Accepting Paypal friends & family/gifting payments on CAG. (Updated 6/15/2016)

That's fucked up man, i'm sorry you've had to go through this. Amazon payments is really the way to go, PayPal is getting $hitter by the hour - thanks for the heads up
 
Ha and I just signed up for Paypal not too long ago. Appreciate the heads up on this though gameguy. I'll have to look into amazon payments now perhaps too. I wonder is this just for the personal :gift" option though right? I mean if you use personal "payment" option your okay right (assuming yes because the fee is there)
 
Was wondering if anyone else had similar issues with paypal? Aside from accounts locking up, was wondering if other CAGs can share some other insights into the situation?
 
amazon payments don't work in canada. Unless someone gave me either address and zip code i could set it up, i just would have to take payments into it and not be able to transfer it out, just keep everything as credit and use it that way. Paypal was the best solution besides the bull, but now that my account is closed, i guess there is nothing i can do.
 
I never "gift", if I can afford to send someone 60 plus bucks for a game, I can afford to cover my butt and theirs by paying the $2.10.
 
i'd just like to know if we are getting the full picture, here? Were there any other issues you had with your account? I recall you mentioning how it was your girlfriend's paypal, because you had problems setting up your own, or something? Add to that you had 3-4 medium sized lowballs back-to-back-to-back, etc. (which could appear as though you're using your personal account to run a business...)
 
They will most certainly hold your money in a heartbeat. PayPal held $11,000 in my account for 180 days. I learned since then to keep no more than $0.00 in there at all times.
 
No i had previous problems with paypal with my old account, but not problems like this. My problem was they kept taking money from my bank account multiple times, when i only authorized 1 transaction. It happened twice and made me late on payments for other things cuz i hadn't realized it. I have never had any issue with paypal closing an account, or fraud problems, or dispute problems or anything like that.

with the lowball situation, payments were given as both gift and non gift. They never mentioned anything at all about the volume of transactons i had getting money from. Not so much as a howcome you had X number of payments to you in X number of weeks. Nothing. They did want invoices on what i had sold, but it only pertained to 3 transactions they questioned, and they were low dollar and non gifted. Then they questioned the gifted money i had received, and i told them it was from friends and family i had in the USA with my girlfriend. I delt with it all, despite it being my fiance's account, she just had to verify it from time to time, as they were okay with that situation. It all in the end boiled down to the gift payments, which they thought i was getting for selling items because i was receiving both types of payments from different people in the usa. They said they thought i was selling stuff and taking both forms of paymet which was against rules. Which it all is true. They told me that it was against rules, and that they would not accept it, and would be closing my account due to gifted payments, with thought of seling under gift. That was it. I never had a dispute against me for items not received, or not received in proper condition..nothing!
 
Unfortunate that you got caught, but thanks for warning those who don't know about this.

You're avoiding their fees while still using their service; they're going to take issue with this being done repeatedly.

Not gifting also protects you somewhat in the event of being conned, because if you gifted you can't really turn around and say you were really purchasing merchandise, can you?

Hope it works out for you man. I've gifted (very) occasionally in the past. If someone is selling a PSN card or something 20%+ off I'll throw a little extra on top if I'm feeling nice. That isn't a requirement though, as by the rules here on CAG you're not allowed to ask for gift payments or for someone to pay your fees.
 
[quote name='gameguy1001']No i had previous problems with paypal with my old account, but not problems like this. My problem was they kept taking money from my bank account multiple times, when i only authorized 1 transaction. It happened twice and made me late on payments for other things cuz i hadn't realized it. I have never had any issue with paypal closing an account, or fraud problems, or dispute problems or anything like that.

