It would be sweet if this service (or any service, for that matter) was more widespread. A bit of a chicken and the egg problem here, though.
It's great to hear you say so. We're working hard to get more merchants (not just ones in Palo Alto) signed up. The more people you tell about it, the easier it is for us.
I haven't used paypal via phone, but paypay via the web is free for person-to-person transfers as long as you mark the transfer as such. There is only a charge when transferring to a merchant.
Not sure about that. My landlord can't accept rent via PayPal without paying a huge fee, and that's when I've funded my transfer via ACH. He doesn't have a merchant account, just an individual account.
IMO paying rent wouldn't count as a P2P transaction. I've used Paypal for years to pay friends, and there have never been any fees.
I think it was because of the transaction volume. Once you get past $3,000.00USD it looks like you automatically become a merchant with PayPal, even if you're not.