I don't want to pay paypal fees...is it possible?

[FoundMyPrince]

On my paypal account I can currently accept credit cards and payments from checking, etc. But, each time I'm sent money there is a paypal fee taken out of the amount paid. Is it possible to have an account and not have fees taken out each time?

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Only if you accept a gift amount of funded paypal. The other person has to send it that way. If they send it for goods or use their credit card or debit card there is no way to avoid the fee.

 

[sam_gordon]

All credit card vendors (which is what you are when you accept CC for payment) pay a fee.

However, according to paypal's site:

It's free to receive money from friends or family in the U.S. when they send the money from the PayPal website using only their PayPal balance or their bank account, or a combination of their PayPal balance and bank account.

This is for personal payments only... if you've sold goods & services (such as through ebay), you need to pay the fee.

 

[ajh88]

As the PPs have said, not really any way to avoid the fees, unless it is a very specific scenario as described. You are being charged the merchant fee for the ability to accept credit card payments - however, I'm pretty sure the fee is charged no matter how the other person pays, so I don't think that can cover it entirely.

I checked out some of the other electronic payment providers (ProPay I think comes to mind) and they have a similar set up - in other words, they aren't free either. I seem to recall that maybe they didn't charge by the payment but you paid them a flat monthly rate, I think $10/month was the cheapest. That might be a possibility if you sell quite a bit regularly...for me, it wasn't worth it because I don't want to pay them if I'm not using the service, KWIM? I go months without selling anything at all. This was a year or so ago, so they may have changed since then.

 

[Hannathy]

I'm very curious why you would think you could use paypal's services and not pay them?

They are a business not a charity.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

I'm very curious why you would think you could use paypal's services and not pay them?

They are a business not a charity.

Thanks Hannathy...snarky as usual. I am asking because I know you can use their services and not have a fee come out of the funds paid to you - I'm just not sure how it can be done.

 

[pixiewings71]

I had a friend who needed emergency money, I sent her the funds via paypal and sent them as a gift so no fees were charged to her. But I only do it if it's really a gift, I won't use that function if I'm paying for goods or services.

 

[disneychrista]

There is no way to do this if you are using Paypal for payment for selling on Ebay or similar.

 

[IDoDis]

Not if you are selling on ebay, but you can do it (I do it every week) if you are sending money to someone else. For example, I pay for my daughter's figure skating lessons each week via Paypal. I just log into paypal, click on the "send money" link, enter the email where I'm sending it, click on "personal" and then click on "other" and the transaction is free to the person receiving the money.

Sometimes I send my mom money for things and just do it via Paypal the same way so she doesn't have any fees taken out of what I send her. She gets the amount in full with no fees.

The one catch is you can't send or receive money that comes from a credit card. It has to be a debit card transaction where paypal deducts the money from your checking account, or from funds that are already in your paypal account.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

Not if you are selling on ebay, but you can do it (I do it every week) if you are sending money to someone else. For example, I pay for my daughter's figure skating lessons each week via Paypal. I just log into paypal, click on the "send money" link, enter the email where I'm sending it, click on "personal" and then click on "other" and the transaction is free to the person receiving the money.

Sometimes I send my mom money for things and just do it via Paypal the same way so she doesn't have any fees taken out of what I send her. She gets the amount in full with no fees.

The one catch is you can't send or receive money that comes from a credit card. It has to be a debit card transaction where paypal deducts the money from your checking account, or from funds that are already in your paypal account.

Thank you! This is the information I was looking for!

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

If you are selling on ebay, you are going to have to pay the fees. However, personal gifts sent through one paypal account to another are fee free.

 

[libinatorsmom]

You can if it is a gift - BUT you loose your seller protection if you do it as a gift - so in my opinion the fee it worth it