Paypal Will No Longer Be Free
10-03-00, 11:09 AM
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Didn't see another thread about this, so here goes:
I just received an e-mail from Paypal. Basically, it says that a free personal account will be limited to receiving $500 every six months on credit card payments. After that, any funds due you will be "pending" until you upgrade to a business or premier account, which aren't free. Here is the actual e-mail - I expect that a lot of you will be getting it also:
Dear PayPal Customer,
Three weeks ago, X.com posted a message on its website to remind PayPal users of our business use policy. Specifically, our terms of use require Personal Accounts who "conduct e-commerce on a regular basis" to upgrade to a Premier or Business Account. We further defined "business use" of a PayPal account as collecting payments
for goods or services sold on a corporate website, personal homepage, or other forum. This includes auction sellers, both
individuals who make it a full-time job and those who sell on a recurring, part-time basis.
Subsequently, a number of users asked us to clarify the policy further. In particular, a number of occasional sellers wanted a
bright-line rule to know whether they fell into the "business use" category.
We promised users that we would work to develop a policy that met several criteria: (1) it was generally fair and reasonable; (2) it was announced with two weeks notice before it was implemented; (3) it did not force anyone to upgrade (though it could remove costly functionality, such as the ability to accept credit card payments
from Personal Accounts); and (4) it met PayPal's need to align the costs of credit card processing (and other expenses, such as
customer service and fraud protection) with high-volume users who generate the bulk of our costs.
This email is to announce that policy. While no rule will satisfy everyone, we have worked hard to choose one that we believe meets the criteria above.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NEW LIMIT ON RECEIVING CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS
Starting two weeks from now, on Monday, October 16, X.com will introduce a new limit on PayPal Personal Accounts: a $500 limit on
receiving credit card payments every six months. Following the implementation of the policy two weeks from now, Personal Accounts
exceeding the $500 limit will no longer be able to accept credit card payments unless they choose to upgrade to a Premier or Business Account. Credit card payments sent to a Personal Account in excess of the limit will be held as "pending" until the recipient chooses either to accept the payment by upgrading or to return it to the
sender by refusing the payment. (The sender can then resend the payment from either a bank account or existing PayPal balance.)
We will provide users with a "Credit Card Funds Received" counter so they can monitor their status; we will also alter the transaction history so the funding source for a payment can be viewed. Payments
funded from a sender's bank account or existing PayPal account balance will not count against the recipient's limit.
Personal Accounts that exceed the limit will still be able to receive payments funded from a bank account or existing PayPal
account balance, as well as make use of all their other Personal Account features. No one who exceeds the limit will have their
account locked, frozen, or automatically upgraded; they simply will not be able to receive additional credit card funds.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
REASONS FOR THE NEW POLICY
The goal of the limit is to reduce the cost of credit card processing associated with accounts that do not pay fees. In an
effort to closely tie our fees to our costs, we felt it was fair to limit the amount of credit card payments a Personal Account can
receive. Credit card processing is expensive; VISA(tm) and MasterCard(tm) charge us for every transaction we process. And as an online financial services firm, we also have other expenses, such as bank transfer fees and customer service costs.
We also absorb the cost of keeping both our buyers and sellers safe with the PayPal Fraud Protection Guarantee. And next month, we'll be sharing part of the float with our users when customers will be able to earn money market rates of return on balances left in their PayPal account.
We intend to keep PayPal free for personal transactions, but in order to do this we cannot provide unlimited credit card pocessing for all users. That's why we are asking the users who benefit most from PayPal to upgrade to a Premier or Business Account.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
THE WEB'S BEST PAYMENT TOOLS
If you upgrade to either a Premier Account (for individuals) or a Business Account (for companies), you'll also receive a range of
premium features:
- Instant Purchase -- Accept payments directly on your auction.
- Web Accept -- Collect money directly on your website.
- Automatic Invoicing -- We'll save you time by pre-filling your auction invoices.
- Downloadable Transaction History -- Simplify record-keeping with Quicken, QuickBooks, or Excel.
- 24/7 Customer Service -- Around the clock live phone support.
Plus, YOU WILL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE $5 REFERRAL BONUSES FOR REFERRING
NEW USERS -- a program that will be available only to Premier and Business users starting on Monday, October 9.
And the fees are low - just $0.25 for credit card payments under $15, and $0.25 + 1.9% on payments over $15. Compare us to the
competition: a $35 payment with PayPal costs just $0.92; Billpoint(tm) charges $1.40. (Billpoint charges most users $0.35 on
credit card payments under $15, and $0.35 + 3.0% on larger payments.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NEW FEATURES FROM PAYPAL
With 4 million users and over 2 million auctions on eBay(tm), PayPal is the world's #1 online payments network. And we've made online commerce more secure by providing Verified buyers and sellers with the strongest Fraud Protection Guarantee on the web. And, over the months to come, we'll be developing more features for your PayPal
account. We'll be introducing a shopping cart, dividends on your account balance, a debit card linked directly to your PayPal
account, bill payment, and even online shopping. And we've heard your requests and we're ready to deliver our most requested new
feature -- INTERNATIONAL PAYPAL WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR 26 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD BY HALLOWEEN.
We at PayPal are committed to giving you the payment tools you want and making them the safest and easiest to use on the web. We know you have a choice, and we thank you for using X.com's PayPal service.
