How am I getting PayPal payments with no transaction fee?

Most payments have a fee, but affiliate payments are free

[MichaelBluejay]

I noticed that PayPal isn't charging me a transaction fee for some payments I'm receiving. According to their fees page, there's no such thing as a free transaction for Business accounts, so this is a mystery. It seems that the "free" payments are the ones from affiliate programs where I'm being paid commissions.

I tried calling PayPal but they're closed for the holidays. And also, if there's a mistake and they're *supposed* to be charging me a transaction fee, I'm not sure I want to tip them off. :)

So why do I care about this? Because I have colleagues who won't accept PayPal payments from me because they have to pay a transaction fee, and so I have to either pay the fee myself, or screw around with sending a check or arranging a bank wire. If I knew how to send money via PP without the recipient taking a hit, that would save me time or money.

[upside]

I'm not sure how to send/receive PayPal payments without a transaction fee. However, it bothers me when sellers expect buyers to cover their PayPal fees, especially when this is expressly prohibited by PayPal's Payments Policy [paypal.com]. See the section entitled "No Surcharges" which reads, in part, "You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as payment." I encounter sellers who add a surcharge all too frequently.

[sun818]

Is it a mass payment? It seems like receiving mass payments (e.g. affiliate payouts) seem to have a different fee structure. I'm just learning about it myself, so I am not familiar with the fee structure.

Also, Google Checkout has no fees until end of 2007. I have been actively encouraging suppliers I work with to accept it. For suppliers, there is no additional expense for them and no paperwork of depositing checks. I also can get a 1.5% discount by using my Paypal debit card. ;)

[MichaelBluejay]

Ah, that's probably it. I looked it up and with Mass Payments the *sender* pays 2.0%, the recipient pays nothing.