Paypal Business Account - Paypal expert required

[georgefreeman]

I am currently in the process of trialling a business idea, which part of it involves sending money to people in exchange for goods - currently not a great business model, but trust me there is more to it!

I am really struggling to work out the best way in order to pay customers without them incurring any fees and without sending the money as a gift. I don't mind incurring the fees but I definitely don't want the customer to look like they are paying for the fee. Has anyone got any ideas about this?

And secondly, what protection do I have, once I have sent the money to the customer if they do not send? I have terms and conditions that say if the item does not arrive within 7 days that it is escalated.

Is it as simple as, after the seven days - can I retract the money?

Any advice / help would be much appreciated.

[marshalla]

I'm not sure you understand what a customer is.

[Super Slo Mo]

No, indeed.

Anyway, OP for you to be able to send money to your 'customer', they need to issue you an invoice, or you send it as a gift. They will incur fees if they issue an invoice. You could account for this in your price paid for the goods you buy.

[georgefreeman]

marshalla said:

I'm not sure you understand what a customer is.

Whether I do or not, have you got any advice for my questions?

[marshalla]

To be protected, you need send it as payment for goods - which means that the supplier (i.e. the person providing the goods and receiving the money) pays the fee. The only way around it is for you to work out the fees yourself and add that to the payment - but there'll be a fee payable on the extra...

If you send it as a gift, there's no protection. If you send or receive too many gifts, Paypal will spot it and investigate fee avoidance.

[Simpo Two]

How do I get be a customer of yours? I could do with some loot

[951TSE]

Hello OP, the problem is that most modern payment systems are instantaneous, whereas you seem to want to build in some sort of delay, goods on approval perhaps? As Paypal are in the business of shifting money for a fee you won't find a way around their systems. So you need an alternative.

In the old days you'd send a post dated cheque, if you like the goods you let the date on the cheque pass if not you'd cancel the cheque with the bank and send the goods back. The nearest to that in the electronic payments field would be some sort of Escrow payment. You send the money to a third party, they release it to the other party when you're satisfied with the goods and you pay the fee. Not sure I can recommend any escrow service to you though. Perhaps others on this board know a reliable one?