PayPal Updates User Agreement and Policies

[Kristijntje]

PayPal has updated the following sections of its user agreement, privacy policy, and other policies and is requiring all users to agree to the changes within 30-days.  Users who don't agree to the changes within 30-days will have their accounts restricted. PayPal lists the sections that were changed but fail to list the exact policy wording that was changed or added.

Payments (Sending, Receiving, and Withdrawals) Policy (January 20, 2006)
Ebay Billing (January 20, 2006)
Acceptable Use Policy (January 20, 2006)
Bonus Policy (January 20, 2006)
Merchant Gift Certificates Policy (January 20, 2006)

User agreement and Privacy policy both changed January 20th.

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AUTHORIZATION AGREEMENT FOR EBAY BILLING
This eBay Billing Agreement was last modified on January 20, 2006.

  1. PARTIES TO THIS AGREEMENT
      This eBay Billing Agreement ("Billing Agreement") is between PayPal, Inc. ("PayPal"), eBay Inc. ("eBay") and you.

  2. AUTHORIZATION TO CHARGE YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT FOR EBAY FEES
      By agreeing to these terms, you are giving eBay permission to charge your PayPal account on a one-time, sporadic, or recurring basis to collect fees that you owe eBay, unless and until you cancel this Billing Agreement. You authorize PayPal to pay from your PayPal account the full amount of fees presented by eBay. PayPal will not initiate payments on its own under this Billing Agreement; it will only pay out charges initiated by eBay. eBay will present you with an invoice at least 10 days in advance of charging your PayPal account.

      PayPal will become your payment method on file with eBay for automatic payment of your eBay fees. If you previously had another payment method on file for automatic payment of fees, PayPal will replace that method.

      If you change the website of registration of your eBay account (for example, you change registration from eBay.com to eBay.ca), this Billing Agreement will be cancelled. If you change the currency of your eBay account, you will need to again specify PayPal as your automatic payment method for your account in the new currency. If this Billing Agreement is cancelled, or if the payment of your eBay fees through PayPal cannot be completed for any reason, you remain obligated to pay eBay for all unpaid fees, and eBay may charge a payment method previously on file with eBay for payment of your selling fees, such as a credit card or checking account.

  3. FUNDING SOURCE USE
      When eBay charges your PayPal account, PayPal will always attempt to withdraw funds from your PayPal balance first. If funds in your balance are insufficient, PayPal will withdraw the funds from either your Preferred Funding Source, or a PayPal Default Funding Source. If you would like to set up a Preferred Funding Source, log onto your PayPal account and select "Profile", then "Preapproved Payments", then "Edit Funding Options" and select a Preferred Funding Source. If you do not set up a Preferred Funding Source, or a Preferred Funding Source fails, you will be subject to PayPal’s Default Funding Sources. PayPal’s Default Funding Sources are as follows: Bank Account first, then Credit Card.You will have the ability to disable funding sources for use with this Billing Agreement, with the exception that if you have one or more credit or debit cards linked to your PayPal account, then at least one of those cards must be enabled for billing.

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Payments (Sending, Receiving, and Withdrawals) Policy
This Policy was last modified on January 20, 2006.

  1. Sending Payments

        1. Sending Limits and Verification

              1. U.S. Users. You need to have a credit card or confirmed bank account with PayPal before you can send any payments. Once you confirm an email address and add a credit card, you are limited to a maximum sending limit, determined by PayPal’s discretion. Some transactions, at PayPal's discretion, may not apply towards the limit. Once you become Verified by confirming your bank account, your Sending Limit will be lifted. Account limits, if any, can be viewed from the "View Limits" link on the Account Overview page. In order to become Verified, you must add a bank account. By adding your bank account, you authorize PayPal to make two small deposits, at PayPal's own expense, to the bank account that you registered. Once you have become Verified, your bank account (Instant Transfer) becomes PayPal's default payment method. If you would like to fund your payment with an alternate method, click on the "More Funding Options" link on the Send Money Confirmation page. Your bank account and your PayPal account will be considered Verified if and when you correctly enter these deposit amounts on the PayPal website. Some users may be qualified to instantly confirm ownership via our Instant Bank Account Confirmation process by entering their bank account online login information. Once you have become Verified, your bank account (Instant Transfer) becomes PayPal's default payment method. If you would like to fund your payment with an alternate method, click on the "More Funding Options" link on the Send Money Confirmation page. If your Verified bank account is closed, you must confirm your control of a new U.S. bank account in order to remain Verified. PayPal reserves the right to decide that accounts at certain banks may not be used for Verification.

                  Some accounts, at PayPal's discretion, will be required to enroll in our Expanded Use Program. Specifically, this means that you may be required to pay a one-time Expanded Use Fee and to complete your enrollment in the Expanded Use Program by logging in to your PayPal account and entering the four-digit Expanded Use Number associated with the Expanded Use Fee. This fee will be charged directly to your credit card in the currency of the credit card bill for Visa and MasterCard, as follows: $1.95 USD, $2.45 CAD, £1.00 GBP, €1.50 EUR, ¥200 JPY, $2.00 AUD . If PayPal is unable to determine the currency of your credit card bill, or if PayPal does not support the currency of the card bill, or for any other card than Visa and MasterCard, the fee will be $1.95 USD. This Expanded Use enrollment will be complete if and when you correctly enter your Expanded Use Number on the PayPal website. After you have successfully entered your Expanded Use Number you will receive a bonus in the amount and currency of the Expanded Use Fee on the next PayPal payment you send. (This bonus may take up to 24 hours to process and be reflected in your PayPal account balance.) PayPal may require you to complete enrollment in the Expanded Use Program each time you add a funding source (i.e. a bank account or credit card) to your PayPal account.