with the lowball situation, payments were given as both gift and non gift. They never mentioned anything at all about the volume of transactons i had getting money from. Not so much as a howcome you had X number of payments to you in X number of weeks. Nothing. They did want invoices on what i had sold, but it only pertained to 3 transactions they questioned, and they were low dollar and non gifted. Then they questioned the gifted money i had received, and i told them it was from friends and family i had in the USA with my girlfriend. I delt with it all, despite it being my fiance's account, she just had to verify it from time to time, as they were okay with that situation. It all in the end boiled down to the gift payments, which they thought i was getting for selling items because i was receiving both types of payments from different people in the usa. They said they thought i was selling stuff and taking both forms of paymet which was against rules. Which it all is true. They told me that it was against rules, and that they would not accept it, and would be closing my account due to gifted payments, with thought of seling under gift. That was it. I never had a dispute against me for items not received, or not received in proper condition..nothing![/QUOTE]

thank you for clarifying, dood. :) Hearing that they questioned you on wrt gifting makes things much clearer.
 
Geeze I hosted 7 Steam gift pack sales within the last 6 weeks. I got a TON of gift payments. My account was never locked. Sorry about that man.
 
[quote name='Ash Burton']I never "gift", if I can afford to send someone 60 plus bucks for a game, I can afford to cover my butt and theirs by paying the $2.10.[/QUOTE]

This. I've went out of my way to avoid gifting or having ppl gift me payments, you also give up any chance of getting scammed by making actual payments. After mods made it apparent that Paypal specifically did not want the gift option used for actual transactions I went well out of my way to avoid traders/sellers who wouldn't budge on the gift option.
 
I guess the first problem is holding money in your account. Unless you're running some sort of business, you should always have a flat zero in that account. Like anyone trusts that company... but it is a necessary evil
 
I only had money transfered from my bank to there to pay some oeople. It got locked just before the money went in there. So I couldn't use it. I never kept a balance in there.

As for gifting or not I always used both options. Everyone seemed to so I never thought I would get shut down for it...but alas I did. So oeople, be careful!!
 
[quote name='StripesOrBars']i wish them, comcast, and gamestop would all just die very painfully.[/QUOTE]
:applause::applause::applause: I totally agree on the second and third there, but since I only take cash or USPS money orders still and don't bother with Paypal.:D
 
[quote name='gameguy1001']it is bogus. I was super pissed. I mean, everyone uses this option. its complete shit! i just hope there is another way like paypal that people use to make it easier. i'll never be able to have a lowball auction or nething again. People won't want to send cash or money orders. :([/QUOTE]Sorry to hear you had an issue with Paypal, though the stickied thread we have in the Trading Forum (which your thread is now a part of), discusses this issue in great detail.

We had CAGs talk with Paypal about the use of the gift option and as they said, the only time it's allowed for a purchase is when it's repayment of a Steam multi-pack or a PSN gamershare, when it's something the other party has bought that you're repaying your portion of. It's the lunch bill analogy where one person picks up the check for lunch and you're repaying them your portion of the bill.

Since it sounds like that they noticed you weren't using the gift payment option for those types of things, they exercised their right to remove you from the service. It's all spelled out in their Terms Of Service, also discussed in the OP of this thread.

[quote name='Josh5890']Geeze I hosted 7 Steam gift pack sales within the last 6 weeks. I got a TON of gift payments. My account was never locked. Sorry about that man.[/QUOTE]Those are OK to use gift payments for, from what we found out when we talked with Paypal about these types of transactions.
 
Not sure if the answer was explicitly stated already, but is it okay to tell a buyer that you expect to be compensated for the paypal fee (if they want to pay via paypal)? I mean, we could all just pretend it's the cost of packaging materials that just happens to be the same cost as the paypal fee...
 
he can't tell you yes, even if he believed it. this 'company', or website, cannot endorse side-skirting of any other companies' rules.

also, if you don't put what it's for, how the heck is paypal gonna know. i already have to pay them fees as a 'credit card' since my bank card is used, but it's from my mom's account. it's in my name, so they won't connect it to the bank account, even with talking to moms, since i'm not the primary account holder (but it IS a joint account). screw them.
 
