction charges at around 3-30% then fleece you again when you use Paypal to collect your money. Its a big scam and I wish I had bothered to read all the T&C's. My fault for not reading it through.
Not sure how you managed to pay 30% charges? There is no charge for moving money in to your account unless you move less than £50 at the time.
scruffy said:
So if you have zero cridit you can pay some money into a PayPal A/C and bingo you can buy holidays, chilli sauce, deckchairs and moose online, is this correct?
Cridit... cridit - what the hell is cridit!!!!
>> Edited by scruffy on Wednesday 2nd March 00:24
You don't even need money in the account if you register a credit card on the account.
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