Selling stuff via paypal

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Geoff Crowther

"... travel far, not fast", Ted Simon
Hi all
Forgive if if this is in the wrong thread.
We sold something a few days back and accepted payment through my paypal account.
The buyer sent us £46 but when we transferred it to our bank account we got, I think, £44.24.
Obviously paypal took a cut. Is there any way to avoid this? I've occasionally seen folks ask for payments as a gift. Is that the answer? Does that not incur a charge for buyer or seller?
Cheers
Geoff
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
You can send money as a gift, this is meant for passing gifts between friends and family, but is often used to get around paying paypal fees. However it exempts you from the seller/buyer protection, so if you get scammed and raise a complaint with PayPal they will not be forthcoming with help! In certain trading communities it is fairly common to ask for payment as gift or to add 4% (this will cover the fees). Or you can just set the price such that when/if it sells, you get what you wanted even after the fee is deducted, problem is, might put off some buyers.
 

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
Yes make sure they pay direct from their paypal account i sold a bike on this forum lastweek and asked him to transfer the money to his paypal first then from his paypal to me.. He didnt and i got charged £40 in fees i refunded him and asked him to do it again and i wasnt charged a penny :smile:

If they pay from their paypal balance =no fees
From their bank via paypal= fees

Dont bother with gifting unless they are paying you via gift, if you pay someone else via gift youve no cover if they dont send it
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
As I end up (ahem) "re-investing" any revenue from ebay / paypal sales, in further purchases, it just goes around the system without a cut being taken (from me at least). Paypal make interest revenue from the money sitting on their books, and, as you've found take an extra bite if anyone moves it out entirely
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
someone remind me again who owns paypal?

I sold some stuff last year, including a bike and a scooter and the bloody paypal and ebay fees between them were stupidly ridiculous

The Final Value Fee was a new one on me, how on earth does the price you sell something for on their automated website affect their costs?

pisstake
 

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
As said before get them to transfer cash from their bank to their paypal then pay direct from their paypal balance NO FEES!! Shame alot of people dont know this as it would save everyone many pennies. Of its already in their paypal it charges nothing
 

Cubist

Still wavin'
Location
Ovver 'thill
As said before get them to transfer cash from their bank to their paypal then pay direct from their paypal balance NO FEES!! Shame alot of people dont know this as it would save everyone many pennies. Of its already in their paypal it charges nothing
If your bank account is linked to your PayPal it doesn't cost anything anyway. Using PayPal at 4% gives both buyer and seller protection from scammers

EBay may charge 10%, but they are there to run a busines, not a community service
 
Top Bottom