How does pay pal work?

dws1117 · 08-14-2008, 08:20 AM

I've been avoiding it for years, but I'm starting to discover that it would be a lot easier for such things as using the marketplace here and open my sales up to more buyers.

Could someone explain to me in idiot terms how it works. The paying part (me as the buyer) seems straight forward, but where I'm confused as when I'm the seller. How do I get the funds being paid. I've been searching the PayPal site and can't find the answers I'm wanting.

Also which account would I sign up for? I'm not a power seller ands have never used ebay.

Please help?!

ll_coffee_lP · 08-14-2008, 08:31 AM

Hi Wayne

It's quite easy actually. If you are just signing up you can sign up for a basic account - which essentially means that the person paying you must have the funds in their paypal account ahead of time. If you use Paypal often you might want a premium account, as this allows people to transfer funds to use through bank cards, e-cheques (these suck), or credit cards.

Once the funds are transferred to your Paypal account you can simple transfer them over to your own bank account. This process indicates that it can take up to 7 days, however I've never had it take more than 3 days.

Premium account is more flexible, but the service means that Paypal gets a bit of a bigger cut. All in all the cuts are minimal for the ease of use.

One other thing to keep in mind is that any funds that you transfer from your Paypal account to your bank account is free - as long as the fund transfer is $150 or more. If it's less than $150 Paypal charges you $0.50 (I believe).

I have had no problems using Paypal at all. I find it quite easy to use (you can transfer between currency free of charge also if you bank account is only set up to accept one currency).

The only thing to keep in mind is that you must remember to only do things with Paypal through their password protected website. I've received lots of emails that appear to be from Paypal that ask me to click a link, etc. NEVER DO THIS!! If you receive any message from Paypal make sure you open a new browser window, enter in their web address, sign in, and follow up.

I hope this info is helpful! Good luck!

c[_]

*daacon* · 08-14-2008, 08:35 AM

Coffee beat me to it - but I concur with his assement

One thing I would add is orignally I had a credit card as the only source of funding. Once I added my banck account (as I sold a few things) - this now becomes the primary funding source - you can change it to use your credit card before the money is sent , but you have to make that change.

Also I have a dedicated 'Internet/Pay Pal" credit card with a $1k limit. Like Coffee I have never had an issue with Pay Pal - this is just peice of mind for me.

*daacon* · 08-14-2008, 08:58 AM

Just checked Profile indicates Father

*Tom S.* · 08-14-2008, 09:44 AM

I have used Paypal a lot, and had one issue: they double paid one of the sellers I bought from on ebay. My Paypal comes direct from one of my credit union accounts, and fortunately the ceo of the credit union reversed the second payment (maybe because I am one of his directors?). Paypal complained about it, threatened all kinds of actions, and finally sent me a note telling me they were sorry and had screwed up.

Otherwise, I enjoy the ease of using it.

*daacon* · 08-14-2008, 09:50 AM

Ok to share it has not all been roses - I did get burnt by an EBay scammer for $1k - pay pal refunded me $150.00 (no idea where they came up with this number)

I pursued the issue with My Credit Card Company as I did not seem to be pay pal's top priority. Visa after 30 days as per their 'non delivery of goods' protection plan refunded my entire $1k then they went after pay pal.

Several months later Pay pal did ask for their $150 back - for a while thought I was ahead of the game

*TomInJax* · 08-14-2008, 09:51 AM

I use PayPal when I have to (as a seller). As a buyer it is great. PayPal will also help you get a refund if you get scammed or get defective merchandise (as a buyer).

The bad news is that they have slowly been raising the transaction fee. If you sell something on ebay, then collect through PayPal, you will end up paying out about 12% to 16% of your sale (EBay and PayPal fees).

I also found out something insane about PayPal last week. Let's say that you sold something to someone for $500. Then you made a purchase using PayPal for $29, using some of the funds in your PayPal account. Now you have a balance of $471 in your account (forget the PayPal fees in this example). The person that you sold something to, decides to return it and wants a refund. You issue a refund and PayPal will not use the money in your PayPal account, but will make your customer wait for the ENTIRE $500 until they can get the $500 out of your bank account. They won't touch a penny in your PayPal account, they will get the entire amount out of your bank account for the refund. So, you had better quickly transfer the PayPal money into your bank account, or have plenty available for a while. In addition, this process takes about 4 days, and your customer thinks that you are messing around with them! I was told by PayPal that if the entire amount was still in my PayPal account, the refund would have been instantaneous.

I recommend using Google Checkout as a seller. Google Checkout charges much less in fees, and refunds to customers are done properly.

Anyway, my 2 cents worth.