PayPal or Zelle

[DirectDrive]

When buying on line I like to use a credit card whenever possible.
Sometimes a small operation doesn't take credit cards and some other money transfer is used.
And of course, sometimes you just walk away depending on the product and/or seller.

Zelle is just off my list. As far as I know, once the money is gone, it's gone.
No recourse.

So my question is really about PayPal.
I've used it as a buyer some, but not a lot.

What is the upside or downside of "Friends and Family" as opposed to "Goods and Services" ?
What fees are attached to PayPal transactions ?

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[Nosferatu]

F&F does not allow you to challenge the purchase should something go wrong, but does not charge a percentage of the sale.

G&S charges a percentage of the sale, but offers 'protections' to the buyer and seller.

I personally would never do a FTF transaction with a stranger with anything other than cash, as a buyer or seller.

 

[P7M13]

If you look at the terms of Paypal, they changed them a few years ago where they could seize assets in your bank account for reasons which seem to me to be politically motivated or "unauthorized activities". I will never give any organization any access to my accounts.
I use Zelle exclusively and have used it for ~5 years to both pay, give and receive without any problems. When it's a new contact you are dealing with and they don't have much history, they limit the transaction amount. The most I've used Zelle for is $2800 to pay for an AirBnB. I regularly use it for up to $1K.
I used CasApp briefly, but that was more pain than ease.
I consider the duty to be on the buyer.
If I'm asked to pay for something using electronic payments and I have *any* doubts about the seller, I don't do it.

 

[bcp]

Restrictions:

Zelle Network® User Service Agreement | Zelle

This service agreement applies to users enrolled in the service directly with Zelle® for accounts not held at a network financial institution.

www.zellepay.com

Venmo - Share Payments

Venmo is a digital wallet that lets you make and share payments with friends. You can easily split the bill, cab fare, or much more. Download the iOS or Android app or sign up on Venmo.com today.

venmo.com

https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/acceptableuse-full

Bruce

 

[DirectDrive]

Using a $450 sale of non-prohibited goods as an example...
I come up with a fee of 1.8% paid by the seller under "Goods and Services"
So, $8.10 paid by the seller.
Does that look right ?
Is sales tax triggered under Goods & Services or any other fees charged to the seller ?

 

[Caveman Jim]

Neither, most times the smaller businesses will accept a USPS money order or similar. You obviously will have to use snail mail for it to get there, it's not instantaneous, therefore you have to wait for it to arrive and then they ship your item.
I'm OK with this set up but the others are impatient and want everything NOW, so there's that.

 

[Bacchus]

PayPal tells users it will fine them $2,500 for misinformation

Since PayPal links directly to your bank account, they can (or could, maybe they changed back their TOS) just suck the money from your bank.

 

[oremike]

I don't pay with or take payment from any of those 2nd party money handlers. No-one benefits by using them except them. Cash, Card, Personal check and Postal Money orders work for me.

 

[DirectDrive]

PayPal tells users it will fine them $2,500 for misinformation

Since PayPal links directly to your bank account, they can (or could, maybe they changed back their TOS) just suck the money from your bank.

I'm linked to PayPal via credit card.

 

[salmon creek gary]

I've been using paypal for ~ 17 years without a hitch. I only use Goods & Services mode for any transaction, but I have used Friends & Family to refund money to buyers on occasion (like a deal cancellation, or to return the remainder of estimated shipping costs).

I never indicate the exact nature of merchandise bought or sold to avoid unwittingly stepping into a paypal prohibited category. That said, I already know paypal is hostile to 2A, so I'd never use paypal to buy anything firearm-related. Trust me on that. Really.

To protect my money from an arbitrary "clawback", I've linked paypal to just one low-balance checking account that is only used for paypal, and is NOT LINKED TO ANY OTHER of my financial accounts. I'll hedge by saying that so far, my safeguard has never been tested.

 

[DirectDrive]

I've been using paypal for ~ 17 years without a hitch. I only use Goods & Services mode for any transaction, but I have used Friends & Family to refund money to a buyers on occasion (like a deal cancellation, or to return the remainder of estimated shipping costs).

I never indicate the exact nature of merchandise bought or sold to avoid unwittingly stepping into a paypal prohibited category. That said, I already know paypal is hostile to 2A, so I'd never use paypal to buy anything firearm-related. Trust me on that. Really.

To protect my money from an arbitrary "clawback", I've linked paypal to just one low-balance checking account that is only used for paypal, and is NOT LINKED TO ANY OTHER of my financial accounts. I'll hedge by saying that so far, my safeguard has never been tested.

Please take a look at my Post #5 and see if I have that correct.
Thanks.

 

[Bacchus]

I'm linked to PayPal via credit card.

That sounds safer to me.

 

[DirectDrive]

That sounds safer to me.

It works for a buyer.
If you're a seller, then you would need some sort of bank account.

 

[Bacchus]

You might be able to link it to a non-reloadable Visa debit card ("gift card"). You won't have "consumer protections," but nobody can get more money out of it than the balance. Works okay for small card balances (< $200 ?), but maybe not practical when you need a bigger card balance. I like those for Temu purchases.

 

[Alexx1401]

This gets beat up good every so often. I for the life of me will never understand why so many just feel the need to use these payment platforms. If some place I want something will not take plastic all I can think is they are not above board. We always see a lot of posts about how great the platforms have been for years, blah, blah. Sounds great until one time something goes wrong. Again why? As for PayPal they are fine as long as you do NOT let them have access to your bank account. Now and then I buy stuff of Ebay and the payment is PayPal. They are just being used to processes my Credit Card. Back when I had things to sell on E-bay I set up another checking account at a bank that offered free ones. Put just enough money in there for the PP stuff and as soon as they put money in there I took it back out. There must be something out there but I have yet to see anything for sale that I could not use plastic to buy that I wanted and could not just buy elsewhere. The best part is when someone does get burned and they are of course angry.

 

[salmon creek gary]

Please take a look at my Post #5 and see if I have that correct.
Thanks.

Actually, I think the paypal fee would be more like $13.46 for that hypothetical $450 "goods and services" transaction.

Below is what I copied from the paypal fees page regarding the merchant rate for a domestic transaction (all sellers seem to be called "merchants").

Send/Receive Money for Goods and Services	2.99%

 

[Jay Walk]

Activities prohibited by PayPal.
ammunition, firearms, or certain firearm parts or accessories

Gun owners for PayPal

 

[salmon creek gary]

It works for a buyer.
If you're a seller, then you would need some sort of bank account.

Sellers can link paypal to just a credit card, but that doesn't allow any way to retrieve buyers' payments into the account EXCEPT by making purchases using the paypal balance for payment. For me, that worked fine during the years that I was actively buying and selling. Although the balance fluctuated a lot, it never grew very large.

Once I stopped buying and started downsizing my collections of "stuff", my paypal account balance became so substantial that I preferred to have that money back in my own pocket. A paypal mechanism does enable account holders to periodically transfer all or part of their paypal balance into a linked bank account, so I set up a dedicated checking account and linked it to paypal. Instant transfers from my paypal balance into that checking account incur a small fee, but I usually opt for the slower (2-3 days) no-fee transfer.