Money Transactions with PayPal ??

I'm in the process of selling my first ball python to someone in Florida and was wondering how some of the other members on here use PayPal.

For example, I understand that you can avoid the PayPal fees by having the buyer select the Personal Tab and "payment owed" option. But, if the buyer does this, you (as the seller) lose "seller protection" which means the buyer could receive the animal, file a claim, and then get all of his money back, while keeping the animal.

I've heard of sellers getting screwed with PayPal transactions and I'm a little wary since this will be my first transaction as a seller. Does anyone have any advice for using PayPal and which is the best payment method?

I just have the seller send payment as usual and eat the fee, or try to include it in the price before the sale. It's the only way to get any amount of protection as far as I know.

Make sure to only send it to the address associated with the account. If the seller claims you never sent anything, all you'll have is a tracking number to an address that's not theirs.

Also, my PayPal app does something I haven't noticed on the actual site. It gives me an option to send money to "family or friends" for free if I use my bank account to send a payment. I would use this feature for those I trust because it offers me, the buyer, no protection. This is different from the gift option from what I can tell.

I agree with the Nick... btw Nick there's an option on the paypal site where you could gift money or mark it as payment owed and it doesn't take the fee that either...

Thanks for the info guys. PayPal can be tricky, and there are definitely some scammers out there.

I've used Paypal for both buying and selling. I do not gift the money. Yes, it saves the fees but what I'm transferring is not a gift. It is for a purchase and the seller should expect to pay that fee. I've paid fees for paypal and credit cards. It sucks that you have to pay them, but there is some minimal amount of protection when using those payment methods. If you do it, make sure it with a very trusted person.

I imagine that Paypal could even come back with some type of repercussions if they discovered you bypassed their fee. I did have one transaction where I bought a snake from someone, who I did not know other than by reputation. We agreed on a price, I told him I would pay with Paypal before the final price was negotiated. When I paypal'ed the money, he was upset I didn't gift it. Never in his negotiations did he say it would be an issue. That is the last purchase from that person I will do because in addition, he used regular hand warmers, instead of reptile heat packs and shipped in a very small box.

Before doing any transaction on line, I would check the person on BOI or as many resources as I can. There are a lot of people out there trying to make a quick buck and that is not the way to make money with reptiles. Those cut corners can wipe out a collection.

Don wrote:

I've used Paypal for both buying and selling. I do not gift the money. Yes, it saves the fees but what I'm transferring is not a gift. It is for a purchase and the seller should expect to pay that fee. I've paid fees for paypal and credit cards. It sucks that you have to pay them, but there is some minimal amount of protection when using those payment methods. If you do it, make sure it with a very trusted person.

I imagine that Paypal could even come back with some type of repercussions if they discovered you bypassed their fee. I did have one transaction where I bought a snake from someone, who I did not know other than by reputation. We agreed on a price, I told him I would pay with Paypal before the final price was negotiated. When I paypal'ed the money, he was upset I didn't gift it. Never in his negotiations did he say it would be an issue. That is the last purchase from that person I will do because in addition, he used regular hand warmers, instead of reptile heat packs and shipped in a very small box.

Before doing any transaction on line, I would check the person on BOI or as many resources as I can. There are a lot of people out there trying to make a quick buck and that is not the way to make money with reptiles. Those cut corners can wipe out a collection.

Well said Don... And yes they might come back with a repercussion But I only gift the money when it's someone that need's the money ( not a sale of anything just a little friendly help ) or I use the payment owned option when I owe money on a previously bought item otherwise I do agree 110% use the way where it take's the fee it's the best way to go especially when you want to protect your money or have any claim to getting your money back if a deal indeed does go sour...

Thanks Don. This is just another example of why I love this forum: so much wisdom and experience on here that other members are willing to share!