[quote name='Alaisiagae']Not sure if the answer was explicitly stated already, but is it okay to tell a buyer that you expect to be compensated for the paypal fee (if they want to pay via paypal)? I mean, we could all just pretend it's the cost of packaging materials that just happens to be the same cost as the paypal fee...[/QUOTE]
he can't tell you yes, even if he believed it. this 'company', or website, cannot endorse side-skirting of any other companies' rules.

also, if you don't put what it's for, how the heck is paypal gonna know? i already have to pay them fees as a 'credit card' since my bank card is used, but it's from my mom's account. it's in my name, so they won't connect it to the bank account, even with talking to moms, since i'm not the primary account holder (but it IS a joint account). screw them. they'd rather her set up an account & me fraudulently use it then do things the right (easy) way. plus, she has her own account already for ebay.
 
[quote name='twztid13']he can't tell you yes, even if he believed it. this 'company', or website, cannot endorse side-skirting of any other companies' rules.[/QUOTE]
Well, what I guess I mean is, is it okay for me to ask buyers (e.g. in my master trade thread) to compensate me for Paypal fees, or is this something I have to do via PMs? Is it against cag ettiquette to ask such things, or does the "company"/website turn a blind eye?
 
[quote name='Alaisiagae']Well, what I guess I mean is, is it okay for me to ask buyers (e.g. in my master trade thread) to compensate me for Paypal fees, or is this something I have to do via PMs? Is it against cag ettiquette to ask such things, or does the "company"/website turn a blind eye?[/QUOTE]
he can't tell you that they will turn a blind eye to any of their rules. it's not something CAG will ban you for, but paypal will possibly close your account, so do so at your own risk. it states clearly what the rules are.

that's like asking a policeman if you can smoke a joint behind the building if noone sees you. he can't tell you yes, cuz he is enforcing the laws that include not possessing/smoking weed. if he told you yes, or gave you a wink, then that could be used against him if you ever got caught. just use your common sense, bro. i'm not trying to be rude at all. i'm just letting you know that he is gonna tell you exactly what the rules state.

asking someone to repay the fees in any way, shape or form, is prohibited by paypal. there is no way in the world a company, or website, is going to advise you to go against any other business' rules & regulations. that may prevent people from being able to use paypal at all when affiliated with the original business or website.

i think you're smart enough to know what you can and can't do without asking a mod to go against the very reason they exist - to make sure people follow the rules. please don't put the mods in that position. they do a fantastic job at keeping this place the best trading site around. i don't expect them to put any cracks in their integrity for a workaround to paypal fees.

please don't take offense, but that's just the truth, bud.
 
[quote name='Alaisiagae']Well, what I guess I mean is, is it okay for me to ask buyers (e.g. in my master trade thread) to compensate me for Paypal fees, or is this something I have to do via PMs? Is it against cag ettiquette to ask such things, or does the "company"/website turn a blind eye?[/QUOTE]It's pretty clearly spelled out, and I think you can figure out that it's not something the payee can be asked to pay.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']It's pretty clearly spelled out, and I think you can figure out that it's not something the payee can be asked to pay.[/QUOTE]
Okay, thank you. After discussing the issue with twztid13, I understand the situation better now. In hindsight, I see some of my questions here were a little stupid. >_
 
[quote name='Alaisiagae']Okay, thank you. After discussing the issue with twztid13, I understand the situation better now. In hindsight, I see some of my questions here were a little stupid. >_
 
Question, if I may. I purchased some items from a Cag member and was told to send payment as gift or pay the fee (an ongoing thing with this seller) and hadn't had any problems until I didn't receive my package. Usps apparently lost it and after a couple months of hounding usps, they gave word that it is np where to be found. But due to my sending funds as gift, I was unable to dispute it. How do I go about getting my payment back, or at least get reimbursed? Contacted seller and is willing to resell me one of the items but at a discounted rate, which isn't even close to the amount I paid. Hopefully this is the right place to post this. If not, lease direct to me to where I need to post this.
 
