Expert: Marvinator - 2/9/2004

Question
Hi
Do you use Paypal? If yes, could you help me out?
I am in the process of opening a Paypal account(waiting for it to be confirmed)...now I have someone that is interested in an item I have for sale on Ebay and I'm wondering what is he going to have to do to pay me through Paypal and how will I know for sure if he has. (the online help from paypal is lacking)

Thanks for any info you can share.

Signed
Bill...the newbie  

Answer
A lot of people miss the full daily use of paypal.  It's there, hidden within the  information.

It works like this.  You sell an item, and you offer your buyer the total (including shipping) and also you point out your payment options - Paypal included.  The way they can pay is by using the email address you have on file at Paypal.  On their end, they merely put in your email address as the "Pay to" address, fill in the amount and auction information and click OK.   On your end, you will receive a notice from Paypal (99.9% of the time) stating that you have a payment in your account.  If the buyer says they have paid, but you have no notice from Paypal, you can easily go into www.paypal.com and check for payments.  It's really that simple.  

once a week, I transfer the money out of Paypal into my checking account.   This is done from the Paypal main screen.  

As a side note, many times you will get a buyer stating they have paid, but there is no payment in your Paypal account.  This does not mean you're being taken - what happens most often is a mistake in the address.  Paypal differentiates between Joe@comcast.com and Joe@comast.com.  If the buyer goes into their paypal and checks carefully, they will usually find an "unclaimed" payment to this odd email address. They merely cancel it and try again.  

If you have further questions, I'd be happy to hear them!