basic paypal question

[back alley]

feel kinda dumb but i'll not find out if i do not ask.

if someone wants to pay me by paypal, what do i need to do? i'm not even sure what my paypal address is.
and i don't see the answers on my account page.

obviously i have never used it so far.

joe

 

[photodog]

Your Paypal address is the email address which you used to register with Paypal.

 

[back alley]

ah, so simple.
thanks dog!

joe

 

[Poptart]

Go to www.paypal.com and register an e-mail account.

 

[back alley]

done, i just wasn't sure how it works.

how long does a payment usually take to get into my account?
joe

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

how long does a payment usually take to get into my account?

In my experience, a payment into your PayPal account is instantaneous. Requesting an electronic transfer of the balance on your PayPal account to your bank account may take 3-5 business days.

There is a chance of "snafus". I tend to wait until the funds have cleared into my bank account. That step is manual (you have to request it). Just because you have a balance doesn't necessarily mean the money is 100% yours. The exception is, of course, in case you're wondering, for abnormal cases, such as fraudulent accounts, somebody sent money to the wrong account (i.e. you got money "out of the blue"), etc. etc. etc.

 

[ch1]

In my experience, a payment into your PayPal account is instantaneous. Requesting an electronic transfer of the balance on your PayPal account to your bank account may take 3-5 business days.

There is a chance of "snafus". I tend to wait until the funds have cleared into my bank account. That step is manual (you have to request it). Just because you have a balance doesn't necessarily mean the money is 100% yours. The exception is, of course, in case you're wondering, for abnormal cases, such as fraudulent accounts, somebody sent money to the wrong account (i.e. you got money "out of the blue"), etc. etc. etc.

One other thing is to ensure that you have linked your bank account to you PayPal account. I think it happens on sign-up (it's been a long time since I set mine up). I also have a CC account linked etc.

I prefer to pay via CC even though PayPal "fights" you on this by always defaulting to using your linked bank account by using the tiniest font possible that you have to click on to switch to a CC.

But you get used to it.

As to transfers over from you PayPal account to your bank - I've never had any problems. I never have needed to check the timing too closely - just figured on their 3-5 biz days and besides, run my eBay/PayPal buy/sell stuff off of a different bank account from my other accounts.

Suggest you separate them too if you plan on doing a lot of "trading". Better security and better record keeping.

Hope this all helps and hope your felling finer.

George
copake_ham

 

[back alley]

thanks guys.
i can say that my first paypal experience has gone well. the funds seem to be in my account and ready to be spent.
kinda cool.
joe

 

[ch1]

thanks guys.
i can say that my first paypal experience has gone well. the funds seem to be in my account and ready to be spent.
kinda cool.
joe

Yeh, Joe.

But never forget - it's the seller who pays the "vigarish" on PayPal and it can be "steep".

Regards,
George
copake_ham

 

[back alley]

there does not seem to be any 'vigarish' so far. the complete amount has been deposited with no debit, so far.
joe

 

[Frank Granovski]

Some years back when I signed up for paypal, they charged me twice. So I never, ever use paypal. It ain't my pal. 🙂

 

[Kat]

I was curious about that--in what instances are there any charges?

 

[yankeedoll]

We use payPal alot. There are charges when a buyer uses a credit card to pay you and when you have an international transaction in or out. They tend to range from 3 to 4.7% of the sale price.

Doll

 

[peter_n]

The PayPal charges are more than made up for by the sheer convenience of international payments done in a snap. I have had it with outrageously expensive international bank transfers that take days. 😡

 

[ch1]

there does not seem to be any 'vigarish' so far. the complete amount has been deposited with no debit, so far.
joe

Joe,

All my experience with taking a payment via PayPal is via sales on eBay. I know that in those situations, PayPal takes a "vig" (I think it's 3%).

They may not do so on "person-to-person" money transfers (i.e. non-eBay sales) - although I don't know what would be in it for them if they didn't charge for their service.

A lot of folks "resent" PayPal because they charge a fee for their money exchange service - but they have to "eat" too and they sure do make internet e-biz easier.

NOTE: Jorge uses PayPal to accept donations to this site or to pay for RFF hats.

Regards,
George

 

[Frank Granovski]

To join (sign-up), they charged $5 USD. Then they charged me again. They're thieves!

 

[Poptart]

PayPal charges sellers a % of gross payments, even though they're owned by eBay, which itself charges a percentage of gross sales. What's wrong with this picture?

 

[Kat]

Thanks, Doll🙂 I wish Paypal would broaden its services to some other countries like mine...It sounds like a really convenient way to pay.