Why pay 3 Paypal fees?

I always suggest Paypal eCheck, which carries a $5 fee to the seller. It
does take 4 days to complete the transfer from the buyer's bank account
to the seller's Paypal account. Then, if the seller insists on waiting until
the funds clear from his/her Paypal account into their bank account, it
takes another four days. 8 days total.

I have used this many times, and it has always taken four days for the
funds to be transferred, i.e. marked "Completed" by Paypal.

The direct withdrawal thing requires that you have a "personal" account. This means that both you as buyer and those who buy from you must use direct withdrawal or some other form of non-credit card payment. It's a great thing, but I finally abandoned it in favor of an upgraded account for some reason that seemed very good at the time. Now when someone sends me money, PayPal takes its cut.

Yes, I should specify that I have a Premier Account (which does not have limits on payment amounts).

Still, the $5 eCheck is a reasonably inexpensive alternative to money orders and cashier's checks. The downside is the processing wait.

As for the different accounts:

- Personal accounts:
Plus: fee free receiving of money
Minus: receiving limit of $500, no other payments acceptable
cannot be used to pay someelse with credit card

- Premier Accounts:
Plus: receiving and paying with credit card possible
Minus: always a fee, even on direct transfers

Thus if you like to implement this as a seller, one needs two accounts. The personal one for free transactions below $500, the other one for everything else. Also, both paypal account must be linked to separate bankaccounts as paypal does not allow to link both to the same account. It is implementable but at a great hassle for the seller.

I am a premier paypal member and I have made several purchases of upwards of 3,000.00 with no fees using instant bank transfer. My sellers have never made any comments to me that fees were charged to them when I used instant bank transfer. I must admit I have never recieved a payment using instant bank trasfer, althought I have recieved echecks with no problems.

However, I just made a larger purchase and the no fee instant transfer option wasn't allowed. I only had the echeck option or the credit card option with a fee. This purchase was from another premier member, and since I didn't have the patience to wait 4 days I paid the fee.

The note on the payment options stated: All decisions for payment options are reviewed and only the options that paypal deems "safe" to both the buyer and seller will be allowed. (Apearantly my credit card is safer than my bank account)It also stated that there is no option to appeal their decision.

05-11-06: Leatherneck1812
I am a premier paypal member and I have made several purchases of upwards of 3,000.00 with no fees using instant bank transfer. My sellers have never made any comments to me that fees were charged to them when I used instant bank transfer.

To be clear, and please understand my intent is not to be argumentative, buyers never pay fees for using Paypal. It's the Premier/Business Account sellers who pay fees when receiving funds into their Paypal accounts.

The fact that no sellers have made any comments to you about being charged fees when you used an instant bank tranfer does not mean they were not charged any fees, and perhaps indicates they were Personal Account members who are not charged fees.

For the definitive answer, I'd suggest referring to the Paypal Fee Schedule.