I'm trying pay a deposit for an apartment via PayPal.

Last year, when I did that for an apt in London, the owner sent me a PayPal invoice, and I was able to pay it via PayPal <u>without setting up a PayPal account</u>. The invoice clearly states the amount due and I just had to input my CC info.

However, this time, when I received the PayPal email from the owner (for an apt in Amsterdam), I clicked on the [PAY NOW] botton, and...

The new window comes up as the PayPal home page in Dutch. It does not seem I can pay without setting up an account, so I went ahead and set up the acct.

After logged into my account, I went back to the original email message and click on the [PAY NOW] button - I assume it'll directly take me to the invoice page from the owner. However, it doesn't, it just goes to my account/profile page.

So, how do I actually SEND the deposit to the owner without an invoice? I click on the "Send Money" page and it only gives me the option of email or phone #? From the PayPal email the owner sent me, it doesn't have his email address on it, just the "merchant" name. Can someone guide me through this? Obviously, i don't want to send money to the WRONG person! Thanks!

Try the merchant name!

i too have had extensive problems with paypal and last time i was due to use it i was dreading it, i dont have an account do just use a credit card. Anyway i was given these instructions by my aprtment owner and they worked fine.

If you do not have a paypal account you can still pay using a credit card.
Please follow these instructions.
Log into paypal.com, click on ‘send money’ and then ‘personal ‘ and then ‘gift’. Please ensure that any fee’s that may be applied are not transferred to us.
Our account is : (his email address)

But i would be sure to check with them whether their email address is the correct one for paypal. Sometimes you can type in the person's paypal username i think. I would email and ask them what is their paypal username or applicable email address to use.

Hope this helps.

Apologies, to be clear, when i said i dont have an account what i meant is while i have a paypal log in account i do not have an account which is linked to my bank, ie i cant transfer money to it/ have a account balance. i do have my credit card number attached to my login account though.

Now you have a log in account you should be able to do the above

chapla, what do you mean by "try the merchant's name"? When I click on "Send Money", I can only send money to either

a) an email address, or
b) mobile #

There's no place to enter the merchant's name on the "SEND MONEY" page.

HG001, that's what I figured... it seems a bit scary to send money by simply entering an email address. I emailed the owner just now and ask him to confirm the correct email address for the Paypal account.

What's unsettling for me is:
1) in the PayPal email the owner sent me, it only has his MERCHANT NAME and the payment amount. It does NOT display his email address

2) When I log into my account and went through a DUMMY session of sending money to the owner using his email address, I went through all the steps (except the final [SEND]) but PayPal never shows me what his MERCHANT NAME is.

Am I doing something wrong or missing something obvious?

yeah i thought it odd too, did he come back to you and give his email address paypal account.

Why don't you send him just say 5 euros first time round and ask him to confirm receipt and then you can pay the rest when you are sure it gets to him?

Hope this works?

Also,

Im 90% sure it can be either an email address OR a paypal account name as seem to remember getting names before. Maybe his merchant name is what he uses as his account name.

I just spoke with cousin who uses PayPal a bit.

She's saying that from the [PAY NOW] button link in the PayPal email the owner sent me, the link should directly take me to the actual INVOICE page set up by the owner.

She's thinking that perhaps the link button is wrong or the owner didn't set it up properly...

---------
For those of you who have paid via PayPal before, does the [PAY NOW] button in the PayPal email takes you to the INVOICE directly?

We paid an apt deposit by going to paypal.com and entering the payee's email, which is what paypal uses to identify individual accounts. (I already have a paypal account).

Suggest you contact the owner and let them know you are having problems. Their particular "pay now" link may only be set up to take you to the paypal website.

The merchant needs to send you a specific invoice so that you can pay it - and have a record of how much money you sent to who for exactly what purchase.

I was having some difficulty making a rental deposit (to France) with PayPal, so I followed the "contact" link and finally talked to a real person who was very helpful and solved the problem.

Actually that's not always the case. We paid as outlined above and then the owner emailed us a receipt.

I'm both a paypal member and merchant.

From the merchant side, they should send you an invoice that details the amount of the transaction, a description of what it is for and the type of service. I say "should" on the final 2 pieces of info, as they may not, but the amount should be an exact figure. The invoice from the merchant to you does not have to go to your Paypal account, but can go to any email address. Yes, if you have a paypal acct. that makes it a bit easier, but it is no biggie in any respect.

The merchant can also set up a "Buy Now" button on a generic webpage, by click on this, you will be taken to Paypal, you will be shown the amount of the transaction to take place and who it is for (whatever transaction name they set up, not necessarily their PayPal acct)

You can also just send money to a Paypal acct (registered and verified email address), but I would never do this. Have the merchant send you an invoice, this gives you some backup in case somethings goes hinky on the transaction.

Hope that helps,

dave

Sorry about my spelling errors, been a long day.

dave, is it complicated for the owner to make an invoice? I wrote back to him and said I do not see an invoice when I use the [PAY NOW] button on the PayPal email.

He wrote back and said he did not generate an invoice, and said it was simply a request for me to pay the deposit.

Then he sent another PayPal email to me, but it was the same as before (ie, no invoice).

I realize that I can just send him (via his email address) the deposit, but it makes me a bit uncomfortable. I'm wondering if the owner knows how to *make* an invoice on PayPal - is that difficult?

And if I end up just sending him money via his email address without the invoice, I assume PayPal will have a record of the money I sent?

*******UPDATE********

Okay, it's all done.

Thanks again for all your help and input. I took roamer's suggestion and called PayPal to speak to an actual person. He looked at my acct and had me log out - re log in - and re-refreshed the screen. The VOILA! The request from the owner then showed up on my accout page. The PayPal help person said he didn't know why the requests did not show up before.

Anyway, now that it's fixed, I am able to see the request/invoice that comes along with a PAY NOW button. This makes me feel much better instead of sending money to just an email account with no invoice.

PAYPAL ROCKS!!!!!

Glad things worked out. The "invoice" is the money request.

dave