[quote name='kobra90']Question, if I may. I purchased some items from a Cag member and was told to send payment as gift or pay the fee (an ongoing thing with this seller) and hadn't had any problems until I didn't receive my package. Usps apparently lost it and after a couple months of hounding usps, they gave word that it is np where to be found. But due to my sending funds as gift, I was unable to dispute it. How do I go about getting my payment back, or at least get reimbursed? Contacted seller and is willing to resell me one of the items but at a discounted rate, which isn't even close to the amount I paid. Hopefully this is the right place to post this. If not, lease direct to me to where I need to post this.[/QUOTE]

I had a similiar situation a few months ago except the seller turned out to be a Fraud (Disappeared after payment was made / never logged on). I also paid using Gift (Big mistake), Paypal wouldnt help me dispute either, So what I did was call up my Credit Card company, informed them that the payment is Void (Because item never showed up) and they gave me back the credit. Not sure if that'll work for you but thats what I did afterwards, Good luck.
 
[quote name='Vanacloud']I had a similiar situation a few months ago except the seller turned out to be a Fraud (Disappeared after payment was made / never logged on). I also paid using Gift (Big mistake), Paypal wouldnt help me dispute either, So what I did was call up my Credit Card company, informed them that the payment is Void (Because item never showed up) and they gave me back the credit. Not sure if that'll work for you but thats what I did afterwards, Good luck.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately this transaction happened in april. I don't know if there's a time frame to dispute.
 
[quote name='kobra90']Question, if I may. I purchased some items from a Cag member and was told to send payment as gift or pay the fee (an ongoing thing with this seller) and hadn't had any problems until I didn't receive my package. Usps apparently lost it and after a couple months of hounding usps, they gave word that it is np where to be found. But due to my sending funds as gift, I was unable to dispute it. How do I go about getting my payment back, or at least get reimbursed? Contacted seller and is willing to resell me one of the items but at a discounted rate, which isn't even close to the amount I paid. Hopefully this is the right place to post this. If not, lease direct to me to where I need to post this.[/QUOTE]
Unless you can get a credit card company to help you out, you are probably out of luck. This is excactly why the mods at CAG have been preaching not to send PayPal payments as gifts. Best of luck, but please learn from this in the future. I wish there was something else I could say to give you hope. It is worth a shot to try no matter how long it has been. You can explain your delay by referencing the post office looking for the supposed package.
 
[quote name='DerekVinyard']I think I just made a mistake. Couple mistakes really. I didn't read this post and just purchased a 12 month Xbox live subscription off a member here. He agreed to PayPal but asked to send as gift. I think it would've cost him $1.60 in fees but I went along with it. :(

Paid and he sent me the code through private messaging 5 hours later. Tried to redeem code on xbox.com and got the dreaded "This code has already been used". I've messaged them so hopefully it can be resolved but I feel things like this never work out and now I see I can't even dispute it through PayPal.[/QUOTE]
It is always better to read the rules & thread sticky's before you send out your money. Does the person have much good feedback?
 
I just noticed this thread -- I have no idea how I missed it. I am confused as to why CAG is enforcing Paypal's policies, since Paypal can do that themselves. I like the idea of being able to do a gift payment if the buyer has no feedback and it's a relatively large ticket item. Is there some other form of payment that you guys are aware of that gets around the possibility of a chargeback? I assume Amazon payments can get pulled back and nobody is going to send a check/money order these days.
 
I wasn't quite sure where to ask/find this information. This seems like the most appropriate place. I have two question since I have no feedback I understand that I would have to pay first. I'm used to using my paypal to purchase items from online stores. My question is:

1. To pay someone on here all I need is their email address right?

2. I only have to pay the amount they request and paypal fee gets taken out of that?

Did I get that right?

 
I wasn't quite sure where to ask/find this information. This seems like the most appropriate place. I have two question since I have no feedback I understand that I would have to pay first. I'm used to using my paypal to purchase items from online stores. My question is:

1. To pay someone on here all I need is their email address right?
2. I only have to pay the amount they request and paypal fee gets taken out of that?

