The products and services offered by PayPal are intended to make it possible for people from all over the world to transact online without fear of being scammed.
When you use PayPal to make a payment, the site asks what kind of transaction it is so that it can provide suitable safeguards. PayPal’s ‘goods and services’ and ‘friends and family’ choices must be chosen.
As the names imply, they are used for diverse purposes. Friends and family is for those who know one other and trust each other, whereas products and services is for people who want to purchase anything from a company or a stranger on an internet marketplace.
There’s no law prohibiting you from utilising friends and family members for somebody you don’t trust (even if the terms and conditions specifically restrict it), but there’s a solid reason not to. But first, let’s take a look at how to pay for products and services using PayPal.
How do I use PayPal goods and services?
Regardless of whether you’re paying or not, the processes are almost identical, with the exception of the last step.
Go to PayPal and log in.
You may send and request messages by clicking on the “Send & Request” button in the top navigation bar.
Enter the recipient’s phone number, contact name, or email address, or choose an existing contact from your list.
If you’d like, you may include a comment along with the payment amount. Then click on the next button.
Paying for a product or service is the option that appears in the pop-up that follows.
Choose the source of your funds. As soon as you’ve double-checked everything, use the submit button to transfer the money.
Use of PayPal’s products and services has an associated fee
People in the United States may send money to their friends and family for free, but they must pay a fee if they want to transfer money for products or services inside the country.
Merchant costs for receiving money are updated often, and you can see them here, although at the time of writing, they range from 1.2 percent to 2.9 percent plus a set fee of 30 cents for domestic transactions. EEA members pay an extra 1.29 percent and all other markets pay a further 1.99 percent for international transactions, so it may become expensive.
Do marketplace transactions require the usage of PayPal products and services?
PayPal’s terms of service prohibit the use of “friends and family” to pay for anything purchased on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, and doing so is a bad idea in and of itself.
PayPal Purchase Protection is not available if you use friends and relatives to make a domestic transaction, since it is meant for usage by two people who know and trust one other.
So, even if a vendor offers a discount to entice you to utilise ‘friends and family,’ don’t fall for it. If you are cheated, you won’t be able to get your money back. If they’re unwilling to compromise, it’s time to go elsewhere.