PayPal Friends?

[GHS]

Originally Posted by robey

My thoughts: ethical issues aside of cheating Paypal out of their commission on your sale, people who get ripped off or want to rip someone off use Paypal friends in a business transaction.

+1 on this. If they are willing to cheat on the commission I believe you would be in for a rough ride with this seller/buyer. There is always going to be a "problem" shipping or receiving ( it was "damaged" in transit, etc, etc, Stay away.

[jhmulkey]

Originally Posted by fazool

If someone is not a friend or family, I do not pay them as friends or family.

Pretty simple. I understand them wanting to save money but I won't make an expensive purchase without that as a modicum of protection.

"send money to a friend or family member" is not for paying friends and family for goods and services either, though. From the PayPal user agreement:

You can also use the send money feature in your PayPal account to pay for good or services. You will not be charged for sending money to purchase goods or services as long as you choose the “send money to pay for goods and services” feature in your PayPal account. In that case, the seller selling the goods or services pays the fees. You may not use the “send money to a friend or family member” feature in your PayPal account when you are paying for goods and services.

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mp...agreement-full

So if you sell a guitar to a friend or family member, that friend or family member (i.e. the buyer) owes the transaction fees.

On the other hand, if you want to send your child at college some money to help them out, for example, that's when you'd use the "send money to a friend or family member" option.

Lots of people violate the PayPal user agreement purposely (these are the people who are truly dishonest); others do so out of ignorance (still not good, but better). I would simply ask the people who have no qualms about it how they'd feel if people were cheating them out of money they agreed to pay them?

[Basalt Beach]

Originally Posted by jhmulkey

I would simply ask the people who have no qualms about it how they'd feel if people were cheating them out of money they agreed to pay them?

A very good salient observation! I suspect that some folks disassociate and separate the idea of cheating of an entity like PayPal from that of an individual, thus they believe they are not equivalent. I am purely speculating that the idea of saving a few $$$ (also on the buyers side) and not paying the entity aka PayPal is a driver since it is an entity rather than an individual therefore the violation/cheating is rationalized. After all, for some folks "the hunt" and "the deal" is just as important as the acquisition.

[jhmulkey]

Originally Posted by Basalt Beach

A very good salient observation! I suspect that some folks disassociate and separate the idea of cheating of an entity like PayPal from that of an individual, thus they believe they are not equivalent. I am purely speculating that the idea of saving a few $$$ (also on the buyers side) and not paying the entity aka PayPal is a driver since it is an entity rather than an individual therefore the violation/cheating is rationalized. After all, for some folks "the hunt" and "the deal" is just as important as the acquisition.

Yes, but of course such "rationalization" doesn't hold water, as in either case it is dishonesty (not saying you disagree; just clarifying for those reading). In fact, you could argue it's worse with a corporation, because you are in effect cheating multiple people who derive their living from the company's profits.

[ManyMartinMan]

I’m glad to see the group’s pretty unanimous agreement on this. I don’t buy as many guitars as I used to so when I open a classified, I’m generally interested in the instrument. As soon as I see the payment method as PayPal Frinds and Family I close the listing and move along. After all the previous threads on this I have to assume that seller’s who choose to market their instruments this way are aware of what they are doing and willing to write off those who disagree with the deceptive process as potential sales.