There's one big risk when sending your PayPal payment as a gift and that might be something to consider for the next time. If you use the gift option then you don't have any buyers protection anymore so you can not claim your money back.
This might have been the major reason why a seller asked to use this option.
If a seller comes up with the cost of the PayPal fees I'd rather pay those then to send my money as a gift.
Gr,
Marcel
http://kits.kolsteeg.net/sale