Sincerely,
The PayPal Team
PayPal, a service of X.com www.paypal.x.com
I just received an e-mail from Paypal. Basically, it says that a free personal account will be limited to receiving $500 every six months on credit card payments. After that, any funds due you will be "pending" until you upgrade to a business or premier account, which aren't free. Here is the actual e-mail - I expect that a lot of you will be getting it also:
Dear PayPal Customer,
Three weeks ago, X.com posted a message on its website to remind PayPal users of our business use policy. Specifically, our terms of use require Personal Accounts who "conduct e-commerce on a regular basis" to upgrade to a Premier or Business Account. We further defined "business use" of a PayPal account as collecting payments
for goods or services sold on a corporate website, personal homepage, or other forum. This includes auction sellers, both
individuals who make it a full-time job and those who sell on a recurring, part-time basis.
Subsequently, a number of users asked us to clarify the policy further. In particular, a number of occasional sellers wanted a
bright-line rule to know whether they fell into the "business use" category.
We promised users that we would work to develop a policy that met several criteria: (1) it was generally fair and reasonable; (2) it was announced with two weeks notice before it was implemented; (3) it did not force anyone to upgrade (though it could remove costly functionality, such as the ability to accept credit card payments
from Personal Accounts); and (4) it met PayPal's need to align the costs of credit card processing (and other expenses, such as
customer service and fraud protection) with high-volume users who generate the bulk of our costs.
This email is to announce that policy. While no rule will satisfy everyone, we have worked hard to choose one that we believe meets the criteria above.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NEW LIMIT ON RECEIVING CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS
Starting two weeks from now, on Monday, October 16, X.com will introduce a new limit on PayPal Personal Accounts: a $500 limit on
receiving credit card payments every six months. Following the implementation of the policy two weeks from now, Personal Accounts
exceeding the $500 limit will no longer be able to accept credit card payments unless they choose to upgrade to a Premier or Business Account. Credit card payments sent to a Personal Account in excess of the limit will be held as "pending" until the recipient chooses either to accept the payment by upgrading or to return it to the
sender by refusing the payment. (The sender can then resend the payment from either a bank account or existing PayPal balance.)
We will provide users with a "Credit Card Funds Received" counter so they can monitor their status; we will also alter the transaction history so the funding source for a payment can be viewed. Payments
funded from a sender's bank account or existing PayPal account balance will not count against the recipient's limit.
Personal Accounts that exceed the limit will still be able to receive payments funded from a bank account or existing PayPal
account balance, as well as make use of all their other Personal Account features. No one who exceeds the limit will have their
account locked, frozen, or automatically upgraded; they simply will not be able to receive additional credit card funds.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
REASONS FOR THE NEW POLICY
The goal of the limit is to reduce the cost of credit card processing associated with accounts that do not pay fees. In an
effort to closely tie our fees to our costs, we felt it was fair to limit the amount of credit card payments a Personal Account can
receive. Credit card processing is expensive; VISA(tm) and MasterCard(tm) charge us for every transaction we process. And as an online financial services firm, we also have other expenses, such as bank transfer fees and customer service costs.
We also absorb the cost of keeping both our buyers and sellers safe with the PayPal Fraud Protection Guarantee. And next month, we'll be sharing part of the float with our users when customers will be able to earn money market rates of return on balances left in their PayPal account.
We intend to keep PayPal free for personal transactions, but in order to do this we cannot provide unlimited credit card pocessing for all users. That's why we are asking the users who benefit most from PayPal to upgrade to a Premier or Business Account.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
THE WEB'S BEST PAYMENT TOOLS
If you upgrade to either a Premier Account (for individuals) or a Business Account (for companies), you'll also receive a range of
premium features:
- Instant Purchase -- Accept payments directly on your auction.
- Web Accept -- Collect money directly on your website.
- Automatic Invoicing -- We'll save you time by pre-filling your auction invoices.
- Downloadable Transaction History -- Simplify record-keeping with Quicken, QuickBooks, or Excel.
- 24/7 Customer Service -- Around the clock live phone support.
Plus, YOU WILL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE $5 REFERRAL BONUSES FOR REFERRING
NEW USERS -- a program that will be available only to Premier and Business users starting on Monday, October 9.
And the fees are low - just $0.25 for credit card payments under $15, and $0.25 + 1.9% on payments over $15. Compare us to the
competition: a $35 payment with PayPal costs just $0.92; Billpoint(tm) charges $1.40. (Billpoint charges most users $0.35 on
credit card payments under $15, and $0.35 + 3.0% on larger payments.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NEW FEATURES FROM PAYPAL
With 4 million users and over 2 million auctions on eBay(tm), PayPal is the world's #1 online payments network. And we've made online commerce more secure by providing Verified buyers and sellers with the strongest Fraud Protection Guarantee on the web. And, over the months to come, we'll be developing more features for your PayPal
account. We'll be introducing a shopping cart, dividends on your account balance, a debit card linked directly to your PayPal
account, bill payment, and even online shopping. And we've heard your requests and we're ready to deliver our most requested new
feature -- INTERNATIONAL PAYPAL WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR 26 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD BY HALLOWEEN.
We at PayPal are committed to giving you the payment tools you want and making them the safest and easiest to use on the web. We know you have a choice, and we thank you for using X.com's PayPal service.
Sincerely,
The PayPal Team
PayPal, a service of X.com www.paypal.x.com
