PayPal Friends and Family is a personal payment for gifts and shared expenses. When you are paying a seller, choose the purchase option. The payment type affects fees and eligibility for PayPal Purchase Protection, even when both options send money to the same person’s account.
Short answer
Friends and Family payments are excluded from PayPal Purchase Protection. Eligible Goods and Services purchases may qualify, subject to PayPal’s terms. A seller’s request to use the personal option does not turn a purchase into a gift.
On this page
Source: PayPal US, payment types · Checked on October 20, 2026.
Choose the type by what the money pays for
PayPal calls the personal option “Sending to a friend” and the purchase option “Paying for an item or service.” Its examples of personal payments include splitting a meal, sharing living expenses and sending a gift. Goods and Services is the option for a purchase.
Ask one question before sending: are you expecting an item or service in return? If so, the fact that you know the recipient does not remove the purchase. A friend selling you a used camera and a friend receiving your share of dinner are different situations.
Source: PayPal US, personal and purchase payments · Checked on October 20, 2026.
US personal-payment fees depend on funding
The following figures apply to domestic personal transactions under PayPal’s US consumer fee schedule. “Domestic” means the sender and recipient are identified as residents of the same market.
| Funding method for a domestic personal payment | PayPal fee |
|---|---|
| PayPal balance or bank account | No fee |
| Card | 2.90% plus the fixed fee |
| USD fixed fee for a card-funded personal payment | $0.30 |
Source: PayPal US consumer fees, last updated May 19, 2026 · Checked on October 20, 2026.
For an illustrative $100 domestic personal payment funded by a card in USD, that published rate gives a $3.20 fee: $100 × 2.90% + $0.30. This is arithmetic using the listed rate, not a live account quote.
The same schedule lists no PayPal fee to buy goods or services when no currency conversion is involved. Seller charges follow the merchant schedule. Receiving money and later withdrawing it are separate steps, so a free personal payment does not imply every withdrawal is free. See instant transfer fees for that later stage.
International transfers and currency conversion have additional pricing rules. Read the final review screen for your actual route and funding source.
A purchase label is only the first eligibility check
PayPal’s Purchase Protection terms cover eligible Item Not Received and Significantly Not as Described claims. They also exclude particular transactions and items. Selecting Goods and Services does not guarantee a refund for every disagreement.
For example, the US terms exclude personal payments, real estate and financial products. They also distinguish in-person collection from shipped purchases. For non-QR-code payments, an item collected in person is not eligible for an Item Not Received claim; other conditions may apply to a Significantly Not as Described claim.
Source: PayPal US Purchase Protection terms, updated January 26, 2026 · Checked on October 20, 2026.
Before paying, save the item description, condition, quantity, agreed delivery method and the seller’s contact details. Those records make a later disagreement concrete. A screenshot of the payment alone says little about what the seller promised.
If the seller asks for Friends and Family
PayPal’s scam guidance says to refuse a seller’s request for a Friends and Family payment when buying goods or services. The personal option removes Purchase Protection eligibility.
Treat the request as a reason to pause the transaction, particularly if the seller says the purchase will be protected anyway or demands another payment to “upgrade” protection. Use the official PayPal app or website to inspect a transaction. A message or screenshot sent by the other person is not your account record.
Source: PayPal US, Friends and Family payment scams · Checked on October 20, 2026.
If you already selected the wrong option
Contact PayPal through its official support channel and describe the payment accurately. Its payment-type guidance says a purchase cannot simply be untagged or recategorized afterward, although support may be able to return a fee for an erroneous purchase tag. Do not assume that changing a note or asking the recipient to rename a payment changes its protection.
A purchase dispute and an unauthorized transaction are also different cases. If you sent the payment yourself, explain what happened without describing it as an account takeover. If you did not authorize it, use PayPal’s unauthorized-transaction process.
For an eligible purchase problem, the terms require an attempt to resolve it with the seller and compliance with the Resolution Center process. Follow the deadlines displayed for your case; the terms require escalation from a dispute to a claim within 20 days of opening the dispute.
Source: PayPal Purchase Protection, eligibility and dispute process.
