Beware of Money Grab!

removed account4 · Sep 18, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
Good point. Thank you.

Good luck !

Please report back to this thread when you have info from PayPal ( cause it sounds like it might have been a glitch ... )

Thanks SG
John

Kodachromeguy · Sep 20, 2020

The other money grab, in my opinion, is the sales tax that ePrey now imposes (at least for my state). I can see this for regular new commercial products, such as you might buy at a brick and mortar store. But used personal items that a seller might have found in a closet or relative's estate? These would sell without sales tax at a garage sale or private sale. I wonder how politicians got this scam passed? The odd thing is, some web companies still sell products to my state without imposing the sales tax.

logan2z · Sep 20, 2020

Kodachromeguy said:
The other money grab, in my opinion, is the sales tax that ePrey now imposes (at least for my state). I can see this for regular new commercial products, such as you might buy at a brick and mortar store. But used personal items that a seller might have found in a closet or relative's estate? These would sell without sales tax at a garage sale or private sale. I wonder how politicians got this scam passed? The odd thing is, some web companies still sell products to my state without imposing the sales tax.

Same thing here in CA, I get dinged for sales tax on used items that I purchase on eBay. BH also charges sales tax for CA buyers. As you mentioned, some sellers are not currently obligated to charge CA sales tax when shipping to CA. I recently bought a Leica lens from an authorized Leica dealer in the US and no tax was charged. I would have paid 8.25% tax had I purchased the lens from BH. I'm guessing it's only a matter of time before tax is charged consistently across the board.

Sirius Glass · Sep 20, 2020

jnantz said:
Good luck !

Please report back to this thread when you have info from PayPal ( cause it sounds like it might have been a glitch ... )

Thanks SG
John

In a PM John told me:

Good luck with that !
it might actually be your thieving credit card not PayPal
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/some...eer-to-peer-payments-paypal-venmo-square-etc/

I found out it was worse than I thought. Costco Citibank charged me $10 for a $47 Photrio purchase that I marked as for a friend rather than have the seller charged 3%. CitiBank will not change the charge! Read the article at the url supplied by John. Beware: Never mark purchases on Photrio as "for a friend"!

MattKing · Sep 20, 2020

I never label PayPal transactions as gifts unless they are indeed gifts.
I would rather pay more in order to cover the fees, and as a result obtain the PayPal protection.
PayPal provides a service of value, so I pay their fee.
Of course if I am buying something using PayPal I'm usually importing it, so I also benefit from having an invoice.
And as for being unhappy with sales taxes being levied, they are sales taxes, not new item taxes.
I would prefer that taxes were lower, and that they were applied more widely.

BrianShaw · Sep 20, 2020

logan2z said:
some sellers are not currently obligated to charge CA sales tax when shipping to CA.

Not “charge” but collect and forward. As a citizen we are obligated to report purchases for which sales tax was not collected and forwarded so we can pay that tax obligation. I forget which line item on the tax form it is... but it’s the line many put “$0” into.

removed account4 · Sep 20, 2020

its too bad so many people played the system and ruined it for people who legitimately were sending $$ to friends and family.

BradS · Sep 20, 2020

jnantz said:
its too bad so many people played the system and ruined it for people who legitimately were sending $$ to friends and family.

I believe that the fee only applies when the sender uses a credit card. As far as I can tell, there is no fee to send to friends and family if the sender uses funds from their paypal balance.

EDIT: but yeah, dishonest an corrupt people suck.

BradS · Sep 20, 2020

...and, there are now far better ways to send money to a friend or family member...like Zelle.

Sirius Glass · Sep 20, 2020

BrianShaw said:
Not “charge” but collect and forward. As a citizen we are obligated to report purchases for which sales tax was not collected and forwarded so we can pay that tax obligation. I forget which line item on the tax form it is... but it’s the line many put “$0” into.

Oh yes, I will get right on that.

Sirius Glass · Sep 20, 2020

BradS said:
I believe that the fee only applies when the sender uses a credit card. As far as I can tell, there is no fee to send to friends and family if the sender uses funds from their paypal balance.

EDIT: but yeah, dishonest an corrupt people suck.

OR mail a check. I may start mailing a check for equipment I buy on ~~Photrio~~ APUG.

BradS · Sep 20, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
OR mail a check. I may start mailing a check for equipment I buy on ~~Photrio~~ APUG.

Yup. Personal checks definitely work when the parties trust each other and with an on-line banking smart phone app checks are just as convenient for the payee as any other option.

BrianShaw · Sep 20, 2020

BradS said:
I believe that the fee only applies when the sender uses a credit card. As far as I can tell, there is no fee to send to friends and family if the sender uses funds from their paypal balance.

EDIT: but yeah, dishonest an corrupt people suck.

well I recently sent $65 to a friend via PayPal F&F using credit card and was charged a regular CC fee of $2.19. No cash advance etc. maybe Serius needs a different credit card company?

logan2z · Sep 20, 2020

BrianShaw said:
Not “charge” but collect and forward'

Correct, I misspoke.

BradS · Sep 20, 2020

BrianShaw said:
well I recently sent $65 to a friend via PayPal F&F using credit card and was charged a regular CC fee of $2.19. No cash advance etc. maybe Serius needs a different credit card company?

