Sending Paypal As Gift Etiquette

R

rookjunkie

Verified Trader
Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
1,193
Reaction score
0
Location
Milton, ON
This is something that I wasn't aware of before but in the last few weeks a few people (from HI and other sites) have asked me to send them paypal as gift for a purchase.

The first time I thought to myself, what the heck, why not? so I did it.
I noticed I was dinged for a small fee (I forget how much) but since it was only a $20 transaction the fee didn't amount to much so I just let it go. I did write to the seller to let them know that I got dinged.

Today, I am in negotiation for a transaction and the seller has agreed but request that I sent the payment as gift. It is a higher value transaction so I balked and let him know that I as the buyer do not want to get stuck with the fees.

I personally think that paypal fee is the cost to do business for the seller.

I don't like it one bit because the sellers are not only saving ebay fees by selling on HI or other similar sites but they are also trying to get out of paying paypal fees as well. Whenever I sold anything I just accepted the fees as a fact of life.

Just my two cents.

Have you guys noticed this requesting payment as gift happening more and more? How do you feel about it?

Will
 
just ask if the seller will eat the small fee, they give you the option as the sender to decide who should incur the fee no?
 
yes, it's a double edged sword though.

as a buyer, it can entice the seller to accept payment knowing he won't get dinged with the fees. i'll gladly cover this for a card i really, really want. the downside is you need to be absolutely sure you trust this guy as a gift is irrevocable and you can't file a chargeback on the guy.

as a seller, if i receive payment in gift form from a questionable buyer, it is nice as well knowing i don't have to worry about a chargeback and the fees.


EDIT - i should add unless payment might be from a credit card in which case credit card companies might supercede paypal and take the funds back regardless. in which case, paypal might pursue.
 
Last edited:
The fee has been a bit of a mystery to me as well. Sometimes it's there, other times it is not. Usually I ask the Seller to pay the fee. All have agreed to pay since it is usually lower than the regular fees Paypal charges them if the payment was not sent as a Gift.
 
There are no fees for either side if you have a Paypal balance - Credit card payments will prompt you to pay the fee or have the seller do so

Also there is no protection for Gift payments to get money back I believe
 
rookjunkie said:
This is something that I wasn't aware of before but in the last few weeks a few people (from HI and other sites) have asked me to send them paypal as gift for a purchase.

The first time I thought to myself, what the heck, why not? so I did it.
I noticed I was dinged for a small fee (I forget how much) but since it was only a $20 transaction the fee didn't amount to much so I just let it go. I did write to the seller to let them know that I got dinged.

Today, I am in negotiation for a transaction and the seller has agreed but request that I sent the payment as gift. It is a higher value transaction so I balked and let him know that I as the buyer do not want to get stuck with the fees.

I personally think that paypal fee is the cost to do business for the seller.

I don't like it one bit because the sellers are not only saving ebay fees by selling on HI or other similar sites but they are also trying to get out of paying paypal fees as well. Whenever I sold anything I just accepted the fees as a fact of life.

Just my two cents.

Have you guys noticed this requesting payment as gift happening more and more? How do you feel about it?

Will
Click to expand...


Hey Will,

Check this out:
http://www.hobbyinsider.net/forum/showthread.php?t=209668

I'm all for sending as a gift. its a recession. pinch those pennies.

Are you sure that you were dinged the small fee? Its possible that you opted to pay the small fee. When sending money as a gift, if there are fees involved, there is a check box that allows the sender to pay the fee. You can opt to have the receiver pay the fee instead by simply not checking that box.

The fees are not a fact of life. Think of it as smart shopping. Lets say that you have the option to choose between two credit cards. One charges you a yearly fee, but offers 1% cash back, the other has no yearly fee, but no cash back either. Which do you chose?

gbbadger said:
The fee has been a bit of a mystery to me as well. Sometimes it's there, other times it is not. Usually I ask the Seller to pay the fee. All have agreed to pay since it is usually lower than the regular fees Paypal charges them if the payment was not sent as a Gift.
Click to expand...

Again, Check this out:
http://www.hobbyinsider.net/forum/showthread.php?t=209668

Ironman Indy said:
There are no fees for either side if you have a Paypal balance - Credit card payments will prompt you to pay the fee or have the seller do so
Click to expand...

This is not 100% true. You can still be charged a 1% fee if you as sending a Paypal balance internationally. If someone in Canada sends Paypal to someone in the USA, the USA recipient gets charged a 1% fee. Even if it was paid with a Paypal balance.

