teacherdad48 Loc: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

I'm getting ready to sell a camera lens and wanting to use pay pal. I have an account already at pay pal but have never actually used it to sell anything before. I'm hoping someone can give me some tips or advice from experience they've had. Is it simply that I give my pay pal information to the buyer and then wait for pay pal to confirm they have the funds? Then I ship my lens to the buyer? Thanks in advance! -Mike

don1047 Loc: Colorado

Generally, yes. Be sure you only ship to a PayPal confirmed address and not until the money is in your account.

bobm Loc: Albuquerque, NM

You've got it. Since you're receiving money, Paypal will subtract a fee from the amount you receive. Once PP confirms, ship it, like you said.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

The safest way is to "Invoice" the buyer through Paypal. That will give you very good history as well as documentation of what the transaction is actually for. Its under the "Request Money" tab, and its pretty easy to use as well as looking more professional.

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

Paypal will allow you to send an invoice for payment via the recipients email address.
The only thing you need to give out to anyone to receive payments is your paypal recorded email address.

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

I was typing at the same time. Sorry about that.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Never paid attention to selling through paypal...

What are their fees exactly?

(could look it up too which I will do now).

Just about 3% almost 6% if international...

Paypal fees

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

The fee's on eBay are bad enough. When PayPal is added it makes it even worse.

mechengvic Loc: SoCalo

Actually, what you will do once you have decided on terms with your buyer is email her/him a Paypal invoice where you fill out the info such as description of item, price and shipping costs ("Request money" tab in your account). You also have space on the invoice to list any terms you have agreed to with the buyer, such as no returns. The buyer then logs into her/his Paypal account to pay the invoice.

You will receive a confirmation email from Paypal saying that either the funds have cleared and you can ship right away, or that the buyer has paid with a method that will require time to clear, it which case you wait to ship until those funds have cleared...Paypal will tell you how long to wait, but make sure you check your account balance to confirm no matter what. Once you see that your Paypal AVAILABLE Spending Balance reflects the transaction amount then you can ship.

Ship only to the verified shipping address that Paypal gives you in the confirmation emails. Use a tracking number with insurance and make sure you input the tracking number into Paypal ("Details" tab in your account activity list). If the seller asks you to ship to a different address ask them to change the the information in their Paypal account to reflect the new address as verified, then resend the invoice even if it requires you to refund the money first.

And lastly, verify every email in your Paypal account where you will see pending and completed transaction information.

Following these steps will give you the highest level of protection against any problems that come up.

One more thing, get familiar with the paypal website and all the features of your account!!!

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

All you do is tell them: "please send the money to "xxxxx@gmail.com" and then pay pal does the rest.

you will get a thing saying that you have been paid and you are good to go.

teacherdad48 Loc: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

So if it's a buyer with a California area code (texting) and they claim to be buying for and want me to ship to Nigeria... Should raise some red flags?

Nikon_DonB Loc: Chicago

Definitely Invoice the buyer as MT said. Simply get the buyers' email address and follow the instructions under the "Request Money" tab on PayPal. Then watch your account for PayPal to show the deposit. Usually you will get an email from them(PayPal) when the funds are credited to your account. I then usually check my account to be sure.....ONLY then do you ship. This keeps YOU in control of the transaction, NOT the buyer. Don't be the victim of a fraudulent email.
Furthermore DO NOT SHIP TO AFRICA! They are scams and impossible to track. I'd keep it in the U.S.

TIP: When shipping USPS go directly to the USPS site. PayPal charges for the convenience of "hooking you up."

mechengvic Loc: SoCalo

No, just one... one BIG, HAIRY, BLOOD RED flag... :shock:

teacherdad48 Loc: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Thank you all. I checked my account online and (ignoring emails claiming to show a deposit was made) and no funds are posted. How these people can sleep at night is beyond me.

Anyway, thank you all for your help. Hopefully, next time I'll have a legit buyer for my camera lens.

teacherdad48 Loc: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

This teacher often is a willing student!