Hello, I've been an Ebay member for 8 or 9 years and a year or two back I got a Paypal personal account.I reccently sold some slot bodies and one of the auctions had a flag on it after it ended that said "claim your payment". It turns out that if a buyer pays Paypal with a credit card, you need a "buisiness account" to claim your money. It doesn't look to me like you can select your way out of this when posting the auction. To get a buisiness account, I need to give Paypal a lot of info that I don't want to give them. I don't have a buisiness or want to start one. I'm going to end up taking the loss on the auction, so it ticks me off that Paypal and Ebay have this all sewed up and there's little you can do about it. Did any of you guys upgrade to a buisness account? Any of your input is appreciated. Thanks, Glen

I didn't either. However, I haven't listed anything on epay for quite awhile until the other day. Hopefully, when the winning bidder does PP, he won't be using the CC option. Now I remember why I stopped doing auctions. :freak:

:rolleyes: rr

I have a premier account that lets me accept payments. It's no big deal but they do take a fee. I guess by RR's comment that if they use credit cards, you need a business account? I don't sell on ebay. It's a pain. They warned me once for calling something "almost new". I'd rather sell here, to our guys, and take the loss.

I only accept paypal anymore.No checks,no CCs.

I used too dable quite a bit and have a premier acct. The only problem I ever had was with non payers. I only buy once in great while now if it is something I can't buy locally ie camera batteries, slot cars, and guitar picks for about 5 cents a piece. 144 picks will probably last me the rest of my life as i have lived on five for the past 4 years. I might sell something if I find it for 3 bucks and know it is worth 100. Otherwise the nickle and dime stuff isn't worth the hassle after all the fees are taken out and then get to worry about some idiots feedback. I am at 100% positive feedback for over 300 transactions and I like to keep it that way. david AKA yazgarsfarm (ebay)

When eBay bought Paypal, it got, as someone once so elequently put it, "real stupid real fast".

A couple years ago, eBay stopped allowing you to restrict the type of payment you could receive via Paypal. In other words, if you used Paypal, you had to accept payment using all types of funding, including credit/debit cards. I once had all my auctions pulled because I specified that I had a personal account and could not take credit cards.

Then recently eBay resticted all payments to Paypal only. This meant you must have a business account to do business on ebay. It also means they will take a cut of the payment whether or not someone uses a credit card. It's an underhanded way for them to make even more money off you. I don't think most people notice this.

I stopped using eBay a couple years ago because I could see where this was going. I would have had no problem with Paypal charging a flat rate for the use of the service on non-credit card transactions. But to take a percentage of a cash transaction is something I will not stand for. That's like your bank charging you a percentage of the transaction every time you move money from one account to another or write out a check.

Now, as to your problem. Here's what I did. In order to allow me to accept Paypal payments with a credit card, I decided to open a second Paypal account. My original account stays as a personal account (and therefore gets free cash transactions) while the new account is opened as a business account.

The first step is to go to your bank and open a new account. Put a couple dollars in it; about as low as the bank will allow without charging a fee. Then open a second Paypal account linking it to the new bank account. If Paypal requires a credit card to open the account, simply remove your existing credit card from your original account and link it to the new Paypal account. Once the new Paypal account is established and functioning, remove your credit card and put it back on your original account. Then go to the bank and close the bank account BUT DO NOT REMOVE IT FROM YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT! Just never try to access the bank account.

When someone sends money to your business account, just turn right around and send it to your personal account (this transaction will be free). From there, you can move it into your bank or do whatever you want.

For everything but eBay, you can offer your payers the option of a cash payment with no fees attached (to your personal account) or charge a little more to cover your costs and let them use a credit card. The fee is about $4 for every $100 (at least it was the last time I checked; they may have raised the rates). You'll need to build in your eBay and Paypal fees if you sell on eBay.

I also suggest that any account tied to Paypal be used only for Paypal and that not a lot of money be kept in the account. I also suggest transferring any Paypal balance to your bank account whenever you accumulate a significant amount. I've seen Paypal raid and/or lock accounts based on their own discretion. Don't put yourself in that position.

Joe

Set up your account NOT to accept credit cards. I'm sure there are lots of sellers not accepting credit cards.

I use only E-checks for paying with PayPal. I don't keep money in my PP account after having it hi-jacked once. I have a seperate checking account just for PP. It takes about 3 days for the seller to get there money and a little longer for me to get my item .. but hey i'm in no hurry.

Good info gentlemen.

All good advice. In the future I think I'll sell my slot stuff here instead of ebay. Its just not worth the aggravation. Thanks guys.

Set up your account NOT to accept credit cards. I'm sure there are lots of sellers not accepting credit cards.

If you do this, you are setting up a personal account and will not be able to do business on eBay. eBay enforces a policy that you MUST accept credit card payments via Paypal in order to do business.

I use only E-checks for paying with PayPal. I don't keep money in my PP account after having it hi-jacked once. I have a seperate checking account just for PP. It takes about 3 days for the seller to get there money and a little longer for me to get my item .. but hey i'm in no hurry.

Once you've had your account hi-jacked, you'll learn to protect yourself from both eBay and Paypal. I'm pretty sure Paypal can't go after your bank account or credit card without your authorization. If they do, I'm sure there are steps you can take to back out the transaction.

But they will, and have, raided and/or locked out people's accounts based on their policies. Some people have never been burned by them and think Paypal is the greatest thing. Others have been and know enough to protect themselves.

Joe