Paypal is charging fees to receive payments, even on personal accounts! Effective 6/3.

[amyamanda]

I just found out the hard way.

Apparently, if you receive a payment marked "goods" or "services," or you send a payment request and receive a payment as a result, they now charge you 2.9% and 30c.

You are not given the option of rejecting the payment.

I was not notified by e-mail of this policy change even though my preferences in my Paypal account indicate that I should be notified.

I am livid. I just got charged $9 in fees for getting my paycheck. Paypal very likely just lost me as a customer.

So be sure to read the policy changes if you use Paypal!!!!!!!

[amyamanda]

And I'm putting this in this forum because so far it's been a frugal way to exchange funds and many of us who sell things secondhand to save money have used Paypal for a long time. Please feel free to repost anywhere this might be helpful for someone to know, but please don't move it out of this forum because it affects so many of us who can't afford these new fees. Thanks.

[Thystle]

Will have to log on later and look.


That blows! :

[Marisol]

I'm not seeing it in their fee structure. Does someone have a link to the policy change?

[amyamanda]

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/we..._update-policy

Beginning June 3, 2009 PayPal user agreement is being amended as follows:

(snip)

“4.2 Receiving Payments for Commercial Transactions and Personal Transactions.

a. Fees depend on whether you are making a commercial transaction or a personal transaction. A commercial transaction involves buying and selling goods or services, and payments received when you send a “request money” using PayPal. A personal transaction involves sending money to and receiving money from friends and family without making a purchase.

b. If you are selling goods or services, you may not ask the buyer to send you a personal payment for the purchase. If you do so, PayPal may remove your ability to accept personal payments.”

(snip)

Personal Transactions. Fees depend on the payment source that the sender selects. The amount of the fee will be shown at the time the payment is sent. The Fee is paid by either the sender or the recipient. The sender decides who pays.

There are charts below this info that spell out how much the fee is in various scenarios. At least in my account... HTH.

[AngelBee]

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Well that just blows. I use paypal a lot. I see that changing in the future. Are there any good alternatives to paypal out there?

[SeekingJoy]

I don't know of any. I use it for buying stuff off diaperswappers, ebay, coupons, etc.

[lilyka]

i guess I have always had a fee account so it doesn't bother me but really, they can'toperate for free. it is a great service and one my business could not live without. i will gladly pay their fees. it is small price to pay to be able to do secure transactions on line without a lot of hassle.

however since everyone is paying the same fees now you might want to check out upgrading your account. I get a check card which gives me half my fees back when I use it plus I make 4% interest on my balance. its a pretty sweet deal.

[amyamanda]

Originally Posted by lilyka

i guess I have always had a fee account so it doesn't bother me but really, they can'toperate for free. it is a great service and one my business could not live without. i will gladly pay their fees. it is small price to pay to be able to do secure transactions on line without a lot of hassle.

however since everyone is paying the same fees now you might want to check out upgrading your account. I get a check card which gives me half my fees back when I use it plus I make 4% interest on my balance. its a pretty sweet deal.

Oh, I understand that they can't operate for free, and I think I would have felt much differently if I'd received advance notice from them saying something like, "We wish we didn't have to do this, but it's necessary for us to start charging for some services that we previously offered for free." Or something like that.

If I had known in advance, I would not have requested money on Thursday and had to forfeit $9!! That should be my choice to make - I feel they were a bit underhanded in not informing people of a potentially very expensive new rule.

It's possible that it is worth it sometimes to pay the fee (weighing other factors also) but I really don't like that that choice was not given to me this time. I can't afford to throw away $9.

Not to mention that I've been a Paypal member since they began, and I often leave a balance on my account, and I'm assuming that they operate like a bank and use all of their customers' money to earn money for their business while it's in our accounts.

I think it's wrong to start charging your loyal customers for something previously free without giving them any notice of it! I am glad it was free for so long. I understand that free is often too good to last. But it's not right to not tell anyone when your policy changes from free to expensive..

[AlwaysByMySide]

This is why I have a Revolution Money Exchange account, and accept RME payments in my online stores. They are the alternative to Paypal.

[Poddi]

You can still choose "personal" categories for small deals, diaper swapping, cash gifts...etc. Those still don't have fees if the sender use funded Paypal, choose "personal" categories and the receiver has a personal account.

[Shelsi]

Just another reason to use RME!

[Eman'smom]

RME requires you give them your SS number.......

[Kristine233]

Originally Posted by lilyka

i guess I have always had a fee account so it doesn't bother me but really, they can'toperate for free. it is a great service and one my business could not live without. i will gladly pay their fees. it is small price to pay to be able to do secure transactions on line without a lot of hassle.

however since everyone is paying the same fees now you might want to check out upgrading your account. I get a check card which gives me half my fees back when I use it plus I make 4% interest on my balance. its a pretty sweet deal.

This. I've been with them since 2003 and the money I get back using my debit card helps. As a business I write off the fees as well. Its a business expense.

I had a bank screw up an account years ago and I said screw it and have not had a checking account since. My Paypal account is hooked directly with my savings account and its what I've been using for years. Hey, and no over draft fees, lol.

You could always try the Google account?

[CarrieMF]

If I had known in advance, I would not have requested money on Thursday and had to forfeit $9!! That should be my choice to make - I feel they were a bit underhanded in not informing people of a potentially very expensive new rule

They gave notice a few weeks ago of this happening.

[amyamanda]

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

They gave notice a few weeks ago of this happening.

I am positive that I never received notice, and I'm really on top of my incoming e-mail (and monitoring my spam filter).

I am glad to hear you were notified, though.

[PJJ]

Clarification

Does this mean if I bid on something on ebay and pay with my CC, there is a charge?

Anyone know?

TIA

[polyhymnia]

Originally Posted by PJJ

Does this mean if I bid on something on ebay and pay with my CC, there is a charge?

Anyone know?

TIA

no, fees are taken out at the recipient's end. there have always been fees for cc payments.

[Shelsi]

Originally Posted by Eman'smom

RME requires you give them your SS number.......

Because it's attached to an actual bank so just like with any bank they need your SS number.