Ok, since this is my 200th post I decided to make it interesting, and I am sure this will create a little bit of controversy, so here goes:

More and more I've noticed people requesting the payment of PayPal fees when offering items for sale.  Now, of course, anyone can charge whatever they want.  This is, after all, a society of free enterprise, and I am not referring to situations in which a seller is offering items at cost with no profit to be made.  Everything below is of my own personal opinion as a many time buyer and seller.

When someone is selling a product that will result in a profit they should not expect the buyer to send a payment that will result in the seller paying no fees.  PayPal payments sent as a 'Personal' payment leave the buyer with no recourse should the transaction go awry .  There is no option to file a Dispute or Claim when using this method. 

Additionally, over the years I have seen many people talk down about resellers on eBay and other sites because of high pricing.  What many of the complainants seem to neglect to realize is that the average online transaction results in a seller fee of about 15% on average.  I state this fact because to see it becoming the commonly accepted practice for sellers on the trade board to want the buyer to accept all risk so the seller can save a measly 2.9% plus $0.30 for a PayPal payment, in my mind, is absolutely absurd.

I cannot even count how many times I have been the buyer and have canceled an ongoing transaction because the seller insisted on receiving a PayPal payment via the 'Personal' method.  I'm talking thousands of dollars in total.  From a logical perspective, it just doesn't make sense to send someone hundreds of dollars and have to sit back and hope that they will fulfill their end of the bargain. Or hope that the package doesn't get lost, or damaged.

I would also extend this argument for when a seller is willing to accept a 'Goods' payment but then wants to add the associated PayPal fees onto the total transaction price.  It reminds me of the old cliché: "You can't have your cake and eat it too", meaning it is nonsensical to expect a buyer to not only pay for the items they are buying, but to also pay additional fees so the seller doesn't have to pay any at all.

Having said all of the above, I do not see anything wrong with a seller asking if the buyer would be willing to send a PayPal payment via the 'Personal' method, but to expect it… well, re-read everything above if the point hasn't sunk in yet.

So there's my 200th post rant. I am looking forward to everyone's responses.

The two options in PayPal are 'Purchase' and 'Personal'.  The 'Personal' option allows the sender of the payment to choose the type of personal payment they are going to send.  They can choose one of following 5 options:

1. Gift
2. Payment owed
3. Cash Advance
4. Living Expense
5. Other

Regarding selling items at actual cost, I addressed that in the first paragraph.  In a trusted situation it would be fine to send money via the 'Personal' option, but when dealing with someone for the first time I would suggest one of these two options:

• Accept the payment via the 'Purchase' option and add the fees to the total, or
• Accept the payment via the 'Purchase' option with the agreement that once the buyer receives the package they will resend the payment again via the 'Personal' option and the seller will refund the initial payment.