Avoiding Paypal fees

[murdered]

Wasn't sure what section to put this in, but if you want to avoid fees when paying with Paypal, select "personal" and then "payment owed" when picking what the payment is for. That will remove the ~3.5% payment fee they tack on, and everyone saves money.

[ihaveacamaro]

yeah and then they don't cover it if you paid for something and it doesn't come in the condition stated. The only way they cover something is if you pay the paypal fee.

[Obzen]

Yep, so you'll send it as a gift. They don't send the item and you have no recourse. All they have to do is say "it was a gift"

It's a good thing to know how to do though if you're doing business with someone you know or trust.

[chozn4service]

I've done that with the past few transactions I've conducted. Of course those who were dealing with me knew I was LEO and a regular on the boards and have a spotless iTrader rating. I've had some on here that wanted to buy and they had serious red flags like no post, no info on them and they requested info that didn't pertain to the item I was selling, also asking if they could have someone come inspect the part before they made good on the payment. I don't think so, homey don't play that!

[awfarley]

I've sent all my payments to members of this forum through "Gift" or "Payment Owed", but then again I've only bought from reputable people.

Another big reason I think new members (100 posts or less) shouldn't be allowed to buy or sell in the marketplace. It would basically stop all scammers from signing up and ripping people off in there 10th post. Obviously buyers should use discretion when purchasing but that would help.

I don't know how hard it would be to set up for a forum, but there is a way to lock a member out of certain areas within certain parameters (100 posts or more)

[Neumatic]

Originally Posted by awfarley

I've sent all my payments to members of this forum through "Gift" or "Payment Owed", but then again I've only bought from reputable people.

Another big reason I think new members (100 posts or less) shouldn't be allowed to buy or sell in the marketplace. It would basically stop all scammers from signing up and ripping people off in there 10th post. Obviously buyers should use discretion when purchasing but that would help.

I don't know how hard it would be to set up for a forum, but there is a way to lock a member out of certain areas within certain parameters (100 posts or more)

Thats up to the seller and buyers themselves. If they don't think its a reputable person or don't want to sell to someone that doesn't have many posts or hasn't been around very long thats on them. The forum clearly states that Camaro5 is not responsible for the transactions, so there is no point in putting such restriction on it as it is up to the sellers to decide who and who not to sell to. Just my opinion though.

[RacnJsn95]

If it's a PIF item I don't see the problem with paying as a gift, because most of the time the item is FREE, and you're just covering shipping. If you want to file a dispute against someone that gave you a free item at just the cost of shipping because you aren't happy with it, that's pretty stupid imo. Now if it never shows up period, I can see the problem with that.

That said, I've had quite a few members in the classified section ask me to pay as a gift to avoid the fees. I usually tell them I will just add the 3% to the cost that I am paying them to cover the fees and pay as "Goods", just to cover my own butt... No one has had a problem with that yet. I could see doing that with a big item that would have expensive shipping in the PIF section, just add 3% to the shipping cost and pay as goods.

[500hpbluez28]

Originally Posted by RacnJsn95

If it's a PIF item I don't see the problem with paying as a gift, because most of the time the item is FREE, and you're just covering shipping. If you want to file a dispute against someone that gave you a free item at just the cost of shipping because you aren't happy with it, that's pretty stupid imo. Now if it never shows up period, I can see the problem with that.

That said, I've had quite a few members in the classified section ask me to pay as a gift to avoid the fees. I usually tell them I will just add the 3% to the cost that I am paying them to cover the fees and pay as "Goods", just to cover my own butt... No one has had a problem with that yet. I could see doing that with a big item that would have expensive shipping in the PIF section, just add 3% to the shipping cost and pay as goods.

Thats what I have been doing. Id rather pay the 3% more for the added security.

[Bboykaoz22]

True

[Birm]

Originally Posted by RacnJsn95

If it's a PIF item I don't see the problem with paying as a gift, because most of the time the item is FREE, and you're just covering shipping. If you want to file a dispute against someone that gave you a free item at just the cost of shipping because you aren't happy with it, that's pretty stupid imo. Now if it never shows up period, I can see the problem with that.

That said, I've had quite a few members in the classified section ask me to pay as a gift to avoid the fees. I usually tell them I will just add the 3% to the cost that I am paying them to cover the fees and pay as "Goods", just to cover my own butt... No one has had a problem with that yet. I could see doing that with a big item that would have expensive shipping in the PIF section, just add 3% to the shipping cost and pay as goods.

Originally Posted by 500hpbluez28

Thats what I have been doing. Id rather pay the 3% more for the added security.

Me too unless its from someone on here I see quite a bit, or sell's stuff all the time. I have paid "Gifted" to a few people (SSTG, 01pewterz28 etc..)

[Ozzie RS]

I tried that a while back and the person that said it was a gift didn't have to pay but the person receiving the item had to pay. Trust me PayPal is not going to do anything for free. They have definitely thought of this round about or they wouldn't still be in business.

