PayPal send as gift option

[Bob Vavricka]

I recently agreed to buy an item and in the follow up communication, the seller wanted me to send the money as a gift through PayPal. I declined to do it because I didn't think I would have any recourse if I didn't get the item or it was not as advertised. The seller agreed to still sell it at the agreed price as a purchase rather than a gift. It also seems a little dishonest to do this, or is that just my thinking. I also saw where a seller indicated that the buyer would need to add 3% to the price of the item if the payment was not sent as a gift. In that case the seller was upfront with the request, but I would still be reluctant to do it. What are your thoughts on this?

[David Weaver]

I don't send money as gifts unless it's a gift. You don't get buyer protection.

If a seller doesn't want to pay paypal fees, they should have you send a postal money order, my opinion.

As a sometimes seller of things, I am glad to take the fees to get the coverage and the record in the paypal system of the address of the buyer.

I personally can't get into someone saying they need to extract 3% from you if you use paypal. if someone does that on small retail sales, I just don't buy from them. It's nickel and diming.

I understand on large commercial items with thin margins, that is more material, but it's often something that shows up on $100 items sold from person to person, and it's ridiculous in my opinion.

[Dan Hintz]

I'm with David...

EDIT: Also nearly got burned. Guy wanted it sent as a gift, but I declined and added in a few dollars to cover the extra cost. Sure enough, excuse after excuse, and the item never did get shipped. PP gave me my money back, but I wonder how many other folks he cheated.

[Matt Day]

I'll send money as a gift to reputable members of forums, like this one.
I can understand not wanting to give up 3% to PayPal.
Ebay and non-established members, not a chance.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

when I list items for sale on forums, I state in the terms of the sale that payment by paypal is accepted. on small items I usually include the "cost" of paypal fees into the item, though sometimes I surcharge for paypal (especially on large sales) - but I state that up front in the ad.

[Kevin Bourque]

Ebay has a notice somewhere on their site warning buyers about this "gift" scam.

[Bruce Page]

When you signed up for PayPal, you agreed to their terms, a portion of which state:

3.4 No Surcharges. You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as a payment method. You may charge a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee is not higher than the handling fee you charge for non-PayPal transactions.

3.5 Receiving Personal Payments. If you are selling goods or services, you may not ask the buyer to send you a Personal Payment for the purchase.

[Moses Yoder]

This will get a little lengthy. I just signed up for PayPal this year to trade on the web and love it. I found that some people will send as a gift without asking. This eliminates the ability to ship with the PayPal shipping system . If they "pay for goods" on smaller items under 13 oz. you can do a first class package that is considerably less than priority mail, and you can print the label using PayPal. If you print online shipping for USPS you are limited to priority mail unless you use the PayPal shipping button. Another issue is that my hobby funds are very limited; often times I do not have $10 available to ship something cash, and transferring money from PayPal to a bank takes 3 days. All of this is besides the honesty issue. I save almost as much on shipping when I use PayPal shipping as the PayPal fee; the shipping cost is normally about a dollar less, and on a $30 item Paypal charges about $1.20 I think.

One thing, I mentioned to someone about paying as a gift and they replied that "Well, you sent me a request for money". I guess if you request money instead of sending an invoice some people might assume you want the money sent as a gift.

[Grant Wilkinson]

I've bought and sold using Paypal and can see why sellers want the buyer to say that he is sending the money as a gift.

If the money is sent as a gift, the BUYER pays a fee to Paypal. If the money is sent for goods or services the SELLER pays the fees to paypal.

I just input an example into paypal to make sure that I am correct. If I want to send $100US as a gift, I have to pay $3.20 US to Paypal. If I want to send that same $100 to pay for goods or services, I pay nothing. Paypal states that that seller will pay their fees. So, it's easy to see why some sellers want the buyer to say the payment is a gift.

[Matt Meiser]

That's only partially true. If you use a credit card, sender pays fees. If you use funds on hand or a bank account, no one pays fees.

[David Weaver]

That's only partially true. If you use a credit card, sender pays fees. If you use funds on hand or a bank account, no one pays fees.

Ditto that. The big issue is that you save the seller a little over 3% and give up all of your rights to any kind of recourse with whatever the purchased item is.

I didn't know that the paypal TOS required sellers to offer the item at the same price as paypal, I think that's an overreach on their part, but I already avoid those people, anyway.

[Dan Hintz]

I didn't know that the paypal TOS required sellers to offer the item at the same price as paypal, I think that's an overreach on their part, but I already avoid those people, anyway.

The TOS on all credit cards is sellers are not allowed to add a surcharge for use of a credit card. Very few stores worry about it, but the ones that do state there is a discount for using cash. So prices shown are for credit customers, but cash custoemrs pay less.

[Brian Elfert]

The TOS on all credit cards is sellers are not allowed to add a surcharge for use of a credit card. Very few stores worry about it, but the ones that do state there is a discount for using cash. So prices shown are for credit customers, but cash custoemrs pay less.

Merchants are no longer prohibited from charging a surcharge to take a credit cards. This changed as the result of a class action lawsuit settlement. There are some very specific rules about how they handle the surcharge. Visa/Mastercard have to be notified 30 days before a merchant starts charging a surcharge. The surcharge can only be the same percentage they pay for taking credit cards. Signs have to be posted.

I have not seen any business doing this yet, but I am sure some are.

[Brian Elfert]

That's only partially true. If you use a credit card, sender pays fees. If you use funds on hand or a bank account, no one pays fees.

Is this really correct on using a bank account to pay? It seems to me that when someone paid with a bank account I still paid the same percentage to Paypal. This was a number of years ago.

[David Weaver]

If they send you the money as a gift and it's balance to balance, there are no fees.