Most sellers on here seem to be insisting on this Paypal Gift malarky. I'm a bit new to this, but it seems to me that it's then the buyer who pays the fee. Is this right, or am I missing some way of getting around it?

No fees either end for 'gifts' also no buyer protection

Paypal are cracking down on it though

It means the seller doesn't have to pay a fee and as the purchaser gets all the protection and benefits that seems fair enought to me. I ask for paypal gift or buyer pays fees when i sell things.

The big difference though is that there is no protection for either party when paying by gift as opposed to a normal paypal payment.

If people want to avoid fees, then why not do a direct bank transfer instead? The only obvious reason to use a Paypal gift instead is to cost Paypal money 😉

I've paid via Paypal Gift twice recently & been charged a fee both times??

cost Paypal money

…and then why they would crack down on it!

They want gift so they do not have to pay the commission, its a crock as far as I can see as it gives you no protection. Just pay normally and add a bit on for the commission if that's what they want. If you buy outside of ebay then paypal protection is limited to item not received.

pedalhead – Member
I've paid via Payal Gift twice recently & been charged a fee both times??

Stop paying with a credit card!

Oh I see (although I've been using a debit card, not cc). Cheers.

No fee if you have funds in your paypal account.

Paypal gift means no fees IF the person paying settles their paypal by direct debit or has sufficient balance to cover the payment. Otherwise either the buyer or seller has to pay the fees.

Gift means no protection to the buyer

Paypal has the advantage over Bank Transfer in that it's instant which may mean that the seller can send it faster.

Each to their own. I prefer it because it's easier than having to use my card reader when setting up a new payee on my online banking.

Paypal are cracking down on it though

Evidence?

Paypal has the advantage over Bank Transfer in that it's instant which may mean that the seller can send it faster

Totally agree. If you don't like it, buy from someone else, use bank transfer (again, no protection), or pay the fees for the seller.

I should add that I don't mind taking BT instead if the buyer prefers but warn them that it may take longer.

Evidence?

I got this a couple of weeks ago & I've heard of others – I'd only received gift payments for 2 things recently

Dear ****************,

We recently changed our pricing so that all PayPal customers can receive
money from friends and family for free. PayPal merchants
receiving money as payment for a purchase, continue to incur fees.

We're not sure if you are aware of this, but we noticed that some of
your customers are sending you personal payments for purchases.
Unfortunately, this violates our rules, and we need your help correcting
this. Please don't ask or allow your customers to use personal payments
to pay for their purchases.

If we continue to see such activity after March 9, 2010, we may have to
disable your ability to receive personal payments, and then you will pay
fees for all money received through PayPal.

You can find more information about payment types and fees in sections
4.2 and 8 of our User Agreement – just click “Legal Agreements” at the
bottom of any PayPal page.

If you have any questions, concerns, or think we may have made a
mistake, please contact us at http://www.paypal.com/contactus
<http://www.paypal.com/contactus&gt;. Thank you for helping us resolve this
matter.

Sincerely,
PayPal, an eBay Company

Copyright © 1999-2010 PayPal. All rights reserved.
PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. & Cie, S.C.A.
Société en Commandite par Actions
Registered Office: 5th Floor 22-24 Boulevard Royal L-2449, Luxembourg
RCS Luxembourg B 118 349

Thanks uplink, thats interesting.

So, do you (or your buyers) make it obvious that the payment is for goods when using the gift method?

I always just put "As email, thanks" or something.

I never put anything in the comments but I suspect one of the buyers did

googling a couple of the sentences on that email brings up others so I guess I'm not alone
TBH – they always were going to look at it if it got out of hand

I do wonder if they look at your overall history – eg I get quite a lot of gift payments but also pay for a lot of things at shops with paypal so overall, they're still making money from me so maybe they're not as bothered.

They want gift so they do not have to pay the commission, its a crock as far as I can see as it gives you no protection. Just pay normally and add a bit on for the commission if that's what they want. If you buy outside of ebay then paypal protection is limited to item not received.

I've used it many times as a buyer and seller and never had a problem.

its a crock as far as I can see as it gives you no protection

Technically, neither does bank transfer.

As usual it's a case of whether you trust the poster or not.

I do wonder if they look at your overall history – eg I get quite a lot of gift payments but also pay for a lot of things at shops with paypal so overall, they're still making money from me so maybe they're not as bothered.

OK just checked – I've had £903.25 come in the weeks up to the email from them
2 of the payments were gifts, 1 for £70 & one for £15

Maybe I was just unlucky & I fell foul of a random check?

I've since sent gift payments but not received any

I do wonder if they look at your overall history – eg I get quite a lot of gift payments but also pay for a lot of things at shops with paypal so overall, they're still making money from me so maybe they're not as bothered.

OK just checked – I've had £903.25 come in the weeks up to the email from them
2 of the payments were gifts, 1 for £70 & one for £15

Maybe I was just unlucky & I fell foul of a random check?

I've since sent gift payments but not received any

they probably searched the comment boxes on all gift transactions and the ones with addresses and details of what the payment is for. were red flagged then nice emails were sent.

clubber – Member

its a crock as far as I can see as it gives you no protection

Technically, neither does bank transfer.

As usual it's a case of whether you trust the poster or not.

Yeah well bank transfer is actually worse.

Or more likely just noticed you were getting lots of payments that you paid fees for, and a couple that didn't – probably enough to trigger them. Maybe even worse if you're set up as a business user?

I get charged for sending PP gifts using a debit card

Edit- just had a look and its froo if you transfer money in using bank account, theres a charge if using debit card

So you're better off making sure that all your payments are gifts 🙂

even if they do not get fees from the transfer itself, Paypal still have the money earning interest (or offsetting it from uncleared direct debit payments of other paypal users) for them in their accounts, until the seller moves it on via another paypal payment to someone else, or transfers it to their own bank account. I wonder at what point/percentage of giftyn paypal transactions this 'service' becomes too much of a drain?

just email paypal back and ask if their fee structure has been approved as being 'fair and reasonable' by the banking ombordsman 😕

Paypal protection means naff all for seller or buyer anyway, several times I have had items go missing (selling and buying) and everytime I have been left out of pocket

I'll continue to use paypal gift as I dont wish to give my bank details out to strangers, if paypal wish to stop me doing so and cannot justify how they derive their fee structure then I close the account, simples.

I'll continue to use paypal gift as I dont wish to give my bank details out to strangers,

but all you need to give out is sort code & account number – that info is written on every cheque

I'll continue to use paypal gift as I dont wish to give my bank details out to strangers, if paypal wish to stop me doing so and cannot justify how they derive their fee structure then I close the account, simples.

So how will you take payments then?

i always use or ask for paypal gift and pay by debit card linked to my bank acc. there are almost never any funds in my pp acc so they take the money via d/d from my bank acc. i have never been charged a fee. when my paypal acc. was first set up they set it up as a business acc. incorrectly and i had them change it to personal acc. straight away.

I've been charged a fee for using PP gift. Despite having verified my bank account with paypal, they wouldn't use it for gift payments, and charged me for using a card instead.

I've now verified the card as well, and it looks like I can now pay using the bank account, with no fee. Would've been nice to know this sooner…