                  Some accounts, at PayPal's discretion, may become Verified without completing the bank account confirmation process. In order to become Verified without completing the bank account confirmation process, an account will have completed an alternate Verification process determined and administered by PayPal. Accounts eligible for an alternate Verification process are determined solely by PayPal and will be contacted by PayPal.

              2. Non-U.S. Users. When you open your PayPal account, you will have an initial Sending Limit - the amount of money which you may send with your PayPal account. Once you reach your Sending Limit, you will be required to enroll in the Expanded Use Program or become PayPal Verified before using PayPal to send any more payments. Some users may be required to enroll in the Expanded Use Program before they may send any payments. To view your Sending Limit, if any, log in to your PayPal account and click on the "View Limits" link next to your account balance. Once you confirm an email address, add a credit card, and enter your Expanded Use Number, your account will have an unlimited sending limit. Some accounts, at PayPal's discretion, may have a higher or lower limit before verification. Some transactions, at PayPal's discretion, may not apply towards the limit. Account limits, if any, can be viewed from the "View Limits" link on the Account Overview page.

                  In order to obtain your Expanded Use Number, you must pay an Expanded Use Fee, log in to your PayPal account, and enter the four-digit Expanded Use Number associated with the Expanded Use Fee. This fee will be charged directly to your credit card in the currency of the credit card bill for Visa and MasterCard, as follows: $1.95 USD, $2.45 CAD, £1.00 GBP, €1.50 EUR, ¥200 JPY, $2.00 AUD. If PayPal is unable to determine the currency of your credit card bill, or if PayPal does not support the currency of the card bill, or for any card other than Visa and MasterCard, the fee will be $1.95 USD. After you have successfully entered your Expanded Use Number, you will receive a bonus in the amount and currency of the Expanded Use Fee on the next PayPal payment you send. (This bonus may take up to 24 hours to process and be reflected in your PayPal account balance.) The Expanded Use enrollment will be complete and your sending limit lifted if and when you correctly enter your Expanded Use Number on the PayPal website. If you remove the funding source used to enroll in the Expanded Use Program, PayPal may require you to enroll in the Expanded Use Program again.

                  With the exception of Canadian, British, and German users, your non-U.S. account will be considered Unverified until you have completed the following three steps: (1) Confirm your email address, (2) Add a credit card, and (3) Enter your Expanded Use Number. Canadian, British and German users can verify their accounts by confirming control of a bank account. Except for Canadian Verified sellers with Business or Premier accounts who meet all of our other Seller Protection Policy guidelines, no non-U.S. accounts, whether Verified or Unverified, are protected under PayPal's Seller Protection Policy.

                  Some accounts, at PayPal's discretion, may become Verified without enrolling in the Expanded Use Program. In order to become Verified without enrolling in the Expanded Use Program, an account will have completed an alternate Verification process determined and administered by PayPal. Accounts eligible for an alternate Verification process are determined solely by PayPal and will be contacted by PayPal.

        2. Electronic Transfers. When you make a payment through PayPal that is funded by Instant Transfer or eCheck, and when you initiate an "Add Funds" transaction you are requesting an electronic transfer from your bank account. Upon such request, PayPal will make electronic transfers via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system from your U.S. or Canadian bank account in the amount you specify. You agree that such requests constitute your authorization for such transfers. PayPal will never make transfers from your bank account without your authorization.

            PayPal provides you protection against unauthorized withdrawals from your bank account under the terms of the Electronic Fund Transfer Rights and Error Resolution Policy. You may be charged a service fee for any ACH transactions that result in a returned ACH item, such as but not limited to those caused by insufficient funds in your bank account, closure of your bank account, or if the bank account number or other information you provided is incorrect. Currently, returns to non-U.S. bank accounts are charged a returned ACH fee based on their location and returns to U.S. bank accounts are not charged. PayPal reserves the right to resubmit for collection any ACH debit authorized by you (Instant Transfer, eCheck or Add Funds) that is returned for insufficient or uncollected funds.

              1. Non-U.S. Members. Users in Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland may add funds to their PayPal account by initiating a bank transfer from their banking institution to their PayPal account. Such funds will be posted to the user's PayPal account and converted to the user's primary balance at the time the payment is successfully received by PayPal.

              2. Canadian Bank Accounts. Canadian users may use their bank accounts to fund payments. To use your bank account to fund payments, you must log in to your PayPal account and add a bank account. By adding your bank account, you authorize PayPal to make two small deposits, at PayPal's own expense, to the bank account that you registered. Once you have confirmed your bank account, your bank account (Instant Transfer) becomes PayPal's default payment method. If you would like to fund your payment with an alternate method, click on the "More Funding Options" link on the Send Money Confirmation page. Once you have added a Canadian bank account, you may use that bank account to add funds to your PayPal account from the Add Funds subtab of the My Account tab. Adding and confirming a Canadian bank account does not affect your Verification status. PayPal reserves the right to decide that accounts at certain banks may not be used to fund payments.

        3. Entering Expanded Use Numbers. PayPal requires all Non-U.S. Users and some U.S Users to complete an additional process to establish their membership with PayPal. This process consists of an Expanded Use Fee charged to the User's credit card, debit card, or bank account that is associated with a randomly generated, unique 4-digit Expanded Use Number. PayPal provides a page in the User's account for the User to enter this Expanded Use Number when it is received via the User's physical monthly card statement, or via online access to the card statement, or via the User's physical monthly bank statement, or via online access to the bank statement. PayPal strongly discourages users from calling their financial institutions in order to obtain PayPal Expanded Use Numbers before receiving their monthly statement in the mail or online. If PayPal receives a complaint from Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, or a financial institution regarding a User's repeatedly calling that financial institution to obtain PayPal Expanded Use Numbers, that User's PayPal account will be closed permanently. This Expanded Use Fee may not be disclosed expressly at the time it is made.

