Paypal Personal Payment

**Dirk Rösler** · 25-Oct-2009, 06:50

I just read the small print and indeed personal payments from existing balance occur no fee. There is however a cross-border fee for international payments, ranging from 0% (how can 0% be a fee?) to 2%.

https://cms.paypal.com/jp/cgi-bin/ma...locale.x=en_US

**domaz** · 2-Nov-2009, 11:17

If you are sending as a "gift" like in your screenshot and the deal goes bad then Paypal will probably blow you off- citing the payment was a gift. That is probably the reason for lower or no fees using that method.

**PBrooks** · 2-Nov-2009, 14:48

As a buyer, I will no longer buy from people that do not accept paypal or another instant payment option. Sending off a money order or check and having to wait for it to get there, then rely on the seller to check to see if it has cleared their bank. Then waiting for it to get shipped. If they decide to send it right when the check clears, some don't. I have been very patient with the few transactions that I have made in this form, but no longer. There are just simply to many unknowns.

**Ulrich Drolshagen** · 2-Nov-2009, 15:41

As a seller I just got charged about 4% for a money transfer from USA to Germany.
In Europe we use to make transfers from account to account. Even international transfers only need one or two working days and cost a lot less than paypal.

Ulrich

**PBrooks** · 2-Nov-2009, 16:59

Outside of the US, I understand bank transfers having done a few myself. I know at least in Asia they are able to be tracked. However, if you are dealing with someone in the US if you want something that you can track and see when that person receives the funds, you better go with something online. Bank transfers in the US are fishy, so is checks and money orders(all types) as the banks see them a fake until proven real. These form of payments also lend themselves to the procrastination of shipping by the seller. Sorry about your 4%, but I would gladly pay the 4% especially on transactions made on this forum and apug, because if they don't ship when they are supposed to they will hear about it or should I say read about it.

**r.e.** · 2-Nov-2009, 17:48

Originally Posted by Ulrich Drolshagen

In Europe we use to make transfers from account to account. Even international transfers only need one or two working days and cost a lot less than paypal.

This is fairly new in North America. In Canada, it is now possible, via Interac, for a buyer who uses bank A to make a direct payment to a vendor using Bank B, and the fee is minimal. I don't know if this has been introduced in the US or Mexico yet. This explains how it is done via Interac: http://www.interac.ca/consumers/prod...ces_ol_emt.php

My experience with international transfers, from both the North American and European ends, is that they are not particularly cheap (the buyer and the vendor tend to get hit for $30-$40 each by their respective banks) and that PayPal, depending on the value of the transaction, is not only faster but for lower value items cheaper. That said, the last time that I did a bank transfer, it was to pay for a cine camera in the US that cost $15,000, and I agree that for that kind of money a bank transfer is less expensive. Also, the transfer was pretty damn fast; I gave my bank instructions in the morning, and the funds were in the vendor's account in the US by mid-afternoon.

Of course, then there's the revolutionary idea of conducting a transaction on the basis of trust. About three weeks ago, I purchased several 5x7 holders from a member of this forum. He sent me the holders, and I sent him a cheque (his preference) on the same day. When he got my cheque before I got the holders, he sent me an e-mail saying that he was going to hold off on depositing the cheque until I received the holders and told him that I was satisfied with them. I got them the next day, and I was indeed satisfied.

**walter23** · 2-Nov-2009, 23:25

Originally Posted by r.e.

Of course, then there's the revolutionary idea of conducting a transaction on the basis of trust. About three weeks ago, I purchased several 5x7 holders from a member of this forum. He sent me the holders, and I sent him a cheque (his preference) on the same day. When he got my cheque before I got the holders, he sent me an e-mail saying that he was going to hold off on depositing the cheque until I received the holders and told him that I was satisfied with them. I got them the next day, and I was indeed satisfied.

I don't think that's so revolutionary. It's sometimes struck me as kind of odd that we insist on using a retail model for these private sales. The buyer is sending something of value to an unknown third party (money), why not have the seller do the same? It's totally arbitrary to say buyer has to send money first. If anything the latter would make just as much, or more, logical sense; seller should send the item to prove it is real and in stated condition before the buyer sends payment!

I've used personal transfer for paypal. Why let them soak us over our paranoia?

**Ulrich Drolshagen** · 3-Nov-2009, 07:51

Just a further bit of information. At least in Germany cheques aren't widely in use anymore. I don't even have some and I don't know of anybody using them. All larger money transactions are done by account to account transfers. These are handled via internet much like paypal. In shops there are point of sales terminals with which direct account to account transfers can be done using bankcards (not creditcards mind you) and a PIN. Money transfers by sending cheques or Western Union seem a little inconvenient, not to say gothic, to me.

Ulrich

**Dirk Rösler** · 19-Feb-2010, 16:30

FYI, just found this out (from PP User Agreement)

4. Receiving Money.
4.1 Receiving Personal Payments.

If you are selling goods or services, you may not ask the buyer to send you a Personal Payment for the purchase. If you do so, PayPal may remove your ability to accept Personal Payments.