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- Tip Jar Low End Mac Reader Specials Memory To Go Special: New 2008 iMac 2GB $42 / iMac Intel Core2 DUO & MacBook Pro 2GB $36 - 1GB $20. MacPro 8 Core Memory 8GB kit $286 / 4GB kit $143 / 2GB kit $93 -- Free shipping available. LIfetime warranty. Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here. OWC: Burn DVDs, DVD-DL, CDs, DVD-Ram - FAST! Superdrive upgrades from OWC starting from $31.99 with options for nearly every Mac. Models with Lightscribe, Blu-Ray too! Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac. Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs. Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you. How PayPal Works email Dan Knight - 2001.03.07 If you've done any buying or selling on eBay, you've probably seen links for PayPal, the leading payment service on the Web. If you've ever used PayPal, you've got to wonder how they provide a free payment service for so many - and even provide a signup bonus in some cases. No $5 Bonus Ever since I started using PayPal, I've had family and friends sign up - and tell PayPal that I sent 'em. I don't think I've even once received a referal fee, and this doesn't seem to be uncommon. A lot of people wrote to express their disappointment - and note that it didn't seem worth pursuing the issue with PayPal. The Positives The key is simple: they provide an increasingly limited level of free services in hopes you'll sign up for the fee service, either a business or a premier account. The beauty of PayPal is that you can send funds (in U.S. dollars) to people all over the world, using either a credit card or your checking account. And it doesn't cost you, the buyer, a cent. That's nice, especially if you're picking up or unloading some old Mac goodies on eBay. You don't have run to the bank, post office, or convenience store for a money order. There's no risk from a personal check. Funds move through the buyer's PayPal account to the seller's account. Speaking of which, you can earn money market rates (currently 4.4% APR) on the balance in your PayPal account - and the money isn't tied up like it would be with a CD. So far everything looks good. It gets better! When you sign up for PayPal, tell them who referred you, and deposit $100 in your PayPal account, both you and the one who referred you may earn a $5 bonus. Some restrictions apply. (Plug: tell 'em webmaster@lowendmac.com sent you and support this site.) You don't have to deposit the $100, but for the $5 bonus and the option of earning money market rates, it's not a bad deal at all. And paying via PayPal is fast; funds usually moves at the speed of email. The Negatives One way PayPal coaxes people to sign up for premier and business accounts is a ceiling on credit card transactions. When I started using PayPal, you could accept up to $500 via credit cards every six months. I never got close, but had some friends who did. PayPal changed that, setting the ceiling at $100 per month. Their positive spin: That's $600 every six months. The negative spin: You can no longer sell items for over $100 with the anticipation a buyer will be able to use PayPal to send you funds. If the money comes from a checking account or an existing PayPal account balance, there's no problem, but the minute credit card transactions pass the $100 mark in a given calendar month, you're stuck - upgrade your account or lose the sale. (There's also a $2,000 limit on credit card payments you may make in a six month period.) Do note that there is absolutely no cost to choosing a premier or business account unless you use it to receive funds. There are no transaction fees for personal accounts; business and premier accounts have a 30¢ transaction fee any time you receive funds. If the payment is $15 or more, the fee is 30¢ plus 2.2% of the total for credit cards, 30¢ plus 1.6% of the total for funds from a checking account or PayPal balance. Compared to what a bank would sock you to process credit cards, this is quite reasonable. If you have 10 sales in a month totaling $500 (half credit cards), you're fee would be $12.50 ($3 for the individual transactions and $9.50 based on 1.9% of total transactions). That averages out to under 2%. No, it doesn't seem fair that personal accounts can process all sorts of money with no fees at all, as long as they keep credit card sales below $100 per month. That's PayPal's loss leader - and the way they've accumulated over six million customers. But PayPal is a business, as is your local bank or credit union. They may seem to have free services, but they have to make their money somewhere. The way PayPal does that is by charging heavy users a small percentage each time they accept a PayPal payment. It's not a bad deal, either, as this page demonstrates. BillPoint, eBay's payment service, gets 35¢ per transaction plus 2.25% or 3% of any transaction of $15 or more. Tradesafe gets 50¢ plus 3.5% of the total sale, even for transactions under $15. Finally, PayPal is not a bank. Deposits are not insured by FDIC, nor is PayPal regulated by banking laws. The Final Analysis If all you do is buy, there's no cost to you in signing up for a premier or business account. You can also get the $5 signup bonus and earn money market rates if you keep a balance in your PayPal account. If you sell a bit and consistently keep that under $100 per month, stick with the personal account as long as possible. It's free, which is a hard price to beat. If you are doing enough business that you can't use the personal account, be sure to factor in about a 2% hit on each sale when figuring