Question about Paypal accounts

[Guest Konrad in Lincoln]

I've been trading e mail with someone regarding a motorcycle part, and we've agreed on a price and shipping cost.

But he says that his Paypal account is a 'personal' account, and that I have to have funds already in My Paypal account for him to be able to accept the payment. In other words, I can't do it with my Visa card through Paypal.

Does this sound legitemate? I'd prefer the protection of the Visa card, in case this guy is a fraud. Does Paypal have accounts like that, where the recipient can't take a credit card?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Konrad

[Guest Johannah]

No, this is not legit, at least in my experience of Paypal. The accounts are set up so that they are identifiable by the person's email address. If that person is registered with Paypal, you can pay by any means accepted by the system. Maybe this fella doesn't understand how it works or maybe he doesn't want to lose the fee charged for cards. We usually use direct debit which either incurs no fee or a smaller one. Or, of course, maybe I am just wrong here! At any rate, Konrad, stick to your guns. Try entering his email address and see what happens. You could always tell him "Gee, it worked after all."

nanjojo@earthlink.net

[Guest Chris Gerkin]

I have used paypal and I am with Johannah. You can pay any way that the system will take. Usually the bottom of the thing you are bidding on will tell you about payments that are acceptable.

Good luck

sailingsun1@aol.com

[Guest Konrad in Lincoln]

Ok, he replied to me today. Here's what he wrote:

I have a personal verified pay pal account and with that type of account you can pay people with a credit card but you can not receive credit card payments. if you are verified all you have to do is pay me with your bank account or funds that you mint have already in your pay pal account.

Is what he's saying a true statement?

I don't want to get stung by a fraud.

Sorry, I just don't do very many transactions with Paypal. Maybe one a year.

Any help is appreciated.

[Guest Frank Hagan, Weekender, O]

Here's some excerpts from the Paypal site. On what features the free Personal accounts offer:

What features do Personal accounts offer?

Personal accounts allow consumers to send money to anyone with an email address. Personal account holders may also receive non-credit card funded payments. Personal accounts are reserved for individual use only.

On selling with your Paypal account (which is what he is doing):

Can I sell with a personal account?

Yes, you can sell with a Personal account. If you sell on online auctions, you can insert PayPal logos in your auction listings to let your buyers know you accept PayPal. Since Personal account holders may not receive credit card payments, you may not use the PayPal logos which show credit card images in your auctions. If you sell on eBay, you can also sign up for Winning Bidder Notification, which will automatically send payment requests to your winning bidder within one hour of your auction's close. Show me You can also send manual money requests to collect payments. If you sell on a website or send email invoices, you can have access to our premium services, including PayPal's Shopping Cart, by upgrading to a Premier or Business account.

So it looks like he cannot accept a credit card payment from you. You might be able to send him a payment using your credit card though:

How do I send money?

You can send money by going to the Send Money tab and filling out the form. Show me When you send money you will be asked to choose a payment type. The payment types are:

Service: A payment for the performance of a service

Goods - Auction: An online auction purchase. You will be taken to an additional form to enter optional information such as your item URL, auction site, and a message for the seller

Goods - Non-Auction: A purchase of goods in a non-auction context

Quasi-Cash: The transmission of money not involving an underlying service or good. The bank that issued your credit card may treat this 'Quasi-Cash' transaction as a cash advance and charge you cash advance fees. PayPal has no control over these fees. If you select 'Quasi-Cash' you may want to use a payment method other than Credit Card (Instant Transfer or eCheck) to avoid potential fees

So I think he's right. If you have a Paypal account, you can try to pay him with a credit card you have on file with them, but if all that above is true, they won't let it go through.

fshagan@ev1.net