What happens when you send PayPal to sombody with no account?

[Sizzler]

I presume they have to then sign up for an account to get the money.  But what happens if they don't?  Does the money come back to you after some amount of time (30 days?) or is it lost, hanging out there in the ether as unclaimed?

[Stingray]

Why would you send a paypal payment to someone without first checking to see if they accept it first?

-S

[Sizzler]

Why would you send a paypal payment to someone without first checking to see if they accept it first?

-S

Cuz I'm crazy!!!!   

It's somebody I know, but they're.... uh.... 'older'.  I'm just not sure what happens when they can't figure out how to set up the account.

Is there some way to 'cancel' a payment from my end?   I guess that would be one other solution.    PayPal says that you can send money to people without accounts, but I've just never done this before.   So I'm assuming they have to set up an account to GET the money.  But I'm wondering what would happen if they didn't.

[horseboy]

I am pretty sure it just sits out there with an "unclaimed" status. I think you can cancel it at any time. Also, I would imagine that they would automatically credit it back to you if it wasn't claimed in a certain amount of time.

[Crax]

You can't send money to an account that doesn't exist

[ChadTower]

Sure you can.  You send money to an email address in their system.  They then send an email to that person if they do not have an account and say "hey, we have your money, come set up and account to get it".

Sending money to a place and not knowing what will happen to it is like natural selection of your wallet.

[spacies]

I got a question.

I want to buy a PCB from the BST. I have a PAYPAL account which deducts money from my VISA.
The seller says he cant accept VISA via PAYPAL? I thought the amount was deductd from my VISA and goes into his nominated account as a normal deposit?
If I click 'send money' and enter his details is he going to get the money or not?

I have only used PAYPAL 4 times to buy things from the USA so any advice would be good.

Thanks

[quarterback]

I have a PAYPAL account which deducts money from my VISA.
The seller says he cant accept VISA via PAYPAL? I thought the amount was deductd from my VISA and goes into his nominated account as a normal deposit?
If I click 'send money' and enter his details is he going to get the money or not?

I believe what happens is that the money shows up but he will likely decline it, possibly because it would actually force him to change his account to one that costs him more money.

There are different kinds of PayPal accounts and the seller ends up losing some percentage of the money if it's sent via a credit card instead of being sent directly from a bank account or from existing funds.

That may not be 100% accurate, but that's the gist of what's going on there.   If you have a bank account associated with your account, then that's what the seller would prefer because it is less expensive that way.

Some more info about the fees here: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-fees

And more info about the different account types here: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/cps/general/PayPalAccountTypes-outside

As you can see, the 'personal account' doesn't allow the person to accept credit card transactions.

[spacies]

Thanks quarterback.

I have just had alook and you are right.'
Weird thing is that I can withdraw funds from PAYPAL and deposit into my New Zealand bank account but I cant add funds to my PAYPAL account unless I have a USA bank account.   

Oh well, looks like I cant buy the PCB 

[quarterback]

I cant add funds to my PAYPAL account unless I have a USA bank account.   

Interesting.  I guess they don't trust you foreigners!

Oh well, looks like I cant buy the PCB 

You might be able to have somebody do an alley-oop for you and act as a third party in the transaction.  I've seen a couple people posting about similar things recently.  So somebody in the US would buy the PCB, you could pay them with your CreditCard and then they'd send you the PCB.

I'd offer to do it, but you are a "bad guy" and clearly untrustworthy 

I'm just joking     But, seriously, you should ask around.  It would cost you extra for the 2x shipping costs and whatever, but it might be worth it if it's a PCB you can't get down there.   How much is the PCB?   

[AtomSmasher]

Thanks quarterback.

I have just had alook and you are right.'
Weird thing is that I can withdraw funds from PAYPAL and deposit into my New Zealand bank account but I cant add funds to my PAYPAL account unless I have a USA bank account.   

Oh well, looks like I cant buy the PCB 

you could try offering a few extra bucks to cover the cost that paypal charges.

[NightGod]

Thanks quarterback.

I have just had alook and you are right.'
Weird thing is that I can withdraw funds from PAYPAL and deposit into my New Zealand bank account but I cant add funds to my PAYPAL account unless I have a USA bank account.   

Oh well, looks like I cant buy the PCB 

you could try offering a few extra bucks to cover the cost that paypal charges.

Then the seller would have to setup a buisness account and then charges would get taken from ALL of their future transactions, not just the credit card ones. But you also get 5% interest on the money in the account and if you get a debit card, you get 1% instant cash back on credit card payments, so you can actually come out ahead if you don't spend the money 30 minutes after is shows up in the account.

[AtomSmasher]

Then the seller would have to setup a buisness account and then charges would get taken from ALL of their future transactions, not just the credit card ones. But you also get 5% interest on the money in the account and if you get a debit card, you get 1% instant cash back on credit card payments, so you can actually come out ahead if you don't spend the money 30 minutes after is shows up in the account.

Are you sure?  Because I can accept credit cards, but I don't get charged for bank transfers.  Did they recently change their policy?

[NightGod]

Then the seller would have to setup a buisness account and then charges would get taken from ALL of their future transactions, not just the credit card ones. But you also get 5% interest on the money in the account and if you get a debit card, you get 1% instant cash back on credit card payments, so you can actually come out ahead if you don't spend the money 30 minutes after is shows up in the account.

Are you sure?  Because I can accept credit cards, but I don't get charged for bank transfers.  Did they recently change their policy?

I'll take you're word on it-I've had a Premier account with them for so long, I'm not sure where the line is drawn on credit card/bank tranfer charges for lower-tiered accounts anymore.