Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know this is Off-Topic, but I could use some help.

Since I know some of you are PayPal users, I thought someone might know what I can do -- the website doesn't explain options all that well.

Here goes:

Sold an item (first time) on Ebay. Auction ended today and buyer sent me instant payment through PayPal credit card. I only have a personal account through PayPal. I really won't sell much (I just like to buy!), so I don't have a Merchant account, but to accept his payment, I have to Upgrade.

How big of a process is this? It says I can deny payment if I don't want to accept the credit card, but then what happens? I don't want to p*(^ the buyer off!
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1.0 Bearded Dragon

It's easy to upgrade your account, because that is how paypal makes their money. Once you upgrade to a merchant account, they will take our 2.9% of every payment you receive. I'd just deny the payment and tell him to make it w/o a credit card, or tell him to send you a money order. Did you say anywhere in your auction that you'd accept credit cards through paypal?

I just selected the payment methods of PayPal and money order/cashiers' check, but when it put the PayPal logo in, it automatically put in the credit card logos.

So does this mean I have to accept his credit card, or does PayPal just do that to get people to Upgrade so they can make money?
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1.0 Bearded Dragon

I would refuse the credit card payment, and send the purchaser an email explaining the situation, offering him or her the option of voiding the entire deal if it is not convenient for them to pay without the use of a credit card. At the worst, you'll be out some ebay listing fees, and be able to relist the item.

Most people are pretty understanding about this stuff, and if you give them the option of cancelling the entire transaction they usually see you're trying to work with them.

Regardless, I would NOT upgrade my paypal account. Not only will they start to charge you on credit card payments, but they also charge you on bank transfers once you've upgraded, even though they're free if you haven't.