tupacwe

Hey,
This may not belong here, but I figured it would get answered pretty quick, well anyhow, recently I signed up for an account with paypal, and I did not realize taht they take some of your money once you want a check sent to you. Does anyone know how much they take, and if it is acutally worth it to use paypal. Thanks!

LBPound

I don't think it's worth it to use PayPal, but then they're still waiting for me to call them up to unfreeze my account because they didn't recognize my bank account #.

I've never really had to deal with them, and it seems that just as many eBay sellers and buyers are willing to use eBay's payments, so I really don't see any point to using Paypal. Oh here, please take some of my money, you're passing it from one person to another!

datanully

Since Ebay bought Paypal they are phasing out Billpoint (Ebay payments) by the end of the year. The only thing I like about Billpoint is you can pay sellers without creating an account and having to give them all kinds of info ala Paypal.

Paypal deducts a $1.50 fee if you wish them to mail you a check. You could also use your balance to buy stuff online with their virtual debit card.

mookiemeister

If you have a bank account, you can link your bank account to your paypal account. Then you can just transfer money electronically. No extra fee for online transfer.

kenbenobi

It is free to have them direct deposit the money into your bank account... I use Paypal all the time and have never had a problem until I tried creating a 2nd account (which is OK to do, but you can't use the same credit card for both accounts)... Otherwise, the free service is very handy...

tupacwe

i appreciate the help guys!, so if i just transfer the funds directly to my bank account to they get any percent of the money whatsoever?

kenbenobi

No fee whatever, as long as you stick with the FREE account (meaning you cannot accept credit cards). You can still PAY with a credit card, but no one can pay you with a credit card... Once you upgrade, EVERYTHING will get charged a percentage, whether a credit card or not. So I don't recommend upgrading unless you are a business...

tupacwe

well then if you dont accept credit cards how can people pay you for auctions on it, dont they have to pay buy credit card?

vdadlani219

They could pay with an e-check, bank transfer, or from funds already in their account and you would not get hit with a transaction fee. I upgraded my account, because I sell enough on eBay, where a lot of people just pay with credit cards (as do I), so for me, the fees aren't a big fuss anymore.

tupacwe

so how much is the fee if they pay with credit card, which basically everyone who buys my auctions will do

MrSneis

its pretty steep, i always look forward to losing 3 bucks for every game I list on ebay in paypal fees alone, not to mention another 2 for listing and ending fees from ebay

D-Ball

$.30 plus 2.9% of the amount you're paid

tupacwe

holy ****, thats redicolous

tupacwe

3 percent is way too much, i dont really see how paypal is worth it when they are taking so much of your money, because that 3 percent will add up

knitewing

Just to give you an example:

DVD with S/H ...$18.74 / paypal fee = 84c

Scientific Calculator with S/H ...$87.94 / Paypal fee = $2.85

What I did was increase my S/H charge by $1 to help cover the cost of Paypal but offer a $1 refund if the bidder pays with a money order. (You can't legally charge a fee for CC users, but its perfectly legal to give a refund to MO users). But most bidders want the convenience of using their CC, so I accept Paypal as a cost of doing business.

And even when I shop on eBay I usually bid only on items from bidders that accept Paypal. I don't want to go to the post office or store and pay $1 for a MO, then add a 37c stamp. And Paypal is a lot quicker too.

Paypal is very popular so it's what I use...but if something comes along and is cheaper, I'll give it a shot. But it would have to be a considerable savings because I'm comfortable using PayPal.

tonyj

As a buyer, paypal is great. Instant pay = quick shipping (usually...). On most stuff I won't even bid if the seller doesn't list paypal. I collect custom pool cues and recently I bought two in one day. One I paid via paypal and one the guy wanted a money order. The one with the MO took over a week longer to show up. Stress bad...

JMO

TJ

marty888

Well. even eBay realized that Paypal is superior to eBay payments (called Billpoint), and is the preferred choice of most sellers/buyers - which is why they bought Paypal and are scrapping their ill-fated attempt to compete with Paypal.

LBPound

That is so lame. I guess it's time to eBay anything I'd ever want to right NOW or else my perma-frost PayPal account will be my only hopeless hope!

ProjectMayhem

PayPal may be expensive, but it's basically the easiest and fastest way to send money online, so I really can't complain...

djones6746

As others have stated.....direct deposit is free and is quicker than a check. It also typically does not take 4 days.

marty888

Actually, the best way to access your Paypal money is by using the Paypal Mastercard they will send you - your "credit line" is the amount of funds you have sitting in your Paypal account, you use it like a regular Mastercard - AND you get a 1.5% rebate!

dfriedland

You may want to check out this site: www.paypalsucks.com

Paypal has repeatedly locked people's accounts with no good reason. I had to write to the BBB and their local police authorities before they would finally release my money.

johnglad

People complain about Paypal all the time, but you HAVE to charge a percentage on credit cards. EVERY business in the country loses 1.5-4% on credit cards. That is the WHOLE POINT. Paypal gives you (a consumer) a way of accepting credit cards at a VERY REASONABLE rate. As a business and merchant account my percentage is MUCH LOWER and with the Paypal debit/credit card you get 1.5% cash back. A pretty good deal all around. The only Paypal minuses are the frozen accounts and some poor fraud protection measures.

Jah-Wren Ryel

Word of advice regarding direct deposit. ALL, and yes I really mean ALL, direct deposit agreements, with Paypal or your employer or anyone else, are two way. Ostensibly this is so that if "they" make a mistake and send you too much money, then "they" can "fix" the mistake and take the extra money back without having to bother you. But, there is no protection from "them" making the mistake when the they take the money out. If you have a lot of money in your checking out (or conceivably even over-draft protection) they could suck you dry and you would have to fight to get that money back.

It is for this reason that you should have a 2nd checking account specifically for direct-deposit and nothing else. That way when you receive a direct deposit, sweep into your regular checking account as soon as possible where no one (but the bank, and they can be jerks too, but that's another story) can touch it.

falken

I agree. It is so annoying to hear people bitching and complaining that paypal charges money. They are a business, they need to make money. In case you didn't notice the internet business model of giving everything away for free didn't work. 2.9% is very resonable for any average joe to process credit card transactions. If you think it is unreasonable call your local bank and tell them you would like to open a merchant account and process credit card transaction. After all the paperwork, application fees, upfront costs, authorization machines, etc. and IF you are approved and after you look at what % they are going to charge you then ask yourself if PayPal is such a ripoff.