Payment via PayPal "gift" (for family and friends"

gregozedobe · **on:** November 28, 2013, 04:28:12 AM

I'm seeing a lot of sellers requiring payment via PayPal "gift".

I think a reminder to prospective buyers who don't know PayPal policies particularly well might be useful, so I'll quote one of our moderators who spoke about it quite eloquently:

Quote

eBay and forums are two different beasts. On eBay the buyer is protected both by eBay's policies and paypal. On forums it's more of a trust issue. Especially if you're asking people to pay you via gift option in which case they don't have any means of protection at all if something goes wrong. I'm not saying anything would go wrong, but the gift option is for an exchange of funds between friends and family, and the pay for goods a security measure for buying stuff off of the internet.

Personally, I'll only use "gift" where I have a good reason to trust the seller - I might know them, I might have dealt with them before, they might have been a member on here for a long time, they might have good MTo feedback etc etc. When I pay via "gift" I have the option to pay the fees so the seller receives the full amount.

Metal Mickey · **Reply #1 on:** November 28, 2013, 05:59:59 AM

It is against Paypal policy. I don't know whether it is true or not but I have heard a suggestion that it is basically defrauding paypal and so maybe illegal? (again not saying it definitely is, just what I've heard).

I do know that on some other forums it is banned to ask for the "gift" option and any offending posts get deleted.

dks · **Reply #2 on:** November 28, 2013, 07:58:16 AM

I also remember that if you pay as gift then you will have to pay the Paypal charges, whereas if you pay for an item as a purchase then the seller pays the charges.

rickinFL · **Reply #3 on:** November 28, 2013, 01:15:24 PM

If you have money in your paypal account you do not pay fees and neither does the seller.

By paying gift, all of your protections are lost. No matter if you buy from forums or anywhere else, you are always protected with paypal via goods and that should be the only way you should pay trusted or not.

Cupboard · **Reply #4 on:** November 28, 2013, 03:25:22 PM

if you have a bank account linked to paypal you don't pay any charges

I'll pay by payment if I don't know the seller, gift if I do.

gregozedobe · **Reply #5 on:** November 28, 2013, 03:36:00 PM

Quote from: Cupboard on November 28, 2013, 03:25:22 PM

if you have a bank account linked to paypal you don't pay any charges

I have a bank account linked to my PayPal and I definitely have to pay fees when I make a "gift" payment.

I also lose money whenever I change currency from $Au to $US for purchases as the PayPal exchange rates are usually about 5% less than the nominal rates quoted by the market (and eBay for that matter).

Cupboard · **Reply #6 on:** November 28, 2013, 03:50:19 PM

For a £10 payment

Philthy · **Reply #7 on:** November 28, 2013, 05:27:57 PM

Sellers like paypal as a gift for 2 reasons:

1. No fees on their end.

2. It gives them the only protection they can get, the protection that you won't receive the item and claim you didn't then do a chargeback.

At least where I'm from we have a concept called "Freedom of contract" meaning two parties that enter into a contract can determine the terms of the contract (aside from illegality). Sending money as a paypal gift is NOT illegal, and therefore in my opinion should be left to the parties to determine how to transact business.

Sellers could also request that a buyer send a check a money order...what's the difference? If you send someone a check or money order once the payment is cleared you have no recourse.

If you don't trust a seller, don't do business with them, it's that simple.

I personally wouldn't buy from someone who didn't have posts or feedback.

enki_ck · **Reply #8 on:** November 28, 2013, 06:04:41 PM

Quote from: Cupboard on November 28, 2013, 03:50:19 PM

For a £10 payment

(Image removed from quote.)

I've seen you do it in a few posts already. If you attach the picture and then use the IMG code to display it full size, don't delete the attachment afterwards. You need the attachment to stay where it is.