Sellers: Use caution when requesting PayPal "Friends & Family" Payments

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SPARTAN VI

[H]F Junkie
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Many of us already know that paying with "F&F" is a way for sellers to circumvent paying PayPal's 3% transaction fee, and that doing so forfeits the buyer's PayPal Buyer Protection. Did you also know that it forfeits PayPal's Seller Protection as well?

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Here's a good example of how using F&F to avoid a 3% fee can and will screw over the seller. The buyer here initiated a chargeback via his bank and PayPal refused to handle the seller's claim because it was a F&F payment. Granted we've plenty of mixed experiences over PayPal's claims process, I've personally always been made whole when a deal went south.

TL;DR. I'd recommend that sellers bake the 3% fee into your asking price if you refuse the eat the fee. At the very least it doesn't shut the door on legal recourse if your deal/s go sideways. Very interested in hearing the rationale from Sellers who will still use F&F despite this information.

(Edit) Reworded this post to be more informational in tone.
 
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3% is 3%. I probably buy and sell a few thousand dollars worth of used computer equipment in a given year. It adds up.

Deal with people with good heatware and are long time users. I'm approaching 400 "internet" transactions through forums, and have never had a seller issue. Realistically, the buyer is far more likely to be getting scammed than a seller. If I don't know the person, I add in the 3% on my own to cover their fees and then I get the buyer protection.

If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is...for buyers and sellers.

I've had far, far more issues with eBay as a seller and a buyer than I have had buying stuff in forums. I wouldn't think of buying or selling on a platform like that without protection.
 
What you posted is not something new. F&F payments have never had seller/buyer protection because that is not F&F's intended use.

..but either way, I agree with kirby, I pretty much base everything off of heat. If heat is good, I do not care. I will accept/send any payment method.

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Putting aside saving the fees, it is often a misconception that F&F is irreversible. If you send F&F with your bank, it is still fairly easy to start an ACH dispute and have it reversed with no intervention from PayPal.
 
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I look for established traders and I either eat the fee if I’m selling or add it in to the payment if I’m buying.

FWIW, I’ve been scammed more as a seller than a buyer and I have stories for days. Overall, there are a lot of shady people out there so just be careful and if the deal doesn’t feel right, walk away.
 
I don't mind people requesting F&F as much as I get annoyed by the scalpers. I'll gladly do f&f with well established traders with recent feedback or people I've done business with before.
 
With the new $4.99 fee for F&F anything $165 or lower no longer even benefits from using the F&F method.
I can't find anything on this fee.

I agree with Gillbot. It's been great here. I've been scammed by buyers on amazon and ebay. I put a no heat = no deal on my threads and have gotten a few "heat is crap,yadda yadda." Add the fees if you are sending to a user with low reps. I don't have any issues sending FF to a user who is active and has 50+ heat.
 
Many of us already know that paying with "F&F" is a way for sellers to circumvent paying PayPal's 3% transaction fee, and that doing so forfeits the buyer's PayPal Buyer Protection. Did you also know that it forfeits PayPal's Seller Protection as well?

View attachment 310921

Here's a good example of how using F&F to avoid a 3% fee can and will screw over the seller. Granted we've plenty of mixed experiences over PayPal's claims process, I've personally always been made whole when a deal went south.

TL;DR. Just bake the 3% fee into your asking price if you refuse the eat the fee. At the very least it doesn't shut the door on legal recourse if your deal/s go sideways. Very interested in hearing the rationale from Sellers who will still use F&F despite this information.
Please stop telling others how to do business.
 
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