        4. Right of Recipient to Refuse Payment. When you send a payment to a third party through PayPal, the recipient is not required to accept the payment, even if the recipient is already registered with PayPal. The recipient is free to return payments or, in some cases, to use the PayPal system to deny payments that you have sent. You acknowledge that PayPal will not be liable for any damages resulting from a recipient's decision not to accept a payment made through PayPal. Any payments through PayPal that are denied or unclaimed by a recipient will be returned to the sender on the earlier of (a) the date of such denial, or (b) within 30 days from the date the payment is sent.

        5. Choice of Funding Sources. PayPal reserves the right to limit an account-holder's choice of funding sources for any individual payment based on analysis performed through proprietary risk modeling systems. When PayPal decides to limit funding source choices, the account holder will be alerted to the higher-than-normal level of risk associated with the payment. If PayPal determines that there is a higher-than-normal level of risk, this is not an indication that either party in the transaction is acting in a dishonest or fraudulent manner; it is merely an indication that the combination of variables in the transaction has alerted PayPal that the potential for payment repudiation is unacceptable. The account-holder may choose to continue with the transaction using the available funding sources (if any), with the understanding that he or she may be accepting an additional level of transactional risk. Thus, the account holder may have fewer avenues available for dispute resolution should the transaction turn out to be unsatisfactory. For more information about protecting yourself from the risks associated with online transactions, please visit PayPal's Security Center.

        6. Removal of Expired Credit Cards. PayPal views expired credit cards as an invalid funding source and reserves the right to remove expired credit cards from your account. PayPal will notify you via email that your credit card has been removed from your account because of an invalid expiration date. You may re-add the card once a valid expiration date is obtained.

        7. Multiple Currencies. PayPal's Multiple Currencies feature allows users to send payments in U.S. Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, Yen or Australian Dollars. Multiple Currencies is currently available for all payments made using the regular Send Money service. You do not need to maintain a balance in the currency in which you would like to send the payment, but may choose the currency at the time of payment. If you are making a payment in a currency in which you already maintain a balance, the funds for the payment will first be withdrawn from the balance you already hold in that currency. Additional funds required for the payment will be withdrawn first from any other PayPal balance you maintain, and then from the funding source of your choice.

            If your PayPal balance(s) do not cover the full amount of your payment, and you hold a credit card denominated in the currency of the payment, that credit card will be charged for the remainder of the payment. If your PayPal balance(s) do not cover the full amount of your payment, and you do not hold a credit card denominated in the currency of the payment, but you do hold a credit card denominated in one of the currencies supported by the Multiple Currencies feature (that is, U.S. Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, Yen or Australian Dollars) your credit card will be charged in that currency. If your PayPal balance(s) do not cover the full amount of your payment, and you neither hold a credit card denominated in the currency of the payment nor in any of the currencies supported by the Multiple Currencies feature (that is, U.S. Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, Yen or Australian Dollars), your credit card will be charged in the currency of your payment. If you hold a U.S. PayPal account or are using an American Express card to fund your payment, your card will always be charged in US Dollars.

            Before you complete the payment, PayPal will display the current exchange rate for any funds you are sending which are not currently held in the currency of the payment.

            In addition, the recipient of your payment does not need to maintain a PayPal balance in the currency in which you are sending the payment. For additional information about receiving Multiple Currencies payments, please see Receiving Payments: Multiple Currencies, below.

 

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2. Receiving Payments

        1. Receipt of Credit Card Funded Payments. The ability to receive credit card funded payments is reserved for Premier and Business accounts. Personal Accounts that receive credit card funded payments may accept the payment by upgrading to a Premier or Business account, or they will have to deny the payment. Personal accounts may receive non-credit card funded payments for free. Once upgraded, Premier and Business Accounts may receive unlimited credit card funded payments. Payments funded wholly or partially by a credit card are classified as credit card payments in the PayPal system.

        2. Receipt of Payments; Risk of Reversal of Transactions; Collection of Funds you owe PayPal. When you receive a payment through the Service, unless you follow the steps necessary to qualify for our Seller Protection Policy, you are not protected against a subsequent reversal of the transaction. In the event that the sender's transaction is reversed for any reason and you do not qualify for the Seller Protection Policy for that transaction, you will owe PayPal for the amount of the reversed transaction plus any fees imposed on PayPal as a result of the reversal. Examples of such a reversal include, but are not limited to, a credit card reversal by the sender of the payment, and a reversal of the transaction because the sender of the payment was using a stolen credit card or unauthorized bank account. PayPal will seek to recover the funds from you by debiting your PayPal balance and, if there are not sufficient funds in your PayPal balance, PayPal reserves the right to collect your debt to PayPal by any other legal means.

            PayPal reserves the right to ask a recipient of a payment for further authentication or other information in order for him or her to accept it. Users who receive more than $10,000.00 USD in payments during a single month may be required to provide PayPal with additional information.

