another reason to stop accepting PAYPAL/big brother

pc

U.S. User Business Information

Notice Date: March 4, 2004
Effective Date: April 13, 2004

Effective May 2004, PayPal will require U.S. Premier and Business users who receive more than $2,000.00 USD a month in payment volume through PayPal over three consecutive months to provide supplemental information about their businesses including business categorization, sales venue and business URL information.

i didnt know i had a business and since i DONT i think buyers will
have to find a more conventional way to pay if i have a card for sale.
while paypal is convenient for buyers this policy will stop me from
accepting paypal in the future.

Mintstate

When I read that email from them, I had the exact same feeling. I will not be giving them any information, and will refuse to accept any Paypal payments.

Buckwheat

That is horrible. It obviously is a start to getting the info to the Govt. for sales tax and income tax purposes. But why would paypal be doing this? They have to know that it will hurt their business.

CON40

The government is broke and they know it is inevitable that internet sales tax is coming (especially if Kerry gets elected)... they're just greasing the skids so they can remain at the forefront. Those postal money orders are looking better all the time!

highend

all good things come to an end.....often the GOVERNMENT is the means to this end.

i suspect a conspiracy.......more money spent on stamps and money orders.....more money going to the man.

34GoudeyCollector

This definetely has government taxing written all over it! I guess PayPal was too good to be true

Ken

chrisrenaud

While as a Libretarian Party voter I am very sypathetic to what you are saying, I am also a person who travels a lot and does not like spending $60 to FedEx a check from Europe or Israel or Australia or whereever I might be for business and as a person who buys a lot of cards and someone who can probably vouch for a few other people who buy a lot of cards who might be busy and travel a lot, do not forget your customer who in this case will never bid on your auction if you do not accept pay pal and I or they happen to be travelling

Jmnesq

What I think we're going to have to do -- those of us who bring in more than $2K a month -- is register as persona accounts, and limit our acceptance of paypal to balance transfers and account transfers, no credit cards. There are a number of successfull eBayers who do this.

This DOES suck, though.

gemint

Leave it up to the government to mess things up. Anyone who thinks bigger government is better is not a businessman. I don't accept Paypal for this very reason. That and the obscene fees they charge. I'd rather consign a high $ item to the major auction houses. Of course, they'll probably start reporting us to Uncle Sam as well.

gameusedhoop

You could always set up multiple accounts on ebay, and link them to multiple Paypal accounts, using different credit cards, email address and bank accounts. Alot of people already have one or more accounts for buying and selling, so it isn't that hard to do. You can even set up an account or two under your wife's name etc...

OhioTaz

Let me preface this with "I hate taxes every bit as much as the next guy" but it is....

Odd how some of you seem to feel that selling cards at a profit is not a taxable event. Amazingly when my business makes a profit it reports it and pays the taxes. I never recall telling a customer that I would not accept their credit card because I might have the event tracked by the government and might have to pay taxes.

Some of you complain about Paypal's fees but think the auction houses have a better more equitable fee structure?? 15%?

If any of you think that selling $24K a year in cards is not a business, I think 99% of the free world would differ with you. If you are not paying taxes on these profits, I sure would not be pointing that out on an open internet site.

There is no doubt sales tax on the internet is coming. I don't want it either but shooting myself in the foot to avoid a mosquito bite seems foolish.

Greg

Vargha

I have lost money on every card transaction that I have ever made.

pc

<< <i>While as a Libretarian Party voter I am very sypathetic to what you are saying, I am also a person who travels a lot and does not like spending $60 to FedEx a check from Europe or Israel or Australia or whereever I might be for business and as a person who buys a lot of cards and someone who can probably vouch for a few other people who buy a lot of cards who might be busy and travel a lot, do not forget your customer who in this case will never bid on your auction if you do not accept pay pal and I or they happen to be travelling >>



with your reputation and feedback i'ld rather wait a month to get paid and would
ship the card upon request.method of payment has nothing to do with your willingness
to buy.if you're saying you've never bought from mastro,superior,goodwin and others
that don't accept paypal then i understand,otherwise you're limiting yourself to a very
narrow grouping of sellers.

Basilone

I have a premier account and have had some months where I've had significant activity but I never received an email. Do we know that this email is legit? I checked the Paypal website and could not find anything.

I do not think you can compare paypal's fees to the fees from an auction house. Paypal fees are much less...not to mention that if you do sell a high dollar item through an auction house....they should be reporting it anyways. I like and will continue to use Paypal. I really like flexibility it gives me in regards to cash flow.....where I can sell cards on Sunday night....get paid by Monday morning...and reinvest Monday night.