I've also noticed that if you send payment for goods and choose credit card, there is no option to pay the fees. If you send as a gift though and pay with a credit card, then you do have the option to pay fees. i'm not 100% certain this applies to everyone because I've herd of conflicting reports. I can only speak to what I've experienced with my Paypal account.

Ironman Indy said:
Also there is no protection for Gift payments to get money back I believe
Click to expand...

This is true though. If those fees are paid, the buyer gets marginally protected. Its definitely not the same level or protection that you get with eBay. Tthe Paypal TOS is clear on that.

I'm curious if Paypal ever helped out with an HI transaction gone awry. I'd love to hear of someone involved in such a situation and the outcome.
 
Last edited:
Yes it does appear to be with my international transactions that the fee was imposed since I always use either Paypal balance or Bank Transfer. The amount is the confusing part. For example, on a $100 gift payment by bank transfer the fee was $.50. This would be a .5% fee, which does not match any of the listed fees (that I see). Either way I ask the seller to pay for it.
 
Just a quick note to thank "rookjunkie" for starting this thread and all the others for their informative replies. I've now learned something new about paypal and how it works with "gifting" money. Another example of why HI is such a great place to hang out...
 
gbbadger said:
Yes it does appear to be with my international transactions that the fee was imposed since I always use either Paypal balance or Bank Transfer. The amount is the confusing part. For example, on a $100 gift payment by bank transfer the fee was $.50. This would be a .5% fee, which does not match any of the listed fees (that I see). Either way I ask the seller to pay for it.
Click to expand...

The 1% is based on country. Here's the most up to date list from Paypal's site:
Recipient’s Country:
Australia 1%
Canada 1%
China 0%
Germany 2%
Hong Kong 0%
Singapore 0%
Taiwan 0%
U.S. 0%
Elsewhere 0.5%

The 'elsewhere' of 0.5% would explain the 0.5% fee you have if you are located in one of the areas not listed above.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
reoddai
 
I'll be honest, I've been dealing from both sides and have both sent and received payments as gifts and never noticed being hit with fees. This is the first I've heard of it...
 
Yes thank you....this explains it now. The payment was sent to Sweden, so that would be in the elsewhere category.

Thanks again for clearing this up.

reoddai said:
The 1% is based on country. Here's the most up to date list from Paypal's site:
Recipient’s Country:
Australia 1%
Canada 1%
China 0%
Germany 2%
Hong Kong 0%
Singapore 0%
Taiwan 0%
U.S. 0%
Elsewhere 0.5%

The 'elsewhere' of 0.5% would explain the 0.5% fee you have if you are located in one of the areas not listed above.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
reoddai
Click to expand...
 
Triple B said:
I'll be honest, I've been dealing from both sides and have both sent and received payments as gifts and never noticed being hit with fees. This is the first I've heard of it...
Click to expand...

See my earlier post. If you're in one of the 0% receiving zones then you'd never notice payment fees. There was a brief time when the USA had a 1% receiving fee on gifts if it was sent from an international source. This was true in August of this year for sure. If you didn't see a fee, its just because no international sources sent your $$.

Now that USA is a 0% receiver, you may not see any again, unless Paypal changes their policies.
 
Even if it's 1%, that beats the crap out of 2.9 or 3.9...
On HI, I'll send as gift and receive as gift for established members. For Newbies, once the card is in, no problem... gift it is.

Anywhere else.... gimme my ability to chargeback.
 
cards-gotta-go said:
Even if it's 1%, that beats the crap out of 2.9 or 3.9...
On HI, I'll send as gift and receive as gift for established members. For Newbies, once the card is in, no problem... gift it is.

Anywhere else.... gimme my ability to chargeback.
Click to expand...

That was my next thought exactly. I'll be doing this for people I know or who are long standing (and upstanding) HI members. Newbies and "never heard-a-yas" won't be/haven't been getting the same treatment.
 
wow thanks for all the response. That's a lot of information and it does seem that paypal has made it kind of complicated as to who pays, when you pay, why you pay when it comes to "gift" fees.

I guess it all depends on the circumstance.

thanks everyone for all the info and input

Will
 
Man I totally agree, I think asking to send as a gift is getting to the STUPID point!! People think they can send money without Paypal takign their cut?? Think again.....

It's a cheap way out for sellers to not eat the fees IMO.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
390,200
Messages
2,239,299
Members
4,172
Latest member
Singin
Back
Top