PayPal 'Gift' charges...new to me!

[Mystery Machine]

I've been using PayPal for quite some time to buy/sell things. As much as possible I've used the 'gift' option which meant the seller got all of the money.

This was great as a seller because it meant that I got the 'asking price' without a fair whack taken off.

I went to buy something just now, using the gift option but got charged for doing so! I'm assuming PayPal have decided to retract their option of free money transfers despite making crazy amounts of money anyway (yes, I still use it to pay for stuff off eBay etc...)

If this is so, I'm guessing they are still not offering buyer protection with this service, but charging on top?

Time to look at going back to the good old 'bank transfer' routine again I guess!

[retrowagen1234]

Did you have any money in paypal or use it via your bank account? If paypal was entirely empty (or saying some of your details are not available at this time) They will use your bank to fund it.. Which you do get charged for. If there was say 10p in paypal and you were sending £10 You shouldnt get charged... It just depends what way it goes....

[Blackwatch]

I just got charged £1.50 for sending £25.00 as a gift even though i have nearly £60.00 in my paypal account.

Tried every possable way of transferring the money they still charged for it

[retrowagen1234]

hmmm maybe it has changed then... i sent some the otherday with no issues....

[kent]

I sent £165 this week as a gift and didn't get charged a penny either

[datman]

i thought they always charged, sender for gift, recipient for normal. Never liked Paypal much since they removed £165 from my ac and send it to a con artist so I use every opportunity to not use them.

[dubzi]

I noticed they'd started charging for gifts a while back. I think "personal payment owed" was free, having said that it probably isn't now!

[Autofive]

paypal = wallet rapists

[Lawsy]

sometimes I've been charged, others havent - weird

i don't there is any logic to it, maybe you have a 'gift' quota and hit your limit..

[akku]

Paypal is a business. Not a charity. They are there too make money. Thats how capitalism works. They are currently owned by eBay but don't make anything out of the eBay fees. eBay makes money from eBay fees. eBay used to own Skype and sold it. eBay could sell PayPal. Its a separate business and needs to make money on its own accord. Just good business practice.

For a lot of their services they offer good value for money. I haven't really had any problems using PayPal so I have no idea how good or bad their customer service is having not used it.

Now here's the thing - you try sending an international money order, or doing a bank transfer, even in the UK for a moderate sum of money, you'll pay for that service. Banks offer free transfers of smaller sums, so I'd recommend using that rather than Paypal. Paypal is just easier. You pay for the convenience. Your choice. Its also way safer than Western Union or any of that stuff.

You can send or receive a cheque or postal order. There are costs with that too, especially if international.

Yes, there is no buyer protection on "gifts" as according to PayPal you haven't bought anything...

I have found I am charged for "Gift" payments when the transfer is international (ie change of currency) or for moderate sums of money. I have still managed to do free ones as recently as 2 days ago (£28, within UK).

[retrowagen1234]

Yeah ive sent £5 the other day to someone on here... Still did it for free. And £40 a week or so ago to someone on another forum and it went for free...

Think its a bit random. Or you get a quota?

[MrSpeedy]

Seems to vary.
I sent £100 and got charged £1.50 a few weeks ago, but then i sent £20 yesterday and wasn't charged a bean.
Both domestic transfers

[tux]

Does it have anything to do with account types? Whether the account the money is sent from/to is personal or business? Just a thought.

[allensawyer23]

it's true. and paypal no longer receives any amount if your account is not verified

[akku]

I think that has been the case for a while. Its to stop scammers setting up unverified accounts and legging it off with the money which PP then can't reclaim as the bank details used to set the PP account up were false.

[akku]

Pah, I just had a seller who looks like he's gone south on me. I paid as a gift so Paypal won't give me the buyer protection on this purchase. I could be an annoying amount of money out of pocket as a result. I will think carefully before "gifting" in future...

[Minikidx14]

I wouldnt ever usualy 'gift' anything over around £10 if i didnt know/trust the other person.