More PayPal policy changes...

ur20v

Member
Feb 3, 2017
571
Northern Virginia
Just got an email from PayPal. Most of the time the policy changes they announce are obscure and don't really have any effect on me, but this one might affect us all.

Screenshot_20220706-143752_Chrome.jpg
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
I think the real agenda here is to prevent people from avoiding fees by paying "friends and family" to a business. I kinda of understand the idea.... why would a business be taking a personal (no fee and no item/service) payment? I honestly didn't know you could pay "friends and family" to a business, I always thought business accounts required a purchase and that is why they have a checkout based payment screen.

I can see where they are coming from to some extent. When I ran this site and sales were a large focus the number one problem I had was with people wanting something done about getting ripped off for an item. My first question was always "how did you pay?". More often than not it was the "friends and family" method and they were out of luck. Obviously I didn't profit from transactions the way paypal does and they are looking to close any loophole people can use to get out of paying fees.

That said I'm nota paypal fan for a lot of reasons. Paypal takes some liberties with money that banks can't and you can lose your money in ways you wouldn't with a bank or credit card. Paypal and eBay are buyer focused businesses and so much so I'm not really sure being a seller using either is worth it.


 
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ur20v

Member
Feb 3, 2017
571
Northern Virginia
I think the real agenda here is to prevent people from avoiding fees by paying "friends and family" to a business. I kinda of understand the idea.... why would a business be taking a personal (no fee and no item/service) payment? I honestly didn't know you could pay "friends and family" to a business, I always thought business accounts required a purchase and that is why they have a checkout based payment screen.

I can see where they are coming from to some extent. When I ran this site and sales were a large focus the number one problem I had was with people wanting something done about getting ripped off for an item. My first question was always "how did you pay?". More often than not it was the "friends and family" method and they were out of luck. Obviously I didn't profit from transactions the way paypal does and they are looking to close any loophole people can use to get out of paying fees.

That said I'm nota paypal fan for a lot of reasons. Paypal takes some liberties with money that banks can't and you can lose your money in ways you wouldn't with a bank or credit card. Paypal and eBay are buyer focused businesses and so much so I'm not really sure being a seller using either is worth it.


Sure, I get it. I have an old business account that I mainly used for PayPal's merchant services, as their credit card processing fees were competitive with the big boys but also gave me instant access to those funds in my PayPal account. This was important to me as I was making special orders to suppliers on every third or fourth customer transaction, and most of these guys were very, very small manufacturers making niche products and (understandably) would not extend credit or offer terms to anyone, especially another tiny business like mine. I was also selling parts online in forums, Facebook groups, and on ebay, and that was still the payment method of choice. But I would still take private payments from people for certain things, like going to go check out a car for sale nearby or offering "tech support" over email, etc. I was also using it to pay for a lot of my own personal transactions, like ebay purchases, etc., but even that wasn't a big deal since my LLC was a pass-through anyway. So even though it was a "business account" with a debit card and instant deposits and business account fee structure, it wasn't a hard and fast "business only" account. But I never abused the friends and family thing and any time there was an actual business transaction I sent or requested an invoice through PayPal and linked the receipt.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Remember, if they're not being both abusive and useless, it ain't PayPal.
I mean it is something they can claim to be good at I guess. I learned my lesson and have a special bank account connected to it that never has much money in it.
 
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Reactions: Pete L.
May 21, 2010
1,258
Minnesota
What are other decent methods of accepting payments? I have used my paypal account for both personal and business but very low volume of transactions. I have pretty much just stopped using it as it has been more for a backup and toys purchases. I have been requesting USPS money orders with mixed results from potential buyers. It offers buyer protection but the claim process would be a pain. I have a few things left to sell this year in the $50-$100 range. Not worth the extra expense and paperwork of going over the $600 reporting limit by a small amount, especially when my tax liability is well under the $600 limit. Just not sure what other reasonable options are when selling parts.
 

ur20v

Member
Feb 3, 2017
571
Northern Virginia
Venmo offers protection, but the buyer has to mark the transaction as a purchase and then the seller pays a fee, but both parties are protected at that point. For transactions between trusted parties there's also CashApp. Venmo is owned by PayPal, CashApp is owned by Square.

Oh, and there's also Zelle, but I'm not 100% sure on their protection policies.
 
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NoLimitSquads

Member
Feb 11, 2021
330
Minnesota
Oh, and there's also Zelle, but I'm not 100% sure on their protection policies.
Zelle has virtually no protection as a buyer. As a seller, its great. Once you get the money, it’s nearly impossible for the buyer to get their money back without the seller giving it back.
 
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Reactions: Tony P
Jun 18, 2013
3,709
PA
Zelle has virtually no protection as a buyer. As a seller, its great. Once you get the money, it’s nearly impossible for the buyer to get their money back without the seller giving it back.
Zelle doesn't market itself as a market tool, just a tool to send people money. I have used it, and it works, you just need to understand its limitations. And most importantly not be stupid on your online transactions. Face to face only is what I use it for.
 

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