[Shop-talk] using paypal

[Wayne]

john niolon wrote:
> I'm in the midst of a sale of wrenchs to a guy in New York State... I'm in
> Alabama.  He wants to pay me by paypal... I have a paypal account I use for
> paying but never have used for receiving payment... how does it work ??
> dangers ???  fees ???  It's a reasonably large amount of money so I'm wary

I'd say, in general, it's "safer" than other payment methods.  But you 
will be hit with fees.  I opened an account several years ago.  You got 
some very limited number (3/year?) of "free" transactions with no fees. 
  But that doesn't go very far if you ebay a lot.  I sold a pair of 
concert tickets for $400, and the buyer wanted to pay with a credit 
card.  To accept CC payments or get over the transaction limit, you had 
to upgrade to a "premium" or something account.  However, once you did 
that, they started charging fees on *every* transaction.

I forget exactly how much they are, but it's like 3 - 5%.  It's a 
substantial hit if you're talking a couple hundred bucks.  (Keep that in 
mind every time you hand plastic to a vendor - the bank skims 2 - 3%)

Once the funds are received, you can leave them sit (which I'm sure they 
are hoping for) or transfer them to a bank account.  I did the later and 
had them within a day or two.  They offer fraud protection to the buyer 
and seller, but tend to favor the buyer.  People have complained about 
funds being frozen by fraudulent non-receipt or damage claims, and 
having to put up a large fight.

The only alternatives I would accept would be cash or a US postal money 
order.

   -Wayne