Still not allowed, and probably never will be again.

There's a user who asked me to gift the payment (pretty new, I think), and when I said it was against the rules, he replied with "it's just frowned upon". Not sure if the FAQ needs to be updated in this manner, or the notice about it needs to go back up.

As of right now the part on "gift payment" states NA does not endorse gift payments ,but I agree maybe the rules should be updated .

I have no problem with someone "asking" for a gift, I have problems with someone requiring a gift. Big difference. I still send and receive gifted payments from members I trust without issue. No harm in asking, but if someone is uncomfortable with a gift, the other party should not be offended either.

People can mention that gift is appreciated, but people aren't allowed to require it:

Good to know, I really never used paypal outside of ebay and sending money to friends and family. Thanks for the heads up!

I never really thought about it. I always sent payments as a gift before as to avoid the fees. I've never even thought to ask anyone to send via gift. Whatever they were comfortable with was fine by me.

Seller eats the fees. Nearly all merchants have credit card scanners yet charge the same price as cash. Those scanners are not "free." If you truly want real "zero fee" transactions, feel free to place your cash in a stamped envelope and send it away. You'll probably never see your cash or your goods again, though. Oh, wait. Stamps cost money!

You don't pay fees to send money, unless you mean you are trying to save the seller fees. If that is the case I wouldn't bother because they should know the cost of doing business up front.   Better to be safe then save a stranger 75 cents.

I hate when someone get upset because you sent the payment as goods and then they need to pay $1.00. Really people!!!! I sell stuff here and I never ever will accept payments as gift because is the way that the buyer will get protect if something happen. ALso is the way that they will trust in me and also they will have evidence that they bought something from me. If you are a seller and you cant understand that you need to loose something to get a little more, this isnt your place to be in.

Hi there! I too responded to this Craigslist ad... He told me that he posted in Florida in error, current location is New Hampshire. He asked me to pay via Google wallet , USPS money order or paypal ... Says he'll ship me the items . Photo he gave me is the same as you've posted

That last post was kinda out of left field.

well.. either way is not 100% safe or scam free. sure we can pay as gift and have the chance to be dealing with a bad apple. but also as a seller you can be dealing with one of those. and specially now with the new 145 claim deal over PP. sure we can take the % fee from PP... but i have read complains on other sites about claims over goods after 35 days and those sellers got screw by the buyers and by PP. just read about a TF (transformers) seller who sold a Hercules devastator to a guy and the buyer claimed (item not as describe) and sent a knockoff back to the seller. guess what? he got away with it. that can happen to us here or anywhere else. just imagine selling a mib or complete EB here and find a claim 130 later.. and getting back a fake one or a useless one with a repro label box and inserts. just saying..

More and more of forums such as this one are forbidding sellers to ask for payment as "gift". I think it's a good practice. I never pay as "gift" even if I have to pay a little more. Than little extra percentage makes me sleep a lot better at night.

That's against our rules as well; if people are asking you to cover fees on top of their already listed prices then let a mod or admin know IMMEDIATELY.

Thanks!

Ok - wanted to share a bit of info that may or may not be helpful -

When using PayPal - there really are two classes of payments.

If you have money stored in your account, or pull from checking - you are in PayPal's house, regardless what method you use. If you file a dispute, you have to live with the results - and their classification system is archaic and overly automated.

If you back up the transaction with a credit card, you can always dispute the charge through your card issuer - provided you can backup your claim. They will override PayPal - but only in the context of their established, robust and well documented rules. For example - if you never received something, weren't credited back, wasn't as described. PayPal doesn't tell v/mc/a/d what to do with their payment types - and you are ultimately a customer of your credit card company - PayPal is a wrapper.

I don't use gift that often - because fees are a sellers responsibility as a cost of business IMO...but have run into issues before using standard, usually on purchases where ebay and PayPal have slightly conflicting policy.

It's a great service, but it's just as easy to withdraw everything before making a payment, and change my funding source to a credit card get protection. They really aren't any better or worse than the others, just a lot less of a black box.

Bumping this up to the top, since it's dropping...

I have never had an issue with sending extra on my payments when i send money through paypal just for this reason. Im not here to rip anyone off, and i have always attempted to stay within the confines of the forum rules. If i have a question ill ask in the forum for clarification but outside of that if the person im working with requests something outside of the scope of normality, ill ask why.

I choose to be safe than sorry.

I will be glad to send payment as "Gift" if the seller will send me the product first.

I have sent a few gift payments and thought i was saving the buyer some fees.

i did NOT realize that would mean I was paying the fees for them...........

Definitely no more gift payments for me lol

It used to bypass all fees on both sides, but not anymore it seems.
 

Gift has always made the sender cover the credit card fees, if paying that way. If gifting through PayPal balance or bank draft, there are still no fees.
 

I got fees charged to me on my last gift payment through my PayPal balance a week or so ago.
 

Yeah same here dude. Now i honestly see no point of using a gift payment. If it saved both parties a few bucks and they were both trustworthy. Sure.

But now there's no point, Paypal is getting money one way or another lol 
 

Was it to somebody in the US?