There's no fees associated with gifting money via your bank account either though? I do it all the time with a $0.00 Paypal balance and there's never a fee for it. There's also never been a wait for the people I send money to either--they always receive it automatically. The only wait is for it to show up on my bank account, which generally takes 2 - 3 days.
So really, if you refund the original $30 by sending it as a gift, you should only be out $2 because there shouldn't be any fees by gifting it, assuming you're pulling it directly from your bank account and not using a debit/credit card.
But like I said, it might be different for this artist since they seem to be in the UK, as every country has its own rules, and some countries don't allow for gift payments. But if the artist *can* send it as a gift, there's no reason not to. For countries that allow gift payments, it seems to work the same as in the US--no fee except, for currency conversion, and it's pulled directly from their bank account. And the currency conversion fee is minuscule--for $50 it'd be 25 cents. For other countries, it's the same numbers, just in their own currency. So if the artist sends OP the refund as a gift, the only fee they should have would be 18 cents for the conversion, then they'd only be out the original fees plus that 18 cents. OP will be out money either way too, due to currency rate changes between 2012 and now...so if it's possible for the artist to save OP the cost of seller fees, they really should, I think.
no subject
So really, if you refund the original $30 by sending it as a gift, you should only be out $2 because there shouldn't be any fees by gifting it, assuming you're pulling it directly from your bank account and not using a debit/credit card.
But like I said, it might be different for this artist since they seem to be in the UK, as every country has its own rules, and some countries don't allow for gift payments. But if the artist *can* send it as a gift, there's no reason not to. For countries that allow gift payments, it seems to work the same as in the US--no fee except, for currency conversion, and it's pulled directly from their bank account. And the currency conversion fee is minuscule--for $50 it'd be 25 cents. For other countries, it's the same numbers, just in their own currency. So if the artist sends OP the refund as a gift, the only fee they should have would be 18 cents for the conversion, then they'd only be out the original fees plus that 18 cents. OP will be out money either way too, due to currency rate changes between 2012 and now...so if it's possible for the artist to save OP the cost of seller fees, they really should, I think.