your minimum selling price. I have both a personal PayPal account, which use to buy and sell my own Mac stuff on the Web, and a business account, which I set up primarily to speed payment to my writers. As long as they're using personal accounts, it won't cost them a thing to receive money from me - and I save the cost of postage to the U.S. or Canada. And I don't have to worry about the Canadian exchange rate or marking my check "US Funds," either. All things considered, PayPal looks like a good value for personal and business use alike. Links Sign up for PayPal with Low End Mac as your referral link. <this article available in a printer-friendly version> Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar. Recent Mac Musings What Would an $800 MacBook Mean for the Mac mini?, 10.09. If Apple does release an $800 entry-level MacBook next week, the $600 Mac mini is going to look very overpriced. Low End Mac Needs Help Moving to Joomla, 10.08. We've settled on Joomla as the content management system that should work very well for Low End Mac, but we're running stuck with templates. Mac nano? Brick? How Small Could Apple Make a Mac?, 09.23. The iPhone and iPod touch show how small Apple can make a computer. What if Apple wanted to build a very, very small Macintosh? With 10% of the US Notebook Market, Where Will Apple Go Next?, 09.19. Apple increased its share of the North American notebook market by 60% over the past year and moved to fourth place. What can it do for an encore? More in the Mac Musings index. Links for the Day Mac of the Day: Power Mac 4400, Nov. 1996 - Apple does cheap to compete with clones - and nobody is impressed. List of the Day: Leopard List Low End Mac's email list covering Mac OS X 10.5. October 11 in LEM history: 99: Kihei revisited - 00: Bring back beige - AT&T proposes extortion - 01: Mimio for the Mac - 02: Of docks and roadblocks - Reasons not to switch - PowerBook G3 repair - 04: Virtual PC 7 puts Windows on your Mac - Modem Magic - 05: Why we oppose any iPod tax - Trash shortcuts - 06: 30 days of old school computing - Firefox and Safari chipping away at Microsoft Recent Content on Low End Mac TruePower Battery Can Run WallStreet PowerBook Past the 5 Hour Mark, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 10.10. If you have a rugged old PowerBook but its battery is losing capacity, TruePower can give you plenty of time in the field. nVidia Inside Next MacBook?, Time for a Mac Netbook, Asus Launched MacBook Air Killer, and More, The 'Book Review, 10.10. Also photo reveals more about MacBook Pro, comparing 16:9 and 16:10 displays, Apple settles suit over faulty iBook and PowerBook adapters, bargain 'Books from $150 to $2,699, and more. 30% of iPhone 3G Buyers Switched Carriers, EU Battery Rule May Force iPhone Redesign, and More, iNews Review, 10.10. Also iPhone 3G greatest consumer electronics device ever, track presidential polls on your iPhone, Talking English Dictionary, waterproof armbands, several new iPhone apps, and more. Economic Crunch May Slow Mac Sales, a Recycled Cube, ToCA Race Driver 3 for Mac, and More, Mac News Review, 10.10. Also don't buy RAM from Apple, customize your Mac's appearance, MacTribe expanding into print, My Apple Space social networking, and more. Best Mac Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.10. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,799; new, $1,949 after rebate; 2.8 4-core, $2,099 shipped; 8-core, $2,599 shipped; 3.0 $3,399 shipped; 3.2, $4,099 shipped. Best PowerBook G3 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.10. Used 14" WallStreet G3/266 MHz, $90; Lombard G3/400 MHz, $150; Pismo G3/400 MHz, $300; 500 MHz, $350. Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.10. Refurb 500 GB Time Capsule, $249; new, $294; refurb 1 TB, $419; new, $462; AirPort Extreme Card, $39; Base Station, $159; Express, $60. Modding Your Old Mac to Make It More Useful, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 10.09. If your old Mac is too slow, too noisy, too plain looking, or has too little room for expansion, you might want to mod it. Best iMac G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.09. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $269; 800 Combo, $300; 1 GHz, $390; 17" 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $400; 20", $529. Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.09. Used 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $995; 2.16, $1,125; new, 2.2, $1,400 after rebate; refurb 2.4, $1,699; 2.5, $1,999; 2.6, $2,299; rebates on new. Best Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.09. DVD upgrade from 10.3, $75; upgrade bundle with 10.3, $118; full version, $129; family pack, $200; 10-user Server, $350; unlimited, $400. The Power of Older Macs, Why Vista Only Sees 3 GB of RAM, Wangwriter Supplies, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 10.08. Also the end of an era as MIT HyperArchive shuts down and another suggestion for profiling Windows computers. Migrating My Law Office from Windows to Macintosh, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 10.08. By switching to Leopard Server, everyone in the office will be able to move to a Mac - but which ones will best meet their needs? Will Apple's iPhone/App Store Tornado Blow Away the Competition?, Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market, 10.08. The iPod, iTunes, and the iTunes Store paved the way for the success of the iPhone and the App Store - and nobody can match that. More links in our archive. Go to the Mac Musings index. 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