[got adrenalin?]

Originally Posted by Ozzie RS

I tried that a while back and the person that said it was a gift didn't have to pay but the person receiving the item had to pay. Trust me PayPal is not going to do anything for free. They have definitely thought of this round about or they wouldn't still be in business.

huh .. I just gifted someone money for a article and the exact amount is all paypal deducted from my account?? would the fee be listed somewhere else in my account?
I would refer someone to check out my e-bay rating if they had second thought about doing a transaction with me ... 500+ purchases with a 100% rating =)

[RacnJsn95]

Originally Posted by got adrenalin?

huh .. I just gifted someone money for a article and the exact amount is all paypal deducted from my account?? would the fee be listed somewhere else in my account?
I would refer someone to check out my e-bay rating if they had second thought about doing a transaction with me ... 500+ purchases with a 100% rating =)

You do not incur a fee for sending money... Only receiving it (if it's a purchase). I have never incurred a fee for receiving money as a gift.

[Ozzie RS]

Originally Posted by got adrenalin?

huh .. I just gifted someone money for a article and the exact amount is all paypal deducted from my account?? would the fee be listed somewhere else in my account?
I would refer someone to check out my e-bay rating if they had second thought about doing a transaction with me ... 500+ purchases with a 100% rating =)

I'm not saying you are not telling the truth. Just what has happened to me. I'm glad you did not get charged and I believe you do have a perfect rating. Sorry if that was implied, that was not my intention.

All I'm saying is why would PayPal do a transaction for free? They are a business to make money not give money away for free. Think about it, if you were PayPal would you let a transaction go through out of the kindness of you heart or charge someone for a transaction?

[Nutro]

Originally Posted by Ozzie RS

I tried that a while back and the person that said it was a gift didn't have to pay but the person receiving the item had to pay. Trust me PayPal is not going to do anything for free. They have definitely thought of this round about or they wouldn't still be in business.

Were you the payer or payee?

[Ozzie RS]

Originally Posted by Nutro

Were you the payer or payee?

I was the payer at the request of the seller, to send my payment to him as a gift. He said he had done it before and did not understand why it was charging me the fee so I tried it again and Paypal still was going to charge me the fee so he said to forget it. That was about a year ago for a set of wheels that cost over $1500. Maybe I did something wrong or it had to do with the amount of the transaction or the policy has changed since then. I probably didn't do something right but it worker out in the end.

[RacnJsn95]

I just noticed today that it looks like paypal has started charging a fee for sending money as a gift... It appears to be a 0.5% based on the fee... I was given the option to pay the fee (in this case $0.08 (eight cents) on the $16.00 gift, or let the receiver incur the fee... In this case I ponied up and payed the .08

[LeanPocket]

u can also cancel the money sent and get the money back.. screwing the seller

never send money as a gift

[csjcsj]

I'm a member of another forum, and I don't know how they do it, but you can not buy or sell anything, can't even post in the for sale section until you have 50 posts! That's not a lot, but I guess it's easier to detect a scammer! Who knows!!!

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

worst advice ever.. sending as a Gift or Payment Owed.. The buyer and seller lose all protection over a 3.5% fee.

3.5% yup $3.50 on every hundred bucks.. it's such a massive fee to protect your ass. Bet you waste more than that on Lotto Tickets, Fast Food, or lost change in your seat cushions.

that 3.5% fee is no different than any clearing house charges for a credit card transaction. Every brick and mortar store you walk into and use a credit card for gets charged that fee for the privledge of allowing them to take that credit card and have a third party collect the funds.

It's the fee for using their services.

Bitch and moan all you want, it's there for the protection of the buyer and the seller.. I did over $5,000 in seller transaction thru paypal last year, and I paid my fees and I was protected for buyers that want to screw you over and claim B.S. like they never received the package, and tracking clearly shows they did.


Receiving as a gift paypal finds in their favor and as a seller I lose the money and the product..

People send me money as a gift for goods and I refund it back, I tell them up front not to do it, send as a payment.. It allows me to ship thru paypal for tracking AND protects me when they decided to be thieving losers. Plus it is tax deductible as a business expense.



Oh and BTW the fee is still there sending as a gift, the sender pays it, not the receiver.. so you aren't saving anything.. PayPal will get their money one way or another. But the receiver (seller) gets screwed.

[RacnJsn95]

I will very rarely send money as a gift... If they complain about the fee I will just say, "Hey, I'll add 4% so you don't even lose anything."

I'm glad you posted though Mr. iNCREDIBLE... One of my customers here last month claimed they never received their order but UPS showed it delivered and signed for (the signature was literally a line) by some one the receiver claims they don't know and doesn't live there... I shipped out a replacement to the guy's work address. UPS did their "investigation", called the customer. and decided that the customer had indeed received the package even though he told them that he had not and UPS denied payment to me for the replacement shipped... Time to hit up paypal!