UKC

OK so I'm having no luck selling anything and expecting, in vain, cash or cheque!

So I've bought stuff by Paypal but never sold anything by Paypal.  I've searched on line and googled it but I'm still confused and lost.

So, in simple terms please, just how do I sell anything and get paid by by Paypal. Perhaps more importantly is any such payment through Paypal reliable! 

Hi,

If you're selling on here or a gear exchange forum you send the buyer your email address, the one linked to your paypal account.  They send the money and then you withdraw it from your paypal balance on the website.  You can also leave it there and use it to buy things via paypal instead.

If you're selling on ebay then it's linked to your paypal account and it automatically goes to your paypal balance when they pay.  Then you either withdraw it, or not, depending on your choice.

If you're selling something by private arrangement, like on here or facebook, paypal goods and services is very much recommended rather than friends and family.  The former has a small fee, but if you google Paypal fees calculator there are numerous ways to work out what that would be, but it protects you and the buyer from something going wrong.  It's just a good habit to be into for online selling and buying.  If using goods and services you can add a small amount onto the price you're asking for, to cover this.  Check the calculator to find out how much.

Edit:  also Paypal is very safe and trustworthy.  I use it preferentially for buying online if I can, rather than inputting card details, because I've had money stolen through saving card details on websites.

Thanks for that. In my ignorance I had thought that the payment went in some way to one of my listed credit cards.

Now all I have to do is work up the courage to try it!

Obviously pay pal will take a % of the sale price but if I remember correctly they take another % if you transfer the cash to your bank account. If you can it's best to leave it in and use it to fund further pay pal purchases. 

Only the first - transfer to bank is free.

Be wary of using it for large purchases, though - you'll likely not be covered by the Section 75 protection, as the transaction is not "direct". See the Goods/services bought via intermediaries section:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases...

It used to be the case that accepting the money was free, but withdrawing it to an account had a fee. Then people realised that there was no fee if you used that money to buy something else and PayPal realised they were missing out on fees, so changed it round.

ooh thanks, didn't know that.

Me neither. Its been years since I withdrew any money from pay pal. I just leave it to cover my inevitable 1am ebay purchases . 

One thing to be aware of using Paypal to be paid for something. My understanding is (using it on ebay at least, if that makes any difference) is that there is a known scam on things being collected in person.

In theory - if a buyer pays you with paypal and then comes and collects the item, they can then raise a paypall (or is it ebay?) dispute and claim you never gave them the item. Without proof of dispatch you can't prove in a way that Paypall accept, that they collected and Paypall then refund the buyer leaving you out of pocket. Ebay/Paypall want to see proof of dispatch via your choice of postal carrier/courier firm etc.

I'm no expert on this and whether it is an ebay or a paypal specific thing but I've been told/seen many a comment that if you are selling on ebay for customer collection (or you dropping it off, same thing) to only accept cash... and if somebody goes ahead and uses Paypal to pay you (on ebay you have to have paypal as a payment option whether you want to use it or not) you should refund them and cancel the sale unless they hand over cash on receipt.

I've done customer pick up and paypal on small things where the financial impact is low and chances of somebody bothering to scam is remote, but on the odd slightly larger thing I have photographed the buyer and their car. Even then I'm not convinced Paypal would rule in my favour but I reckon that the buyer knowing I have a picture of them loading the item into their car reduces my risk a bit.

Yes, this is a known scam technique.  It is for this reason that I always specify in the body of my eBay listings that if the buyer wants to collect the item in person then they must pay me cash at the time of collection, I won't accept PayPal.

eBay does require you to include PayPal as a payment option in your listing but it's not exclusive - you are allowed to accept payment in other ways as well.

(I believe that, if you're sending the item, then eBay will only allow the seller to dispute a "did not arrive" claim by the purchaser if the seller used a signature-on-delivery service.)

It's not just eBay that the collect-in-person scam works with: it can be used with non-eBay transactions as well, where you are relying on PayPal's dispute resolution.  (Before anyone says that eBay and PayPal are the same company, they haven't been since 2015: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal#Spin-off_from_eBay.)

I'm seriously wary of Paypal now after an account I became involved with was locked due to a large number of transactions moving in and out (we were organising a charity event) and the verification process to regain access to the account required a huge amount of hassle to jump through the hoops they seemingly arbitrarily set. 

Paypal locked the account down citing suspicious activity and anti-fraud regulation and wouldn't allow any payments from the account or withdrawal of the funds. Fast forward 5 years where our branch treasurer had got nowhere online (and had givenup I think through frustration) I took on the case and phoned the helpline 5? 6? 7? times typically on the phone to Ireland (they have invested in a new customer relations dept there to be fair) for 2 hours at a time. So maybe 14 hrs on the phone total (I lost track). They asked for more and more evidence documents, charity registration numbers, directors names and addresses and eventually after a month of me hassling them we regained access, withdrew the funds, closed the account and I vowed to never use Paypal again. 

Be warned: 

They're not a bank and can withdraw your access at anytime seemingly. 

If your account gets locked prepare for a huge battle to get anywhere or gain access to your money again.

Their customer services are very difficult to navigate though in fairness the guys on the phone in Ireland were pleasant enough but it was exceptionally hard to get anyone to look at the case that could do anything about it and they seemingly kept putting up ridiculous hoops to jump through. 

Don't make Paypal business critical. Could your business survive losing your Paypal balance at anypoint? 

Hope some of that helps. 

Mr Ed