PayPal Question
 

I have a sewing machine with table that I want to sell. As it not an inexpensive machine I would like to be able to offer another way of paying besides cash. I have been using PayPal as a way to pay for years but have never used it to sell anything.

My question is, is it as simple as logging on to PayPal and then sending a request for money to someones email address?

I would greatly appreciate any insight that you can give me using PayPal to sell something.

You can do that, but I would be happier with cash. There's no way to un-do a cash sale short of small claims court. Paypal, the buyer could claim there was something wrong with the machine, open a dispute, your money would be frozen or worst case, sent back to the buyer.
You can meet in your bank parking lot and have the bank verify the currency, if you are worried about counterfeit.

if they are local, cash only. Period. I've used paypal happily for many years, but they take a cut and buyers can make a charge back for just about any reason at all.

With friends and here on the board, I prefer Amazon e-credit, there is where I spend my disposable income...books :)
Amazon doesn't charge seller or buyer, and there can be no charge back.

If you are shipping Really Read Up on how to do it, it will take a couple of hours probably to double box and wrap.

My husband sells truck parts on forums online. He's used Paypal for about 10 years without any problems.

I would do cash.
If people want something bad enough, they find a way to come up with it.
5 years ago, my husband and I found a good deal on a pair of waverunners with a trailer. It was several thousand dollars, cash only. We had to call and arrange a cash pickup with the bank a couple days ahead of time, but it was worth it.

THANK YOU ALL.
I appreciate all of your input and advice!

I have been introduced to Venmo, which will also work.

I once sold a sewing machine on craigslist and the buyer paid me through PayPal. PayPal, like your talking about, is based off email addresses. When you send your request, it goes to a person's email, and when they send money, it gets delivered to your PayPal account through your email address. Just remember a few things.... PayPal has a fee, so take that into account when pricing. Also, if you received more than $600 from someone, PayPal sends you tax information at the end of the year.
I am a vendor for the TV show Maine Cabin Masters, they pay me through PayPal, PayPal notified me of their policy, and that o would be getting tax information for when I do my taxes this year.
Also, I have their credit card reader, PayPal Here, and love it. It's a game changer for craft fairs, and when selling my products on daily life.
I'm very happy with PayPal and have never had any issues with payments.

Venmo will work, but my understanding is that Venmo won't help you if you have problems. You're on your own.

I have never had a problem with Venmo.

The cool thing about Venmo is it's nearly fraud-proof. When you set up your account, you enter your credit or debit card number. When you're ready to purchase something, you log in, set the dollar amount you're authorizing, and Venmo gives you a virtual credit card number (not the same as the one you're using) to process the transaction. Unless you specify it's a recurring charge (for instance, a monthly Netflix charge), the virtual credit card number Venmo issues only work once, which means if a bad actor gets his/her hands on it, the charges are declined. If you have any issues with your purchase, you can dispute it with either Venmo or the banking institution that issued the "real" credit card.