Paypal, private payments & interest free credit cards

tomuk007

I'm looking to buy a car on Autotrader from a private seller.

I'd like to pay for it using paypal and a credit card to use the interest free period to spread the payments/pain.

I have been unable to get a clear answer from M&S or Barclaycard whether a paypal payment would be classed as a transaction so i'd get it in the interest free offer.:(

Has anyone else done this thype of thing? and does it vary card to card how they classify the payment?

SimbaSimon

tomuk007 wrote: »

I'm looking to buy a car on Autotrader from a private seller.

I'd like to pay for it using paypal and a credit card to use the interest free period to spread the payments/pain.

I have been unable to get a clear answer from M&S or Barclaycard whether a paypal payment would be classed as a transaction so i'd get it in the interest free offer.:(

Has anyone else done this thype of thing? and does it vary card to card how they classify the payment?

It depends... if its a purchase through ebay or another website yes its a purchase and should be classed as one. You won't get charged anything but the seller will be charged a few percent fee which is taken out of the payment.

If you however send a private payment through paypal without buying anything you may be charged a fee by paypal but I'm pretty sure its still classed as a purchase.

YorkshireBoy

If you aleady have the M&S card then just buy some Sterling travellers cheques with it from an M&S bureau de change and pay them straight in to your bank. There's a 1% fee but no ambiguity on T&Cs and no paypal fees (if any?).

They're treated as a purchase, so hopefully you're on a 0% on purchases deal?

Before going ahead you should state which bank you'll be paying them into because not all will accept them.

tomuk007

Looks like M&S bureau max out at 2500. But i guess i could do it in two goes if i need more. I'm looking at around 5k for a car.

I'll try to nail down Barclays and M&S on this paypal question as it would be useful to know for sure re how they clasify this transaction.

Paypal charge 3.4% + 20p for a "personal transfer" ( which either me or the vendor pay) so it might be the case that Barclays/M&S wouldnt put class that as an interest free purchase.

Cash Advance
Purchase
Balance Transfer

seem to be the three categories of payment for the CC companies from the M&S terms and conditions.

If anyone has done this type of payment I'd welcome your comments.

tomuk007

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Dear Mr X

Thank you for contacting Barclaycard.

I would like to inform you that there are no extra charges for any transaction with Paypal. As the transaction with paypal will be treated as a purchase, hence it will be interest free for 12 months.

You can use the existing Balance transfer offers to transfer balance from a credit card of another person provided it is a UK based credit card. However you will not be able to make any payment to the bank account of any person.

I trust this information is of assistance.

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

Txxxxxx xxxx
Customer Advisor
Barclaycard Customer Service Team

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Was initial reply i got from Barclaycard

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Dear Mr X

Thank you for your e-mail.

I regret to inform you that we cannot confirm whether you can make a payment to another person using Paypal. You will need to contact paypal in this regards. However, any purchase on your account will be interest free for 12 months from the account opening date.

I trust this information is of assistance.

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards

Nxxxxxxxx xxxx
Customer Advisor
Barclaycard Customer Service Team

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Was second reply when i asked for clarification.

So question remains. Am I am making a purchase by making a direct payment to another person? Is this a purchase or a transfer?

coolesticeking

I did this when I needed a little cash... I used my Tesco MasterCard Clubcard and just sent money from my main PayPal account to another one that I had..

Was great, it didn't cost me anything apart from PayPal Fees and it did indeed come up as a transaction as "PayPal *****"

Even better was I got Clubcard points - Can't be bad eh!

Was better than paying the high fees they wanted if I just went to the ATM and took the money out this way.

YorkshireBoy

tomuk007 wrote: »

Looks like M&S bureau max out at 2500. But i guess i could do it in two goes if i need more. I'm looking at around 5k for a car.

The £2.5K limit applies to online and phone orders.

I've exploited this loophole twice now, and both times I've got £9K on the same day from in-store bureaux de change (£5K from one and £4K from another).

Just be sure to pre-book £500 denominations to reduce writers cramp!

tomuk007

coolesticeking wrote: »

I did this when I needed a little cash... I used my Tesco MasterCard Clubcard and just sent money from my main PayPal account to another one that I had..

Was great, it didn't cost me anything apart from PayPal Fees and it did indeed come up as a transaction as "PayPal *****"

Even better was I got Clubcard points - Can't be bad eh!

Was better than paying the high fees they wanted if I just went to the ATM and took the money out this way.

So i can just pay myself from paypal David? and take a 3.5% hit for the cash.

This would be preferable to asking the vendor to accept a paypal payment i guess. Means i can offer them cash and helps me negotiate a better deal! :j

tomuk007

Thinking about it a little more, Yorkshire boy's suggestion would end up cheaper as he suggests its only 1% to buy sterling travellers cheques rather than 3.5% + 20p for a paypal individual payment.

Thanks for the replies, i owe you chaps a pint!

tomuk007

from M&S website

Commission
Banks and bureaux de change may charge a small commission when you cash your travellers cheques. The amount is set by the bank or bureau, and varies from country to country. We offer 0% commission on foreign travellers cheques and only charge 1% on sterling travellers cheques.

My bank says they'll accept the cheques, i wonder if Euros would be cheaper than 1%. Maybe it would be more of a risk with euros due to different exchnage rates i guess.

YorkshireBoy

tomuk007 wrote: »

My bank

Which is?

i wonder if Euros would be cheaper than 1%.

If that was a cheaper option I'd have suggested it in my first reply.

Maybe it would be more of a risk with euros due to different exchnage rates i guess.

It's not the exchange rates as such you have to worry about, it's the buy/sell spread...which is likely to be in excess of 5%.