Commercial PayPal fees are lower than your typical individual's fees.
Typically an individual pays 3.4% (+20p per transaction).
A merchant who trades between £1500-£6000 per month pays around 2.9%, then it drops again by another 0.5% if sales go over £6000.
The more sales he generates, the lower the rate falls.
E-Bay fees are totally separate. A Registered Business pays 12% with no upper limit - an individual pays 9.9%, capped at £40, then a smaller percentage on anything above the £400. That makes quite a difference on high value items.
It's standard practice to circumvent e-bay fees with a PayPal Invoice - if the original auction ends (for whatever reason) without a sale, it is entirely within the seller's remit to deal outside of e-bay, and so avoid fees. If the seller is stating on the invoice that the PayPal payment is in respect of an unsold e-bay item, you should be fine, protection-wise.
The old maxim always applies - buy the seller. Look at his profile, see what comments previous buyers have left, and judge for yourself. You can always annotate the PayPal invoice he sends you with your own description of the goods you are paying for, for added protection.
Mike