Did I get that right?
Yes on both accounts. When paying through PayPal, you choose the goods and services option as opposed to the friends and family option.
 
Are tracking numbers expected around here?
A couple of years ago, I saw all manner of policies from CAG's on tracking. Recently, it seems that CAG's realized it's worth the .85 cents to get delivery confirmation (which is different from tracking number, but I'm not sure if you are specifically referring to tracking as opposed to proof of delivery). Some would offer it as an option to the buyer, at worst. Is is still up to the individual member, so everyone has had different experiences, I'm sure. This is certainly something I would mention when making deals, just to be certain. Since I'm sure you want some type of answer.....I'd have to be very general about my transactions, and can only speak for my experiences, but I'd say yes.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Are tracking numbers expected around here?
expected is a tough word, but 9 out of 10 times it happens regardless. I always get tracking when I ship, and pretty much require the same unless I have traded multiple times with a person or have traded once before and they have high, established feedback.

my grandfather always said "expect the unexpected" so when trading, its best to clarify with the person that you would like it before hand

 
Personally, I think for digital items, using gift should be okay.

Obviously when things are shipped they CAN get lost so I wouldn't advise giftiing in that situation.

Honestly, when I sell digital codes that are'nt gifted the seller can fuck me over at any time because Paypal does not cover "Digital" items.

That's why this rule is full of bullshit.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Personally, I think for digital items, using gift should be okay.

Obviously when things are shipped they CAN get lost so I wouldn't advise giftiing in that situation.

Honestly, when I sell digital codes that are'nt gifted the seller can fuck me over at any time because Paypal does not cover "Digital" items.

That's why this rule is full of bullshit.
If you don't like Paypal's rules, then use a different service such as Amazon Payments.

 
I have a question on paypal fees. If someone says that they will sell you an item for $12 you don't have to include extra to cover the cost of paypal fees right?

 
I have a question on paypal fees. If someone says that they will sell you an item for $12 you don't have to include extra to cover the cost of paypal fees right?
Correct, a seller cannot force you to cover the fee of using Paypal. Some users may choose to do so, out of their own volition.

If someone is attempting to force you to cover fess, you can contact a mod (Pookymeister / Trakan) and/or Paypal for a violation of the ToS.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Some of you guys are too strict. I'm not sure if it's some kind of misplaced justice that you're operating on or if you feel like Paypal and eBay, which is a multibillion dollar corporation, needs your help, but I've been scammed (literally scammed) by Paypal and eBay in the past so I do my best to try to see that they make no money off of me. As such I always send payments as gifts because they make no money that way. That's just the way it is with me.

 
Some of you guys are too strict. I'm not sure if it's some kind of misplaced justice that you're operating on or if you feel like Paypal and eBay, which is a multibillion dollar corporation, needs your help, but I've been scammed (literally scammed) by Paypal and eBay in the past so I do my best to try to see that they make no money off of me. As such I always send payments as gifts because they make no money that way. That's just the way it is with me.
Then don't use their service. You've agreed to abide by their terms of service, so do it.

 
The amount of people requesting gifted Paypal is too damn high !

I never asked anybody to gift me paypal... some did gift, but I never asked. And I see too much "Gifted Paypal" in their Wanted list, or in PM.

If I were to go PayPal I would want $30 gifted.
 
It is getting beyond ridiculous how many people are asking to be gifted the money.
It is, but the mods have proven they don't have the time (desire?) to clean it up. At some point you just have to decide where you fall and go from there. I've had a few deals fall through because I refused to gift the payment, or requested Amazon Payments for a smaller purchase. But what are you going to do? On one hand, CAG can't condone breaking the ToS of PayPal. On the other, it's not CAG's duty to protect it.
 
Silly question, but is there a "free" Amazon Payments feature - essentially like gifted/personal paypal?  I have been meaning to set up Amazon Payments for a while (don't think the Amazon Payments used to buy things a la Kickstarter etc counts right?).

 
bread's done
Back
Top