Help! I don't understand Paypal!

Tam

I've used ebay to buy stuff for years all using my Paypal account but now I have started selling some stuff. My first lot ended on Sunday and my buyer paid through Paypal.

I've got a personal account so I'm supposed to be able to sell £250 per month aren't I? but I had to press a button to either accept or refuse the payment because it was from a credit/debit card. Apparently I can only accept 2 of these a year:eek:

I don't understand. Aren't they all card payments? And if not how do I change it without having a business account? I looked on the Paypal help section and it said to go to My account then profile then Change payment Preferences but it wasn't there.

I am thoroughly confused and feel like just accepting cheques:(

If anyone can shed light on this and I'm sure loads of you can please do.

soolin

Basically as a seller if you tick the 'I accept paypal' box you need to be able to accept all forms of payment however funded. Unfortunately a basic account can only receive payments from an existing paypal balance, or sometimes from a bank transfer. To accept all forms of paypal payments you need a premier account and the downside of that is that all payments received are chargeable.

If you ticked ticked the I accept paypal box on your auction then you'll need to upgrade to accept the payments and unfortunately pay the associated fees.

Soo

Tam

Thank you for your 'much easier to understand than my question' answer Soolin.

I'm basically selling off my vast fabric collection and then that will probably be it. Do you think I should upgrade or just accept cheques?

soolin

Tam wrote:

Thank you for your 'much easier to understand than my question' answer Soolin.

I'm basically selling off my vast fabric collection and then that will probably be it. Do you think I should upgrade or just accept cheques?

I'm pro paypal so you might want to wait for other responses before you decide. However for me my items sell better and at higher prices when I take paypal so paying fees is something I'm prepared to do for more profit. I dislike cheques, I've had them bounce on me and get recalled and that has rather clouded my opinion. Add to that the hassle of getting to a bank which means in most cases I am sending stuff (small value only) even before I pay in the cheque. With paypal I can have an auction finish, get paid, ship first thing next morning and have feedback left both ways 24 hours later.

Tam

Thanks again Soolin for the valuable advice.

digerati

Tam,

PayPal personal accounts can accept several credit card payments a year (at a high rate) for off-eBay sales. To accept any credit card payments via PayPal for eBay sales you need to upgrade.

You should also be aware that with all PayPal payments you have an increased risk of buyer fraud through a later reversal or chargeback for "item not received" or "item not as advertised", particularly in high risk categories such as consumer electronics. With PayPal you can't sell items "as is, where is" or "no refunds" as PayPal will ignore these conditions and refund the buyer. You will need to send items via an online trackable shipping method so be aware you'll need to pass these higher costs along to buyers using PayPal. Also you may need to increase your handling charge to cover the additional cost (and associated risk) of accepting PayPal.

Safest type of payment from a seller's perspective is bank transfer - fast, safe and not easily reversable. Other options for buyers without bank accounts include bank deposit into your account or postal money orders. Lastly, UK bank accounts can even accept payments from most European countries normally free of charge under EU regulation 2560/2001; BIC + IBAN details must be used (they're on all UK bank statements), transfer in Euros and Shared costs are selected.

Hope this opens your eyes to a world of possibilities outside eBay's massive fee generator, PayPal.

nic_santorini

Yes, this happened to me too - being a novice - so I ended up with extra charges - I think the trick is to put them on the postage - and secondly the paypal account was in my maiden name and bank account in married name and I could not get the money out without a kerfuffle of faxing marriage certificates etc - so I just left it in there until I fancied buying something else.