        3. Personal Account Receiving Limit. If you have a Canadian, U.S., or U.K. Personal account, you are limited to receiving no more than the equivalent of $500.00 USD each month, based on the primary currency of your PayPal account. Only eBay, auction, and Website Payments (e.g. Buy Now Buttons, PayPal Shopping Cart, or Subscriptions payments) will count against your Receiving Limit. The equivalent Receiving Limits are as follows:

            Currency of
            Primary Balance
            Receiving Limit
            U.S. Dollars
            $500.00 USD
            Canadian Dollars
            $650.00 CAD
            Euros
            €400.00 EUR
            Pounds Sterling
            £250.00 GBP
            Yen
            ¥56,000 JPY
            Australian Dollars
            $1,250.00 AUD


            This $500.00 USD cap is based on the account sign-up date, and is reset each month. Once you have reached your monthly limit, the payment will have a Pending status, and you will need to upgrade to a Premier or Business account to accept the payment. If a payment is Pending based on your having reached your Receiving Limit and your limit is reset, the payment will remain Pending until you have upgraded your account or denied the payment. If you refund a payment, your Receiving Limit will not be reset for the amount of the payment.

            PayPal account holders may not deceive buyers as to the nature of their account. That is, if you advertise on a listing that you accept credit card payments through PayPal, you must have a Premier or Business PayPal account or be willing to upgrade from a Personal PayPal account to a Premier or Business PayPal account when you receive your first credit card-funded payment.

            PayPal account holders may not split payments between a Personal PayPal account and a Premier or Business PayPal account by directing buyers paying with credit card to pay their Premier or Business account and buyers paying with PayPal balance or bank account to pay their Personal account. Any business payments that are split and made to a Personal account will be subject to fees applicable to a Business or Premier account. Personal accounts are for personal use only. If you would like to do business through your PayPal account, you must use a Premier or Business account.

  3. Refund. In the first sixty (60) days after a payment has been sent, the recipient has the option of refunding all or part of the payment received by clicking on the "Refund" link on our website. If the transaction is refunded in full, all transaction fees will be refunded and the payment will be reversed. If a partial refund is issued, the recipient will only owe a transaction fee based on the payment amount received and unrefunded. The recipient may issue any number of partial refunds for the payment within the first 60 days, provided that the sum of all refund amounts is equal to or less than the total amount of the payment.

  4. Withdrawals.

        1. U.S. Users. In order to withdraw funds that PayPal is holding in custody for you, you must confirm the email address that you registered by responding to a message that PayPal will send to that address when you have completed registration, and you must register a bank account or credit card with PayPal. New PayPal Users who signed up for a PayPal account after November 14, 2002 are required to complete two out of three authentication steps (confirm bank account, enter Expanded Use Number, confirm Social Security Number) in order to withdraw more than $500.00 USD per month. In addition, Users who signed up for a PayPal account on or before November 14, 2002 will be required to complete two of the three authentication steps described above in order to withdraw more than $500.00 USD per month for the first 120 days. Some accounts, at PayPal's discretion, may have this limit even after 120 days. Some accounts, at PayPal's discretion, may have lower limits until the authentication steps have been completed. Account limits, if any, can be viewed from the "View Limits" link on the Account Overview page. For fraud purposes, PayPal reserves the right to review large withdrawals before releasing the funds to you.

            You may withdraw funds by direct deposit into your bank account or by physical check. To cover the cost of processing checks, PayPal charges $1.50 USD per check withdrawal. If a check is not cashed after 180 days from the date it was issued, the funds (minus the fee) will be returned to your PayPal account. Check withdrawals will not be sent to P.O. Box addresses. In addition, check withdrawals will only be sent to a Confirmed Address, unless you are Verified (as described in Section III.1 above), in which case you may choose any street address. If you would like a check withdrawal to an address that does not match these rules, you must contact Customer Service and produce appropriate documentation as determined by PayPal before a check will be sent to the requested address.


        2. Non-U.S. Users. If you are a Non-U.S. User, you may only accept payments after you have registered a credit card with PayPal. If and when you have registered a credit card, the following rules apply to the withdrawal of any payments you receive through the Service.

            All Non-U.S. Users who have a U.S. bank account located in the United States and registered it with PayPal may withdraw funds from their PayPal balance to that bank account once they have added a credit card and enrolling in the Expanded Use Program by confirming their email address and entering their Expanded Use Number. Canadian Users that have a U.S. bank account registered with their PayPal account will only be required to add a credit card to withdraw funds to that U.S. bank account. Non-U.S. Users in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom who have become Verified (by confirming their email address, adding a credit card, and enrolling in the Expanded Use Program by successfully entering their Expanded Use Number) may register their local bank accounts with PayPal, and may then withdraw funds from their PayPal balance into their local bank accounts. For fraud purposes, PayPal reserves the right to review large withdrawals before releasing the funds to you.

            Non-U.S. Users in India, China, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Jamaica may withdraw funds by physical check. To cover the cost of processing checks, PayPal charges a fee for check withdrawal – please see the Withdrawal Fees table. Checks will be issued in U.S. Dollars, except in India, where checks will be issued in Indian Rupees.

            Checks to these 8 countries cannot be cashed; they must be deposited to a bank account for which the bank accountholder name matches the name on the check. If the name on your PayPal account is incorrect and does not match the name on the bank account to which you wish to deposit your check, you must correct it by contacting PayPal customer service before you initiate your withdrawal by check.

            Checks to these countries will actually be bank drafts and will be funded by PayPal as soon as they are sent. As such, PayPal cannot stop a check withdrawal transaction once it has been requested. PayPal is not responsible for checks that are lost, missing or misaddressed by the customer. Your bank may charge fees for the deposit of these checks (e.g. if the currency of the check is different from your native currency); please check with your bank on any applicable fees before requesting a withdrawal by check from PayPal.

            Non-U.S. Users in Anguilla, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Iceland, Israel, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela will not be able to withdraw funds from the PayPal system unless they have a U.S. bank account, and should therefore accept payments only if they expect to spend those funds using PayPal or if they have a U.S. bank account. Because of this limitation on withdrawals, non-U.S. Users in these 11countries must affirmatively accept each payment and will not be able to receive payments automatically.

