PayPal question.... (1 Viewer)

[Scott Wong]

I did a search but didn't find quite what I was looking for...

I sold something for the first time ever on ebay. I have a PayPal account and actually buy things from ebay all of the time. The individual who won my aucton has paid via PayPal. I received the e-mail confirmation from them.

The only account I have enlisted with PayPal is my VISA debit card that's "hooked up" to my checking account. Is this payment going to go thru automatically? Or is there something I need to do?

Upon logging into PayPal, the payment comes up automatically. It has a status of "Unclaimed" and there is an option to the right of it advising me to either accept or deny the payment. When I choose the option to accept the payemtn, I get tossed into the next screen which tells me to upgrade my PayPal account to a Premier account. Evidently, I need to do this to accept the credit card payment. This is what it says:

"The ability to accept credit card funded payments is reserved for Premier and Business accounts. To accept this payment, please upgrade your account now.

If you upgrade your account, you will receive a range of premium features in addition to the ability to accept unlimited credit card payments. The fees on incoming payments are low - just 2.9% + 30¢ to receive payments. If you deny this payment, you may continue to receive money from PayPal members who use a bank account or their PayPal balance to fund the payment. To continue to receive payments for free, make sure that the people who pay you fund their payments with their PayPal balance or with a bank account."

I'm really unsure what to do. How am I supposed to know which type of account this individual has issued payment against.

Scott.

 

[Mike Lenthol]

In short: he used a credit card (not safe for you), your only option is to upgrade to premier to accept it, then withdraw funds either with a snail mail check from them (going to cost you) or add your checking account to their system, then they'll do a direct deposit for free.

 

[Malcolm R]

If you want to accept credit card payments, you have to upgrade to "Premier" status, for which Paypal will charge you a small fee (percentage of the payment processed).

If you deny the payment, you will have to tell your buyer that you cannot accept credit card payments. The buyer will have to then either process a direct debit from their bank account via Paypal, or process a manual payment to you (check, money order, or cash).

Of course, if you've already sent the item to the buyer, you have little choice except to upgrade your Paypal account and accept the credit card payment, less the processing fee, or deny the payment and hope you can get the buyer to re-pay in a different form after the fact.

 

[Scott Wong]

I went ahead and simply accepted the payment. I chose "accept" and the status now shows as being completed. With that said, will the paymnt (less fees) automatically show up in my checking account? Again, the only account I have on file with PayPal is my Visa debit card account number.

Thanks for the info....

Scott.

 

[Malcolm R]

With that said, will the paymnt (less fees) automatically show up in my checking account?

No, it will remain in your Paypal account until you initiate a withdrawal, either by linking to your bank account (free transfer) or via paper check (for a fee).

 

[Matt DeVillier]

Scott,

no, the amount will stay in your paypal account until you manually move it to your bank account (which you must set up with Paypal - having the check card associated with it is not enough)

 

[Scott Wong]

Dang. Seems like a lot of hoops to jump through just to get this PayPal payment. Perhaps next time I need to specify in my auction "No Credit Cards via PayPal". I honestly had no idea. I assumed PayPal payments were just that... I didn't know they didn't like Credit Cards.

Is there really a way I could end up getting screwed by all of this? Is it better to specify this in future auctions? Or does it not matter now that I've initiated the "verification process" at PayPal?

Scott.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Perhaps next time I need to specify in my auction "No Credit Cards via PayPal".

No, you've already gone through the trouble once. Now you can accept credit cards anytime you want via PayPal for the small fee (I have no trouble paying Paypal a couple of bucks for their services).

The only "issue" you have here is how to get payments out of your account. I increasingly use Internet services to send & receive money directly from my checking account - both Paypal and Amazon deposit money directly into it. To save my butt should something go wrong (I've heard more than my share of horror stories), I simply setup a second account with my credit union. That way nobody has access to my primary checking account, where all of my money is stored and my bills are paid out of.

So, I suggest either:

1. Open another checking account and tie it to your Paypal account. Go wild.

2. Just tie it to your existing checking account, if you're brave.

3. If you don't sell very often and don't want to deal with this, then withdraw your funds via check. Paypal will charge another small fee for this service, but they'll send you a regular old check which you can then cash.

Regardless, if you want to sell online, you'll need to make friends with Paypal. Specifying "no credit cards via Paypal" will cut a lot of people off from bidding on your items. I ONLY pay with credit cards - that way I have some recourse if I get screwed, because Paypal and eBay couldn't care less.