Accepting paypal payments questions

[abunaitoo]

I've been gently convinced to look into taking paypal payments.
Being old school, hard to convince myself to try new things.
I went to the paypal site and reading through it, it's like talking to a lawyer or politician.
They only tell me what's good for them, not what I want to know.
I have a paypal account. Only used it to pay. Never tried to get a payment.
I have a few questions. I'm sure the smart people here will have the answers.
1) I only have a credit card on file. Do I need to also add a bank account????
2) How do I get the money out of the account???
3) Are there any fees for taking the money out???
4) Is it possible to have it just go directly into the credit card account????
5) I have my email address as my paypal account name. Can I, should I, change it to something else????

[Alvarez Kelly]

PayPal used to require a bank account linked. They may not now. I'm not sure.

To get your money, you transfer it from PayPal to your bank account. It takes about 3 days. You can also request they mail you a check.

If you accept payments, PayPal will charge you 3 percent, PLUS 30 cents for each transaction.

You must ship by traceable means to the address loaded in PayPal, and load the tracking number in PayPal or you may be liable for lost or misplaced shipments. This is easy if you ship using PayPal, and you will get a discount on shipping costs.

Did I miss anything?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

abunaitoo,
I think Alvarez Kelly pretty much covered it, if you are collecting funds for a business or doing some part-time buy/sell where you are keeping track of profit for tax purposes.

Some of us use the "friends and family" feature for our garage sale type transactions that are done between friends and there is typically no profit. For this, there is no fees for receiving funds...there is no tracking requirement...no shipping label purchase options or requirements or discounts.

I'll also add, that Paypal is affiliated with ebay, and they both have anti-gun policies, so discretion is in order, if you are receiving funds for items that ebay wouldn't allow posted on their website.

I have a few questions. I'm sure the smart people here will have the answers.
1) I only have a credit card on file. Do I need to also add a bank account????
2) How do I get the money out of the account???
3) Are there any fees for taking the money out???
4) Is it possible to have it just go directly into the credit card account????
5) I have my email address as my paypal account name. Can I, should I, change it to something else????

Most of your questions have been answered, but I'll add...
4) I don't think so
5) I use my main email address

[Butchman205]

You don't have to have a bank account attached to it, and I highly discourage EVER letting anybody tie in to a bank account.

What my financial advisor told me (branch manager at bank)...get a credit card from whomever you bank with, and use that ONLY for online purchases or Paypal.

Never use a debit card for online purchases. If there is a problem...you're out the money for possibly months. If you use a credit card...they have to and will fight for you, and you're not charged until it's resolved. (Kinda like playing with their money until resolved).

When you get paid, just leave it in PayPal kinda like a debit account...unless it's a huge amount.

If you want to withdraw money from PayPal, you either have to have a bank account connected with them (I wouldn't), or have them Mail you a check (takes 1-2 weeks in the US).


-Butchman

[DougGuy]

Paypal is VERY anti-gun so make sure none of your transactions mention any of the firearm related keywords as they can and will lock your account. Anything with barrel, bullet, ammo, etc will trigger their word filters.

[Omega]

To receive money through PayPal I don't think you need a bank account tied to it. Money you receive can stay in your PayPal account until you decide to either cash out by transferring to a bank or just buying stuff with it.

[fg-machine]

I have a PayPal business acount .
Transaction charges are 2% with no other fees ... this is why i use PayPal versus taking credit card payments That can cost between 3-6% depending on the credit card plus the yearly fees and all the other charges they want to tack on
you can also get Paypal debit card to make it easier and faster to use the paypal funds .
It may be different now then when I signed up but you need to link an acount or credit card to sign up

[OnHoPr]

With 1. & 4. I am not sure. If your PP account won't transfer to your CC then have them send you a check whenever you like. If you may get frequent payments, maybe open up a separate account at another bank just for PP. You may not want to tie it in with you major bank if you might get these frequent payments. You can add this new bank account in your PP account. Just recently PP and eBay separated, but they are still affiliated somewhat.

2. You can transfer funds from your bank acc. to your PP acc and visa versa very easily. As above I am not sure about transfer of CCs.

3. No fees for transferring funds to you bank acc. They get fees from the transaction in which you sell something. JonB stated another scenario in which you can collect funds.

5. Depending on when you created your PP acc. probably makes a difference. I was in the same shoes you are in about 30 months ago so when I first opened my acc. and took a peek at the three at that time choices I quickly called them and had my acc. changed from a personal acc. to a premier acc.. Those are not available anymore so, I am not sure on the restrictions of the personal acc. on collecting funds at this time. It may only be a couple of ben franklins. If you think you may more do transactions the only other option is the Business acc.

I went to the paypal site and reading through it, it's like talking to a lawyer or politician.
They only tell me what's good for them, not what I want to know.

CORRECT: They have ooooooddddlllllleeess of pages to read. I think they were in congress.lol Just like when those politicians get up and say I am a lawyer and I can't even read this bill. Basically, just do the fundamentals and get set up. They are basically pretty decent most of the time, or have been to me, maybe because they know I don't know how to swindle the system. But, I have heard horror stories. They can deliberate on which ever side they want to deliberate on, if you get my drift. That's why I mentioned opening a new different acc somewhere just for PP and don't link it with your major banking.

