Opinion on paypal fees.

hookedoncoins

Hi,

Ever since my paypal account got upgraded, I have been charged 3% + $0.30 for everything I receive. Seeing that I get charged for using that, I have always allowed buyers to pay with paypal if they will pay the small fee. I never saw anything wrong with that. When I have to pay fees for shipping, I have the bidder pay for it. I think of it like this... the seller can pay with a MO, check or paypal. If they choose Paypal, they pay the fees that I get paid... if they choose MO or check they pay postage fees and MO fees.

I have just been informed by a fellow board member that it is not only unethical to "channel" the fees to the bidder, but illegal. Can somebody give me some opinions on this, or some alternatives where I wont get tacked with lots of extra fees because bidders prefer paypal.

Feedback?

-Jarrett Roberts

TWODOGS

I look at PayPal fees as a cost of doing business. They provide a service, they SHOULD get paid for that. I don't work for free.

I figure the time and gas it saves me when I don't have to run to the P.O. looking for Money Orders that aren't there, is worth it.

Plus, if you get one of their debit cards, and use it to pay your eBay fees, or at the gas station, grocery store or a restaurant as a credit card, you get 1.5% back. That cuts your fees down to 1.9% plus the 30 cent charge. I love my PayPal Debit card.

beorn

i use paypal but i dont make the buyer pay my paypal fees.i consider it part of the price of doing business.when i,m on the buying end of a transaction i avoid sellers that charge the paypal fees.i try to price my items so that costs are covered by the winning bid amount.this is just the way i prefer to do business,i dont think there is anything illegal about charging the customer paypal fees....just one mans opinion

Outhaul

I believe that charging back credit fees, Paypal fees, auciton fees, etc. is against eBay rules and can get you NARU'd. Anyone else on this?

BTW...I agree with Twodogs...I don't work for free either. If someone is charging a fee for their service, you have the option to pay or don't use.

Cheers,

Bob

nwcs

It's a cost of doing business. I remember back when gas stations had cash prices and credit prices. They finally figured out that more people would buy if the prices were the same. The overall increase in customers more than offset the loss of fees.

CarlWohlforth

The fees are too high. That is my opinion and I'm sticking to it

Outhaul

While I don't disagree with you, Carl, I think 3% is standard for credit card transactions in the business world. Any dealers like to comment on this? I'm just a collector/occasional seller so I may be wrong.

Just my 3% of .666667 cents

Cheers,

Bob

Petescorner

You cannot charge more for paying with PayPal because it is a violations of some states' laws. California is one, I believe. This was a result of merchants (especially gas stations) charging customers who paid with credit cards a higher rate.

Now while eBay will pull your auctions if you state that buyers paying via PayPal will pay a higher rate, it is completely within their rules to charge a flat S/H fee and discount every method of payment except PayPal! Go figure!

LincolnCentMan

I do not see charging for the use of pay-pal as unethical. I mean, you're up front about it. They dont have to bid on your auctions, or pay with pay-pal. However, apparently, someone did because surcharging for pay-pal IS illegal in SOME states. It is also against e-bay rules to surcharge for the use of credit cards or pay-pal. Heck, I even had e-bay delete about 15 of my auctions one time because I said if they returned something and paid with pay-pal, I would subtract out the postage/insurance/pay-pal fees. They said it was a "surcharge." I was pretty darn hacked... it was all over the wording. They said I could say that I was assessing a so-and-so % restocking fee, but I couldn’t say that I subtracted out my cost.

In the end, I think pay-pal pays for it's self. Even though it takes a 3% hunk out of your gross income on SOME auctions, I think it attracts bids. I feel that a lot of bidders pass up auctions that dont offer pay pal. I know I do. It's just so darn convenient.

One thing I wouldn’t mind seeing, is pay-pal changing the $.30 base fee against the vender to a $.37 (cost of a stamp) charge to the buyer. Then just charging the % to the vender. Of coarse, it wouldn’t affect me too much. I'm a buyer and seller, so I'd be paying the base fee either way.

David

DHeath

Jarrett,

It violates paypal and ebay rules. The fees are expensive, but the number of customers you gain helps offset the fees. An additional benefit is not having to wait for the buyers check to clear. There are negatives associated with paypal, but IMO the positives outweigh them.

hookedoncoins

I wasn't aware it was breaking any rules, much less so many rules. I guess I will stop using that for future use.

-Jarrett Roberts

crito

funny, everyone was worried Paypal would become Billpoint and eBay would raise the fee. Well, Billpoint was only 1.5% and it's going away now. What a surprise. I'm switching to c2it/quickcash. They hold onto your money without paying interest, that should offset CC processing costs some.

Loki

There was an auction that I won where the seller would only take C2it payments. OK no problem, I signed up and paid him through C2it. Well, I found out the expensive way that C2it treats a credit card purchase as a CASH ADVANCE which cost me an extra 10 bucks!!

bigbadchad777

I don't like paypal.

hookedoncoins

I just downgraded my account to Personal... everything is free again... I wish I knew you could downgrade before... I didn't think you could.

-Jarrett Roberts

coindaughter

I agree that the fees are too high, but I agree that it probably attracts more bidders, and it is easier for both buyer and seller. No extra trips to the bank, P.O, etc. So, we grin and bear it.

crito

C2it treats a credit card purchase as a CASH ADVANCE which cost me an extra 10 bucks!!

That's biggest prob with c2it, the transactions show up as cash advances. It never cost any of my buyers $10 though, must be your CC company... c2it is 100% free in USA. But some credit cards do have strict limits on cash advances and others charge a higher interest rate for them, which does kinda stink.

relayer

It's against California law to charge for processing any form of payment, and doing say is a NARU offense on eBay.

If you are going to use their service for your business, you have to pay them for it.

Best way to avoid the fees is don't accept PayPal.

goyankeez

PAYPAL is a win/win situation. Buyers don't have to write a check or buy a M.O. and send it to the seller. Sellers don't have to worry about payments getting lost or damaged in the mail; and checks having to clear. If you are worried about the fees, simply charge more for Shipping and Handling. (ie. If one charges $2.00 for S/H; next auction charge $2.25 or $2.50). Buyers look for PAYPAL as a payment option and won't mind the "extra" S&H if shipment is prompt. IMO.

9 out of 10 times the buyer pays with PAYPAL (per my experience). You can work your fee into the S&H, and give a discount (if you want) to anyone who pays with a M.O. or personal check.

It also depends on what you're selling. Small dollar items will get hit a lot harder than bid dollar items. The $.30 charge is a killer for items in the $1-$5 range.

BSqr

By accepting PayPal the Seller benefits by attracting buyers who prefer to use PayPal over other more conventional payment methods. No one is making a seller accept PayPal therefore why should the buyer pay extra becuase of a decision made exclusively by the seller.

UncleJoe

The nice thing about Billpoint is that it is a flat rate of 35 cents for receipts $15. or less.

Paypal charges 30 cents PLUS the %.

Joe.

flaminio

Like others said, charging a surcharge for PayPal payments is against PayPal's terms of service, eBay's terms of service, and the law of the State of California, where both PayPal and eBay do business.

The nicest thing about PayPal is you get the money much faster than snail-mail methods. This is advantageous for a dealer because with quicker money, you can turn it faster, buy more product, sell more product, and ultimately make more money. The fees, while annoying, more than cover this added speed of money.

drsvenghali

The other way out of this situation is to have two PayPal accounts. Use one only for those accounts which choose to pay with a credit card. That way you do not incur additional charges for balance or linked account payments.