John

packCollector

ohioTaz, if I am selling 24k a year I am spending 36k so I don't really want to pay taxes as if I make a gain and then get it classidied as collecting if I sell at a loss in the future

toppsgun

"I have lost money on every card transaction that I have ever made."



Dear Mr. Vargha,

Prove it.

Sincerely,



Internal Revenue Service
(we're here to help you)

Mintstate

<< <i>I have a premier account and have had some months where I've had significant activity but I never received an email. Do we know that this email is legit? I checked the Paypal website and could not find anything.
John >>



If you don't have your preferances set to receive policy updates via email. you won't receive it. Could that be why?
Look under "Policy Updates" on their web site. It's right at the top.

gaspipe26

I just started taking Paypal again, and I will be closing my Paypal account again after my current auctions end.

Basilone

Thanks...I made the change to my settings.

John

qualitycards

If Paypal is now run by eBay, couldn't the feds check eBay directly for exact $ #'s on eBay's auctions?
Nonetheless, my accountant plays w/ all the data and tells me what to pay, so I'll be using Paypal as usual...jay

SpongeBob

<< <i>I just started taking Paypal again, and I will be closing my Paypal account again after my current auctions end. >>

sounds like "chicken little" to me! the sky is falling! the sky is falling! run! hide! we are all going to die!! come one. you all are being very paranoid and reactionary to say the least.

pc

<< <i>If Paypal is now run by eBay, couldn't the feds check eBay directly for exact $ #'s on eBay's auctions?
Nonetheless, my accountant plays w/ all the data and tells me what to pay, so I'll be using Paypal as usual...jay >>



Jay
you are clearly a dealer and have a website as well.
most of us sell when we upgrade/downgrade get bored
or need the money.there is a big difference and the paypal policy
and patriot act have no affect upon your exposure.most of us
though dont itemize every purchase/sale of 10.00-25.00 baseball
cards.

qualitycards

PC - My point was more about the feds finding the information via eBay records very easy if they wanted to.
Then the Paypal declaration to acquire more data from their users...jay

Dhjacks

Personal Account Receiving Limits

Notice Date: January 8, 2004
Effective Date: February 13, 2004
Starting on February 13, 2004, PayPal will begin capping the amount Personal account holders in the U.S., U.K., and Canada are able to receive per month. The cap will be the equivalent of $1,000 USD, based on the Primary Currency of the account. In addition, users will no longer be allowed to split payments between Personal and Premier/Business accounts. Only ecommerce payments received from eBay, auction, or website sales will count towards the receiving limit.

Does this sound like it limits our ability to us a personal account in lieu of a business account?

Wabittwax

If this is all true, then one thing for sure will happen. If you own Ebay stocks, sell them now. This can't be good for their bottom line.

NickM

So if you purchase an item off ebay, but list it in the PayPal column type as a Service when you pay (and put all the important auction and shipping information in the Note), you've just evaded PayPal's new seller restrictions.

Nick

chrisrenaud

Hi PC, if I knew a seller specifically than I would do a deal where I would be happy to send a check when I return from my travels, and of course I buy from MastroNet / SuperiorSports, etc. (although in these cases I can either pay by credit card or have made large enough purchases it is worth the FedEx from overseas) but with day to day auctions it is too big of a risk with most sellers that they will not ding me for not getting them their check in time, hence I do not bid (perhaps the sellers in those cases are not being rational in not looking at my feedback and my reputation) but as a buyer who has had to deal with sellers who seem to get irrationally picky (giving me negative feedback and a non paying bidder notice to EBAY over a lost check for $7) I need to just be careful

thejam

why cant the Bush administrationn do something; this hurts small business through ebay; just tax the predatory insurance lobby 2% of their small money bribes instead

Ruthfan

Chrisrenaud,

Mastronet, as well as most of the other large auction house DO NOT accept credit cards as a form of payment. They do this for two reasons:

1) The cost would be astronomical as they would probably have a
rate of at least 1.5% to 2% on each transaction and with the high
dollar items they deal with it just would not be cost effective.

2) Chargebacks is the other reason. Since the auction houses
would not have the actual credit card in hand to do a swipe or imprint they would be charged an even higher rate and leave themselves open to chargebacks or disputes. Unless you have an imprint or swipe of the credit card it is quite easy to refute the charge where it is charged back to the auction house.

gaspipe26

Spongebob,
That was a very insightful comment. Besides this issue and the fact that Paypal protects the buyer before the seller are the reasons I will stop using Paypal. So take your belittling comments and jam them.