Heartland

I'm sorry for asking so stupid questions but still - could someone explain to an idiot (me) what is PayPal Balance and how does it works? One eBay seller asked me to pay, using PayPal Balance, and NOT PayPal through credit cards. So far I have used PayPal and money is taken automatically from my VISA card. Now I'm confused. Want to pay for the things though.

Might just be their phrasing?

It sounds like they mean by adding money to their PayPal balance?

I checked that it wasn't me missing something but if you search on the web there seems to be no mentions of that as an alternative service name at all.

Maybe just drop them a message to confirm what they mean - may be the easiest thing.

i've seen payments arrive via paypal that have taken 7 working days to actually clear

i think it said they were called "paypal cheques"

i wonder if they mean that?

it sounds like the seller's main worry is that the money arrives ASAP, and that they dont have to wait for anything to clear

the best bet would be to make sure you have a bank account set up in your paypal profile, and transfer from there into your paypal balance, from where you can send the seller their payment, and it woudl be available to them immediately

i think

as carpy says, i'd double check with them exactly what they mean

thank you both!
in fact i sent him (her?) a request to explain but haven't got yet.

Quiff Boy wrote:
the best bet would be to make sure you have a bank account set up in your paypal profile, and transfer from there into your paypal balance, from where you can send the seller their payment, and it woudl be available to them immediately

well, there's written on my PayPal site:

PayPal does not currently offer the ability to add funds from your bank account.

When you make a payment, PayPal charges the buyer's credit card and instantly credits the seller's PayPal account.

so I don't know if it would be possible...
the strange thing is that the seller was agree to receive cash in mail (which is more unsafe, I think - and takes at least 7 days; on the other hand some sellers have thanked me for the quick payment the same day when I had clicked the "pay" button)...

if it says "and instantly credits the seller's PayPal account" i would imagine you'd be ok using your normal process

Think of paypal as a bank account. Sometimes you simply ttransfer money internally from one paypal account to someone else's paypal account. If you have enough money in it, funds come out of it to pay for an item. If you do not have enough, then your credit card gets billed.

For [an admittedly ridiculous] example, QB sells you a reptile-skin guitar for 20 quid. You send him the money via paypal. That money is now sitting in his paypal account. BQ then buys a poster of Smurphs for 5 quid. The seller has a paypal account, so QB pays for the poster using paypal. QB's credit card is not touched, only his balance on hand. He sends the seller the 5 quid, which leave him a balance of 15 pounds still in his account.

Why does this make a difference? Some people (like me) do not have their paypal accounts set up to collect credit card payments, but we can except transfer of funds from one account to another. Paypal may take setting up the account to be connected to a bank or at least a credit card account in order to accept credit card payments. I for one do not trust paypal enough to link them with my financial institutions. Here is a potentially interesting read.

pikkrong wrote:I'm sorry for asking so stupid questions but still - could someone explain to an idiot (me) what is PayPal Balance and how does it works? One eBay seller asked me to pay, using PayPal Balance, and NOT PayPal through credit cards. So far I have used PayPal and money is taken automatically from my VISA card. Now I'm confused. Want to pay for the things though.

If a buyer makes a paypal payment which is funded by a credit card, they are able to get a refund after taking delivery of the item by requesting that their credit card company provides a charge back. This simply removes their payment from the sellers Paypal account, even if this involves the seller ending up with a minus (-) balance.
Some (very clued up/previously burnt) Ebay sellers, will only accept Paypal payment from a Paypal balance, as this type of payment is not funded by a credit card and can not be charged back by the buyer.

Obviously Paypal charge backs are a good thing if you never recieve your item or have a reasonable request for a refund refused by a dodgy seller. Sadly plenty of dodgy buyers simply take delivery of an item that is exactly as described and then instruct their credit card company to issue a charge back anyway. I suspect that this is why some sellers now insist on payment from a Paypal balance only.

Ohoh, I remember that I've sold a video beamer. The seller came from a foreign country, so paypal seemed to be the best way to receive the payment easy and fast. The seller payed via paypal with his credit card and paypal forwarded the money to my account. Unfortunately, due to the high transaction-sum, they've charged >50€ fees and I had to carry that costs.

Since then, I don't accept any s**t credit card payment option.

Hi with Paypal CHEQUE, there is a flat fee of US$5 or somthing similar. it takes a few days to clear but its the easiest method without getting hammered by fees

Regards

H

thanks to everyone!
this particular case got solved for me. otherwise.
of course, if people think it would be useful to continue discussing about it, I'm not against.