            Non-U.S. Users in some countries may not use the Service to receive payments, and may only use the Service to send payments. These countries are designated on the PayPal Non-U.S. Accounts page.

        3. Multiple Currencies. When you use electronic funds transfer or a withdrawal by check, you can choose the currency balance from which you would like to withdraw the funds. If the currency of the PayPal balance from which you are withdrawing the funds differs from the currency of the bank account to which you are withdrawing the funds or the currency of the physical check if you are withdrawing by check, currency conversion rates will apply. Before you complete the withdrawal, PayPal will display the current exchange rate that will apply to the conversion.

  5. No Surcharges. Under Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express regulations and the laws of several states, including California, merchants may not charge a fee to the buyer for accepting credit card payments (often called a "surcharge"). You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as payment. This restriction does not prevent you from imposing a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge (in other words, the handling fee for transactions paid through PayPal may not be higher than the handling fee for transactions paid through other payment methods).

  6. Use of PayPal on eBay. Sellers who offer PayPal as a payment option in their eBay listings (either via logos or through text in the item description) must accept all forms of PayPal payment including account balance, bank account transfer, and credit cards. Sellers must have a Premier or Business PayPal Account, or be willing to upgrade from a Personal PayPal Account to a Premier or Business Account if sellers receive a credit card payment. Sellers may not communicate to buyers that they only accept, or will not accept, specific forms of PayPal payment.

  7. Multiple Currencies. The Multiple Currencies feature allows you to maintain PayPal balances in any or all of the following currencies: U.S. Dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, Canadian Dollars, Yen or Australian Dollars. If you already maintain a balance in the currency in which you receive a payment, that payment will be automatically credited to that currency balance. You do not need to maintain a balance in a particular currency to accept payments sent in that currency. If you hold a Personal PayPal account, every time you receive a payment in a currency in which you do not maintain a balance, you will be asked to manually accept or deny that payment. Before you accept a payment, PayPal will display the current exchange rate.

      If you hold a Premier or Business PayPal account, your default preference when you receive a payment in a currency in which you do not maintain a balance is that you will be asked to manually accept or deny that payment. Before you accept a payment, PayPal will display the current exchange rate. If you would like, you may set up your Payment Receiving Preferences in your Profile to do one of the following:

        1. Automatically accept the payment and open a PayPal balance in that currency.

        2. Automatically accept the payment and convert it to the currency of your primary balance. Note: If you choose this option, the payment will be converted at the current exchange rate at that time.

        3. Automatically deny payments received in a currency in which you do not already maintain a PayPal balance.

        4. Continue to manually accept or deny payments received in a currency in which you do not already maintain a PayPal balance.

      You can open and close currency balances, transfer funds between currency balances, and change your Primary Currency from the Manage Currencies section of your Profile. Your Primary Currency is the currency which you designate as your home currency (i.e. the currency in which the value of other currency balances will be expressed). Your Primary Currency will remain U.S. Dollars unless you choose to make it a different currency.

  8. Additional Disclaimers for the use of the Multiple Currencies feature. Maintaining balances in multiple currencies and sending and receiving payments in currencies that differ from your Primary Currency entails additional risks. These key risks include (although this is not a comprehensive list):

        1. If you maintain a balance in a currency other than your Primary Currency, the value of these additional balances will fluctuate as exchange rates change, which over time may result in a significant decrease or increase in the value as measured by the Primary Currency. The value of your non-primary currency balances will be displayed in terms of your Primary Currency at the current exchange rates on the PayPal system. By opening a balance in a currency other than your Primary Currency, you acknowledge that it is your responsibility to monitor the fluctuations or exchange rates, and that any perceived loss from these fluctuations will be borne by the funds in your PayPal account, and are in no way the responsibility of PayPal.

        2. When you initiate a transaction in which a currency conversion must take place (when you are sending a payment using Multiple Currencies, accepting a payment in a currency in which you do not maintain a PayPal balance, withdrawing funds from your PayPal account, or transferring funds between currency balances within your PayPal account), PayPal will display the exchange rate for the conversion. By completing the transaction, you agree to the exchange rate displayed. If the payment has to be returned or reversed at a later time, PayPal will re-convert the funds to the original currency, but will use the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the return or reversal.

            In addition, if you hold a Premier or Business PayPal account and you set your Payment Receiving Preferences to take payments received in a currency in which you do not maintain PayPal balance and automatically accept and convert those funds to your Primary Currency, you are agreeing to use the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the conversion.

        3. As long as you maintain an open balance in a specific currency, all payments received in that currency will automatically be credited to that PayPal balance.

        4. In the event that one of the currency balances in your PayPal account becomes negative, PayPal retains the right to offset the negative balance using funds maintained in a different currency balance.

            PayPal may use funds held in any currency balance to recover amounts owed to PayPal due to chargebacks or for any other reason. (A chargeback, or reversal, occurs when a buyer rejects or reverses a charge on his or her credit card.) In addition, funds from payments received will first be diverted to make up any negative currency balance regardless of your Payment Receiving Preferences. PayPal will forcibly convert all negative balances to the U.S. Dollar balance after the account has maintained a negative balance for 21 consecutive days. The above referenced negative balance does not include negative balances which result from a pending reversal where PayPal has yet to conclude its investigation of the situation.

            If one of the currency balances in your PayPal account becomes negative, PayPal will divert funds from any withdrawals you make (whether you withdraw by check, electronic funds transfer, or your PayPal Debit Card) to make up the negative balance before allowing you to withdraw the funds.

