Just wanted to find out if you sell something and it is payed for though paypal do they always charge a fee or if you send it as a gift is the fee waivered I have seen people ask the payment to be sent as a gift

if you send it as 'personal' there is no fee.

I believe there is no fee when money is sent as a gift but you have to print the label differently b/c you won't get a shipping page. You have to do it manually but it's not a big deal.

I'm going to be destashing next weekend and this is very good to know

thanks that helps I have given some things away for cost of postage and then I got a charge from paypal so I will ask for it to be sent differently next time

It's important for the buyers to know that if the money is paid via PayPal as a gift, NO protection exists.

You can't file any claims if a package is lost, or not what you ordered, or thought you were getting as you've stated you're NOT buying goods or services.

As for the PP fee to a seller - that's a cost of doing business. If a seller ever asks you to pay the fee so he doesn't have to, find another seller.

When I send a parcel I get confermation so if the package is lost I will be covered.I gave some stuff away and it ended up costing me because of this fee if that is going to happen then I will not give things away as I cannot afford a cost that is why I was looking for another way if I was selling I can understand the fee and that I would be protected

From my experience with PayPal, I recommend for the buyer to do the transaction and mark it as gift that way I won't pay a surcharge or the buyer will not pay a surcharge (either way PayPal wants some sort of Surcharge because I had to pay a surcharge for an international mailing months ago).

In my case if mailing out a parcel package or Priority box, I buy delivery confirmation (as needed per package) at the PO that way I can track the shipping online.

You cannot go wrong with Delivery Confirmation, it's better than paying the surcharge to PayPal.

Covered for what?

If you're the seller and you send a package that gets lost, PayPal will take the money from your account and refund the buyer when he files an INR claim (Item Not Received).

If you're the buyer, and the seller didn't provide online verfication of DELIVERY, you can file a claim, and will receive a refund for the entire payment.

If you're selling, your selling "costs" should be included in the price you set for your widgets. So if you think the widget is worth $10, price it at $11 (or whatever) so your PayPal costs are covered.

If you're giving stuff away and just being paid postage, add the extra shekels onto the amount the recipient is paying for postage.

And if the recipient/buyer is OK with not having any recourse for reimbursement if the package goes missing, even it's just the cost of the postage, well, then, fine. That will not be your problem.

PayPal is a providing a service to sellers. And it's not free.

And the fee we're talking about for purchases is $.30 + 2.9% per transaction (for the majority).
On a $10 sale, the fee will be $.59.

If it's done as a personal transfer, and the sender funded it from a PayPal account or direct transfer from a bank, it's free to both the sender and recipient.

However, it's been funded via a credit card, the SENDER gets to decide who pays the fee. Again, no protection with this option because, supposedly, no goods were involved. Can't have it both ways.

As for cctx's recommendation -
If the package goes astray or gets damaged, where would I be as the buyer in that transaction? Are YOU going to make me whole?

I don't get this "if I bought DelConf then I'm covered if the package gets lost." What is it that you think you're covered for?

Members who sell items in our classifieds/thrift shop are absolutely NOT allowed to ask buyers to send paypal payments using the "gift" option.

Members who are not willing to pay the fees associated with properly conducted transactions that protect the buyers should not sell here.