Mandolin Cafe

The Classifieds Posting Guidelines have been amended with our official policy on buyers and sellers exchanging money using PayPal Friends and Family payments.

For those not familiar, PayPal charges a nominal fee for transactions between buyers and sellers with the seller receiving the payment minus a fee for the use of PayPal. There are many online PayPal fee calculators for those that wish to learn more about their fees.

The intent of PayPal Family and Friends is for just that purpose: to send money to a student in college, or a friend in need, etc. It was not intended to be used improperly for sellers to strip protection from buyers while avoiding fees.

Important: with the PayPal fee the buyer receives protection from fraudulent sales or sellers that are uncooperative or will not work with you regarding a trial period, an instrument is not as described, and many other possible scenarios that are too broad to be covered.

Buyers paying with Friends and Family have no recourse. Same as cash. Sellers requiring that payment are asking buyers to forgo all protection. That is a buyer's choice, but it is not the Cafe's preference.

Our formal position is we strongly recommend buyers refuse to engage in payments using PayPal Family and Friends, and that anyone insisting such you should walk away from the sale.

We also know we cannot prevent this kind of payment once contact is made. Do so are your own risk. Sellers may wish to ask more payment. That is their option. Or they may ask to pay by check or bank draft. Just be aware that PayPal is providing a very valuable service to the buyer with its use.

The Mandolin Cafe will not intervene in transactions gone bad where PayPal Family and Friends has been used. The intent of this resource has always been as a perk to site visitors. Our job is buyer and seller safety, not the maximization of profits for sellers.

It is simply better for the community that if a transaction goes bad between two individuals using PayPal Friends and Family that we permanently remove both from further use of the Classifieds.

Reference: PayPal's Security for buyers page.

What's not covered with PayPal Purchase Protection?

• Send Money transactions to friends or family.