        5. The Multiple Currencies feature is designed to facilitate online payments. You agree not to attempt to use the Multiple Currencies for speculative trading. Because the exchange rates that you will be assessed for currency conversion include PayPal's conversion and risk fee, any attempt to use the product for exchange trading will, in all likelihood, result in losses.

  9. Authorizing Payments for Delayed Processing by Merchants.
        1. When a merchant processes a payment you have authorized, PayPal will always attempt to use the USD funds in your PayPal balance before the funding sources you select at the time of authorization.

        2. With your consent, the merchant may change your final purchase price if the total amount changes due to taxes, shipping charges, item availability, item additions, or other conditions that you agree upon with your merchant.

        3. The Backup Funding Source that you select at the time of purchase can also be used to cover the cost of an increase to your payment amount between the time a payment is initially authorized and the time your payment is processed.

        4. If you are enrolled in the Money Market Reserve Fund, any balance funds placed on hold as the result of authorizing a payment to a merchant will not accrue Money Market interest for the duration they are placed on hold.

        5. A payment that you authorize to a merchant is valid for a variable period. The length of the authorization period depends on the terms that PayPal has set for your merchant.

        6. Your funds will not be transferred to the merchant until the merchant processes the payment.

        7. Merchants must obtain your consent for any change to your payment between the time of authorization and the time your payment is processed.

[ponce]

PayPal Acceptable Use Policy
This Policy was last modified on January 20, 2006.

PayPal does not allow its service to be used for illegal activities. PayPal reserves the right to take preventative or corrective actions to protect itself and its users. Thus, PayPal has developed an Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”), as part of the User Agreement to which each customer agrees at the time of initiation of service. This policy help customers identify activities that are illegal or may be illegal under certain circumstances, and to identify certain types of activities for which PayPal has decided not to process payments, even if the activities may be legal. PayPal reserves the right to revise the AUP, in order to reflect changing customer and business needs. Notice of such changes will be posted in the Policy Update section on PayPal’s website, https://www.paypal.com, and the current AUP is available at https://www.paypal.com/aup.

Despite PayPal’s active enforcement of its Policies, ultimately it is the responsibility of the user to ensure that all transactions comply with the Acceptable Use Policy and the below guidelines.

PayPal users buying and selling on eBay should note that eBay maintains its own policies to ensure a safe and legally compliant marketplace. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that all transactions on the eBay marketplace comply with both PayPal and eBay’s rules and regulations.

Transactions Covered by the Acceptable Use Policy.
The Acceptable Use Policy covers all PayPal transactions including donations, purchases, and sale of all goods and services, on eBay, another online marketplace, through the seller's own website, or any other forum.

Violations of the Acceptable Use Policy.
Violating PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy may result in temporary or permanent limitation of a customer’s account. This includes the inability to send and/or receive payments, to remove financial information from an account, and for users to close their accounts as a way of evading the policy. Additionally, users whose accounts are permanently limited for violating the Acceptable Use Policy are barred from future use of PayPal and its services, and such users are not permitted to open new or additional PayPal accounts.

If you have a question about whether your proposed or existing business violates the Acceptable Use Policy, you can email PayPal’s AUP Compliance Department at: aupviolations@paypal.com.

If you encounter violations of the Acceptable Use Policy, please report them to PayPal immediately.

    * Academic Software
    * Aggregators
    * Alcoholic Beverages
    * Animal and Wildlife Products
    * Artifacts, Grave-Related, and Native American Crafts
    * Authenticity Disclaimers
    * Bootleg Recordings
    * Charities and Non-Profit Organizations
    * Counterfeit Items
    * Dealers in Jewels, Precious Metals and Precious Stones
    * Electronics Equipment
    * Embargoed Goods, Prohibited Countries
    * Event Tickets
    * Faces, Names, and Signatures
    * Firearms, Weapons, and Knives Policy
    * Gambling
    * Games Software: Sony, Sega, and Nintendo
    * Government Identification, Uniforms, and Police-Related Items Policy
    * Illegal Drugs & Paraphernalia Policy
    * Lottery Tickets
    * Mailing Lists and Personal Information
    * Mature Audiences
    * Medical Devices
    * Mod Chips
    * Money Service Businesses
    * Multi-level Marketing, Pyramid and Matrix Programs
    * OEM Software
    * Offensive Material
    * Pre-Selling Products
    * Prescription Drugs and Devices
    * Satellite and Cable TV Descramblers
    * Slot Machines
    * Stocks, Bonds, Securities, and Related Certificates
    * Stored Value Cards
    * Surveillance Equipment
    * Tobacco
    * Travel
    * Unauthorized Copies

[ponce]

Merchant Gift Certificates
This Policy was last modified on January 20, 2006

Description: Merchant Gift Certificates is a product that allows merchants to offer Gift Certificates for sale through the merchant’s web site or store. Purchasers may purchase a Gift Certificate for a designated recipient, who may then redeem that Gift Certificate on purchases made with that merchant. The purchaser must define the recipient at the time of purchase for Gift Certificates delivered by email. Once purchased, Gift Certificates delivered by email may not be transferred to a different recipient.

Please note that this policy does not cover eBay Gift Certificates which are offered for sale by eBay.

General Restrictions for Merchants who Offer Gift Certificates for Sale:

    * Limited access by Merchant to Gift Certificate balances. Proceeds from the sale of Gift Certificates are stored in a merchant’s reserve balance. When a Gift Certificate is redeemed, funds are moved from the merchant’s reserve balance to the merchant’s available balance. If a gift certificate is not redeemed within the initial 18 month period, the remaining balance on the gift certificate is released from the reserve balance.