If you get X amount of funds in the PP acc. you can ask for a PP debit card and use your funds that way. I think every time you use it you get a tiny % back.

Probably a few other things, but the lids are starting to drop.

You may want to try this link if you want to ship something. It isn't supported any more, but has worked 99% of the time for me. Unless you want to use click n ship on the USPS site. Unless you have UPS or a Fedex acc., I think you can get a discount if you link you PP account to them on shipping.
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_ship-now

[abunaitoo]

Thank you for all the info.
It has helped me.
I'm not looking for a business account.
Don't do much selling or buying.
Questions....
1) Since I already have an account, do I need to do anything else to accept payments????
2) When I get a payment through "friends and family", can I still request a check for it????
3) Any other pitfalls to taking payments through "friends and family"????

[jonp]

None that I can think of, really. I generally don't take money out of paypal. If I receive payment for something it's not a lot of money and I just leave it there for when I buy something online like at Amazon or here like its a bank account

[marlin39a]

I've had a PayPal account for years, linked to my EBay account for purchasing. Set the account up with my email address. That is what you give buyers as your PayPal ID. They have my Checking/Debit account on file as well as a credit card. When I sell on this site, I give the buyer my paypal ID. I then get a notification of payment. I log into my account and transfer money to my checking. It use to take 3 days to see my money, but lately it shows up over night.
Yes, they don't like guns, and will cancel your account if they find a gun sale.

[Storydude]

www.paypalsucks.com

All you need to know.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Thank you for all the info.
It has helped me.
I'm not looking for a business account.
Don't do much selling or buying.
Questions....
1) Since I already have an account, do I need to do anything else to accept payments????
2) When I get a payment through "friends and family", can I still request a check for it????
3) Any other pitfalls to taking payments through "friends and family"????

You are good to go.
1)nope
2)Yep
3)nope

[abunaitoo]

Thank you all.
I'm going to take the plunge and try it.
Wish me luck.

[MaryB]

My paypal account is tied to my checking account(never has anything in it... I add money if I want to use paypal) and has been for 10+ years with no issues. The people who have paypal issues are he ones who don't use a secure password or they answer a phishing scam and give away their password and account login.

[imashooter2]

PayPal sides with the buyer. In any dispute, they will give them their money back. You send buyer a $1,500 gold bullion coin. He files a dispute saying it isn't as advertised. He sends you back a 1972 Washington quarter. PayPal refunds him his money. Your complaints are ignored.

I've done many transactions, mostly from gun boards, without issue. But if you run across a thief, the system is rigged against you.

[Walkingwolf]

Paypal is VERY anti-gun so make sure none of your transactions mention any of the firearm related keywords as they can and will lock your account. Anything with barrel, bullet, ammo, etc will trigger their word filters.

I have used my paypal to buy guns, only once a problem over ten years ago. I called them, they apologized, and the transaction went through. Almost ALL credit card banks are anti gun, no more, or less so than paypal. Banks charge about the same processing charge as paypal. Ebay and paypal are no longer the same company. Paypal is used by many component online sales vendors.

A lot of rumors about paypal, most untrue. For online purchases paypal will fight for the buyer, sometimes the seller, but most banks will do so for CC transactions. Our bank will do the same for debit card purchases, or fraud, same protection as their credit card.

[Walkingwolf]

PayPal sides with the buyer. In any dispute, they will give them their money back. You send buyer a $1,500 gold bullion coin. He files a dispute saying it isn't as advertised. He sends you back a 1972 Washington quarter. PayPal refunds him his money. Your complaints are ignored.

I've done many transactions, mostly from gun boards, without issue. But if you run across a thief, the system is rigged against you.

They have sided with me as a seller a couple of times. But I would never sell, or buy something that could easily be in the scam range. BTW any credit card charge can be reversed using the same procedures as paypal. Check the ebay forums, many times sellers got burned by the credit card companies. I once got a empty box back on a return, opened at the post office where the fraud was documented. I was then contacted by postal inspectors. Not sure if there ever was an arrest but paypal sided in my favor.

Paypal is not perfect, but pretty much similar to any bank in regards to selling, or buying.

[Storydude]

4700 bucks for a Monarch Lathe. Pewf. Gone. All because the "buyer" claimed the lathe was not as described.

4700 bucks and deaf ears at Paypal.

4700 bucks and the "buyer" said I didn't ship properly.

4700 bucks and I got back a BED and PART of a crossslide.

Take your chances with Paypal. I prefer the old fashioned methods.

[Handloader109]

4700 bucks for a Monarch Lathe. Pewf. Gone. All because the "buyer" claimed the lathe was not as described.

4700 bucks and deaf ears at Paypal.

4700 bucks and the "buyer" said I didn't ship properly.

4700 bucks and I got back a BED and PART of a crossslide.

Take your chances with Paypal. I prefer the old fashioned methods.

I understand, but unfortunately, This issue would be with any online system. No dang way would I sell a $5000 item that isn't ftf cash only. Unless it is a business.