PayPal offers its U.S. customers a personal line of credit, with which they can make purchases on any site (including eBay) that accepts PayPal. This allows them to more easily make purchases—especially large ones—and then pay them down over a period of time (with interest, of course).
The good news is that you’ll still get your money right away if a customer pays you with Buyer Credit, and in most cases it won’t cost you anything.
If you choose to offer promotional financing (e.g., no payments for six months), PayPal charges you, the seller, a percentage of the financed amount. The percentage you pay varies from 0.5% to 3.75%, depending on the type of financing you offer in your listings. The benefit to you is that you could be more likely to sell your high-priced items.
PayPal also occasionally runs Buyer Credit promotions that offer discounts to your customers who sign up for Buyer Credit (this time at no cost to you). For instance, if you were advertising Buyer Credit on a listing for a $70 fixed-price item, your customers would see an ad right on your listing page offering them $10 off the purchase price if they sign up for PayPal Buyer Credit and use it to purchase your item. You still get the full purchase price of $70—minus the 0.5% fee for offering Buyer Credit, if the purchase is financed—yet your customers pay only $60. These promotions vary, so be sure to check pages.ebay.com/paypal/buyercredit for the latest scoop.
Otherwise, PayPal Buyer Credit is free for sellers, and is automatically offered in all eBay listings priced at $199 and higher; you can turn this off by going to My eBay eBay Preferences Payment preferences. – David Karp, eBay Hacks, 2nd Edition
Incoming search terms:
- paypal buyer credit -card -cards