    * Treatment of Gift Certificates after initial 18-month period. If a gift certificate retains a balance for 18 months, the amount of the remaining balance will be released from the reserve and placed in the merchant’s available balance. However, since gift certificates do not expire, a gift certificate recipient will still be able to redeem these gift certificates. In these types of redemptions, the gift certificate will act as a discount against the recipient’s purchase total, but the seller will not receive the remaining balance from the gift certificate. For example, if a recipient uses a $10.00 USD Gift Certificate that is more than 18 months old on a $15.00 USD purchase, the merchant will receive only $5.00 USD (less fees), since the merchant will have already received the $10.00 USD in proceeds, less PayPal fees, from the recipient’s gift certificate when the gift certificate had aged 18 months.

    * Fees. PayPal does not charge fees when a gift certificate is purchased; however, PayPal charges standard transaction processing fees to the merchant upon redemption. If a gift certificate is not redeemed within the initial 18 month month period, the remaining balance on the gift certificate is released from the reserve balance. Standard transaction processing fees are charged to the merchant if and when funds are moved from the reserve to the merchant’s available balance.

    * Account required. Recipients are required to create a PayPal account in order to redeem their Gift Certificates.

Customer Service: Merchants who sell Gift Certificates are expected to provide support for the purchasers and recipients of those Gift Certificates. PayPal gives Merchants the ability to refund and cancel Gift Certificates within the first 60 days of purchase.

Policy Acceptance: By selling or making available for sale Merchant Gift Certificates, the merchant agrees to the terms of this policy.

[ponce]

PayPal Bonuses Policy
This Policy was last modified on January 20, 2006

  1. General. The Merchant Referral Bonus Program ("MRB Program") is a program that allows you to receive a payment from PayPal ("Bonus") into your PayPal account for referring a merchant ("Referred Merchant") to PayPal. To participate in the MRB Program, you must comply with all of these requirements, and have a PayPal account that is in good standing.

  2. Referred Merchants. The Referred Merchant must be an individual or business with whom you have a pre-existing relationship. You may not obtain names for referrals from group email addresses, third party bulk mailing lists, customer lists, or other similar sources. You may not send unsolicited e-mails ("Spam"). If you send Spam, PayPal may immediately and permanently close your account. You may not refer yourself for the MRB Program. You will not be eligible for a Bonus for referring a merchant that signs up for PayPal during a reduced fee promotional offer period.

  3. Bonus Requirements. In order for you to receive a Bonus, the Referred Merchant must: (1) sign up for a PayPal Business or Premier Account through your Merchant Referral link provided by PayPal; (2) become a verified user; and (3) not already have a PayPal Personal, Business, or Premier account at the time of the referral. All of these steps must be completed prior to you being eligible for a Bonus.

      PayPal may discontinue or modify the MRB Program at any time by providing you with thirty days’ notice. In the event that the MRB Program is discontinued, you will receive the Bonus for all of your Referred Merchants that have satisfied all of the requirements in this section prior to the discontinuation date of the MRB Program.

      For all referrals, you must have a PayPal account in good standing. All conditions must be met before the Bonus expires.

  4. Bonus Amount. The amount of the Bonus is based on the Referred Merchant’s Net Merchant Sales ("NMS"), defined as the Referred Merchant's Gross Merchant Sales (the sum of Website Payments and Qualified Send Money transactions paid to the Merchant's account), less any chargebacks, refunds, and reversals. NMS includes only payments paid to a Premier or a Business account, and does not include payments paid to a Personal account. Please also note that payments amount(s) sent or received in connection with the sale or purchase of goods or services via eBay will not be included or counted towards the qualifying NMS amount.

      "Website Payments" are defined as payments made through PayPal's Merchant Tools, including Buy Now and Donation buttons, Subscriptions & Recurring Payments, and the PayPal Shopping Cart.

      "Qualified Send Money transactions" are defined as payments made through the Send Money tab of the website where the user selects the Type "Goods (other)," "Quasi-Cash," or "Service".

      The bonus payment is based on the amount of NMS, as follows:

        1. Initial Payout. When the Referred Merchant reaches $200.00 USD in NMS, and has become verified, an initial $1.00 USD bonus will be credited to your PayPal account.

            If the Referred Merchant's Primary Balance is in a currency other than U.S. Dollars, the Initial Payout will be determined according to the following schedule:

            Currency of
            Referred Merchant's
            Primary Balance
            $200.00 USD NMS
            Equivalent
            Canadian Dollars
            $300.00 CAD
            Euros
            €200.00 EUR
            Pounds Sterling
            £150.00 GBP
            Yen
            ¥20,000 JPY
            Australian Dollars
            $200.00 AUD

            If your Primary Balance is in a non-U.S. Dollar currency, your Initial Payout will be awarded according to the following schedule:

            Currency of
            Primary Balance
            Initial Payout Amount
            Canadian Dollars
            $1.50 CAD
            Euros
            €1.00 EUR
            Pounds Sterling
            £0.50 GBP
            Yen
            ¥100 JPY
            Australian Dollars
            $1.00 AUD

        2. Residual Payout. After the Initial Payout, and as long as the merchant is still within the 12-month Payout Period, you will receive a Bonus equivalent to 0.5% of the Merchant's NMS in excess of $200.00 USD no sooner than once every 30 days.