Yeah, I do not know. I've never used the 'friends and family' thing on PayPal....but, yeah, it does feel like a credit card - not a PayPal - thing.

Kodachromeguy · Sep 20, 2020

I admit that I have never had any trouble with PayPal, but I am still a bit dubious about security and only use if when I have no other choice, as with eBay. About 15 or more years ago, I sold a lot of my camera equipment via eBay and accepted cashier's or personal checks. With the latter, I specified that the order had to wait until the check cleared. It was never a problem at all, and none of the buyers objected. Maybe Americans today are too obsessed with instant gratification to wait for a check to clear, I just don't know. The checks were fine because there were no fees for me and no sales tax. Regardless, I plan to cut back to a minimum future purchases on the 'Bay. I have more than enough film cameras to last me the rest of my life. Other than an occasional minor item such as a filter or (if I can find any) roll of Panatomic-X, no more stuff in the closet. This is a good time to quash the GAS.

removed account4 · Sep 20, 2020

So SG, was it a PayPal money grab ( like your title claims and you claimed previously in the thread )?

sadly when people abuse the trust PayPal puts in their users it ruins it for people who are honest.
sorry for the harshly worded comment, but people who abuse the system don't really get my empathy. its like someone I know who stole from his former employer and got caught and expected people to feel sorry for him.

Someone doesn't want PayPal I'll send them a USPS money order ( if they are local or Canadian ). They can send the product I bought after they go to their post office and cash it. Thats the beauty of a money order it doesn't take 5-7 days to clear, its like sending money...
==
I asked PP about transactions being flipped to cash advance without user's consent and this is what was written to me
"<...>With regards to your question on why PayPal transactions use cash advance on credit card. PayPal is not using and will never use cash advance transaction in credit card because that kind of transaction is not allowed and prohibited by PayPal user agreement. If you use your credit card for purchase that will be the credit card transaction and not cash advance transaction. Once our security system notice that kind of transaction we will temporarily or permanently suspend the PayPal account of the person who's doing that <...>"
so tell them what happened and see what they say ...

rorye · Sep 20, 2020

When I got scammed by a fake landlady PayPal went right into my bank account and took $3,200. It all worked out in the end but I was surprised that they could do that.

removed account4 · Sep 20, 2020

rorye said:
When I got scammed by a fake landlady PayPal went right into my bank account and took $3,200. It all worked out in the end but I was surprised that they could do that.

YIKES !
I'm glad it worked out, the camera maker Alpenhaus had trouble too with someone who lied and said something never arrived ( even when there was a signed receipt proving he signed for the camera ) and PayPal took his money too. Unlike you, he didn't have a happy ending. Its too bad there are so many jerks out there who ruin it for everyone else.

cramej · Sep 21, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
Can you read??? PayPal changed how they charge the card. I received a letter before and it was in the fine print. I asked and the issuing bank questioned the practice change that PayPal made.

Why, yes, I can read just fine. You didn't mention in your original post that you actually received a notice from Paypal stating the change. All of the policy and privacy notices arrive by email for me and that's why I asked where the notice was since I hadn't received any for quite some time. That fact would have eliminated many questions from this thread.

removed account4 · Sep 21, 2020

cramej said:
Why, yes, I can read just fine. You didn't mention in your original post that you actually received a notice from Paypal stating the change. All of the policy and privacy notices arrive by email for me and that's why I asked where the notice was since I hadn't received any for quite some time. That fact would have eliminated many questions from this thread.

cramej
I do not believe the OP received a notice about any change like this. I know I never got one, and there is no mention on PayPal about any change,
I provided a link to terms and conditions and FAQ ( about cash advance $ ) and I posted a long quote from an email I received from a PayPal customer service agent.

I ( and maybe a few others? ) are still interested in the results of the OP's conversation with Paypal about his surcharge, but I have a feeling they will tell him they had nothing to do with it. I wonder what they will say to him when they learn he violated their policies by helping someone skirt their fees.

Sirius Glass · Sep 21, 2020

If so PayPal will ban me and that would be a good thing.

BrianShaw · Sep 21, 2020

So, Steve... can you post a scan of the PayPal notice or not. I’d love to believe you but can’t validate a word of your rant.

Just this AM I ‘chipped in’ to a collection for a retirement gift. I gave $20 from my credit card. So far all I’m being charged is $20 and the fund got $20.

and as mentioned earlier, a recent F&F transfer from credit card yielded only the normal credit card surcharge.

Sirius Glass · Sep 21, 2020

BrianShaw said:
So, Steve... can you post a scan of the PayPal notice or not. I’d love to believe you but can’t validate a word of your rant.

Just this AM I ‘chipped in’ to a collection for a retirement gift. I gave $20 from my credit card. So far all I’m being charged is $20 and the fund got $20.

Like my paying $47 dollars and being charged $10.

BrianShaw · Sep 21, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
Like my paying $47 dollars and being charged $10.

I believe that... but even more believe that you don’t know why it happened. Blaming is way; explaining with valid proof is tough. Right now your doing one but not the other, amigo.

BTW, I’m completely sympathetic. That kind of surcharging seems like usury (hope I spelt that right) and should be criminal... whoever is doing it.

Beware of Money Grab!

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