        3. Maximum Payouts. You may only receive up to a total of $1,000.00 USD in Payouts per Referred Merchant. If your Primary Balance is in a currency other than U.S. Dollars, your maximum payout will be determined according to the following schedule:

            Currency of
            Primary Balance
            Maximum Payout
            Canadian Dollars
            $1,500.00 CAD
            Euros
            €1,000.00 EUR
            Pounds Sterling
            £750.00 GBP
            Yen
            ¥100,000 JPY
            Australian Dollars
            $1,350.00 AUD


        4. Payout Period. You are eligible to receive Merchant Referral Bonus payouts for the first 12 months of the Merchant's account ownership.

        5. Payout Frequency. You will receive your Initial Payout within one week of the Merchant reaching the initial $200.00 USD in NMS and becoming Verified (whichever is later). Residual Payouts will be made no sooner than every 30 days thereafter.

        6. Compliance with Terms and Conditions. By participating in this MRB Program, you agree to be subject to all of the terms and conditions of the MRB Program, the PayPal User Agreement, and the PayPal Privacy Policy. PayPal reserves the right to close your PayPal account and/or restrict you from participating in this MRB Program if you fail to comply with any of the terms and conditions.

[ponce]

User Agreement Updates
Notice Date: January 20, 2006
Effective Date: January 20, 2006
Updated the Description section of the Merchant Gift Certificates Policy. Removed statement about American Express Corporate Cards being denied from the U.S. and Australian versions of the Payments (Sending, Receiving, and Withdrawals) Policy. Added information about buyers being responsible for providing proof of shipment to the U.K. version PayPal Buyer Protection Policy. Updated funding source use information in the U.S. version of the eBay Billing Agreement. Updated information about interest on PayPal balances in section 2.1 of the U.S. User Agreement. Reorganized the German PayPal Buyer Protection Policy. Updated setoff information in section 11 of the U.S. User Agreement. Updated section I of the Payments (Sending, Receiving, and Withdrawals) Policy for all European countries. Removed statement about filing one PayPal Buyer Protection claim per PayPal payment and updated the Buyer Responsibilities section of the PayPal Buyer Protection Policy for all European countries. Updated the Buyer Complaint Policy for all European countries. Updated the U.S. version of the Merchant Referral Bonuses Policy. Updated section I.1.a of the U.S. version of the Payments (Sending, Receiving, and Withdrawals) Policy. Updated the PayPal Payments Pro and Virtual Terminal Agreement. Added missing websites for PayPal Buyer Protection eligibility to the French and U.K. versions of the PayPal Buyer Protection Policy. Added information regarding Professional Sports Clubs to the Contracts and Tickets Acceptable Use Policy. Updated the Firearms, Ammunition, Replicas, and Militaria and the Weapons and Knives Acceptable Use Policies to include information about persons under the age of 18 not being permitted to use PayPal. Clarified language of the Pyramid, Multi Level Marketing, and Get Rich Quick Schemes and the Stocks, Bonds, Securities and Related Certificates Acceptable Use Policies. Removed information about the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) from the Stocks, Bonds, Securities and Related Certificates Acceptable Use Policy for Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain. Replaced the Precious Metals Acceptable Use Policy with Dealers in Jewels, Precious Metals and Precious Stones Acceptable Use Policy for U.S. Added a Charities and Non-Profit organizations Acceptable Use Policy for the U.S. and added a link to this Acceptable Use Policy from the Acceptable Use Policy Index page. Made minor formatting and spelling changes to the U.K. User Agreement, Payments Policy and Seller Protection Policy and Italian User Agreement. Made minor formatting and spelling changes to the Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Items Acceptable Use Policy, Counterfeit Items Acceptable Use Policy, Counterfeit Currency and Stamps Acceptable Use Policy, Pre-Selling Products Acceptable Use Policy, Food Acceptable Use Policy, Unauthorized Copies Acceptable Use Policy, Stocks, Bonds, Securities and Related Certificates Acceptable Use Policy, Event Tickets Acceptable Use Policy, Tobacco Acceptable Use Policy, Animals and Wildlife Products Acceptable Use Policy, Artifacts, Grave Related Items, and Native American Crafts Acceptable Use Policy, Embargoes Goods, Prohibited Countries Acceptable Use Policy, Slot Machine Acceptable Use Policy, Travel Acceptable Use Policy, Drugs and Drug Paraphernalia Acceptable Use Policy, Alcohol Acceptable Use Policy, and Prescription Drugs and Devices Acceptable Use Policy.

Interest on PayPal balances
Notice Date: November 30, 2005
Effective Date: January 19, 2006
PayPal currently does not earn interest on U.S. Dollar balances in your PayPal account. PayPal does earn interest on balances in other currencies. As an international payments provider, PayPal is standardizing its cash management process to be consistent across all geographies and currencies. Therefore, effective January 19, 2006, PayPal will have the option to earn interest on U.S. Dollar balances (other than balances in the PayPal Money Market Fund). This change will not affect the manner or timing in which PayPal processes your payments. PayPal users in the U.S. can have the option of earning a return on balances held in their PayPal accounts through participation in the PayPal Money Market Fund.

[amy]

How many more posts would it have taken for the entire agreement? 50? 100?  :blinkie: :blinkie:

I believe this is the eBay seller beware change:

Updated funding source use information in the U.S. version of the eBay Billing Agreement.

[Nat]

[quote author=Kristijntje link=topic=2285.msg8095#msg8095 date=1137842986]
PayPal has updated the following sections of its user agreement, privacy policy, and other policies and is requiring all users to agree to the changes within 30-days.  Users who don't agree to the changes within 30-days will have their accounts restricted.
[/quote]

Okay, I give up - I just logged into my Paypal account and don't see any place where I am supposed to agree to their policy changes within 30 days otherwise my account will be restricted.  I logged in and it went straight into my account. 

Where do you do this? I just clicked the Policy Updates link and it just shows the updates but nothing to accept in there either.