Adding for Paypal fees

ajw

I've often read that a seller can't add a percentage to cover the Paypal fees. Is there a link to an Ebay or Paypal page that actually says this?

ajw

I found it, if anyone else cares. Here's a link (you'll need to sign into see it, I think) Paypal policy regarding surcharges

Here's the direct text from the policy:

No Surcharges. Under Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express regulations and the laws of several states, including California, merchants may not charge a fee to the buyer for accepting credit card payments (often called a "surcharge"). You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as payment. This restriction does not prevent you from imposing a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge (in other words, the handling fee for transactions paid through PayPal may not be higher than the handling fee for transactions paid through other payment methods).

I just emailed this seller, telling him that I won't be bidding on his auction because of his illegal surcharge. Cheating Seller wants me to pay his fees

EagleEyeKid

Guess you found it...different from where I was looking.

EagleEyeKid

Can we kill him...I mean report him to somebody who will
actually listen?

iamthegreatcornholio

This guy was the subject of the "guy who pisses people off" thread.

I don't think most states have that law, but since California does, PayPal makes every state abide by that. Often it's circumvented by vendors who offer a "cash discount", but since eBay's an auction style, they can't do that.

Brian

ajw

The guy replied to me, saying it was a "mistake" and there was no extra fee. Hmmm. I guess he made the same "mistake" with some of his other auctions. I guess it's a "mistake" that he wants buyers to wait until he sends them an invoice with the extra and illegal fee. What a pr!ck.

ajw

Here's my second email to him. He doesn't seem to do this with all of his auctions, but it's clearly a conscious choice, so even once is too many.

I wonder if he'll reply to this one. Hopefully he'll reply when Ebay contacts him, as I've reported him to Safe Harbor.

(begin my second email)

"In looking at some of your other auctions, I have found a few that also included the 3% surcharge. This is a serious "mistake" and one that seems to be repeated at least some of the time. How do you explain that? The auction also says that buyers are supposed to wait until you send an invoice with the increased total that includes the illegal surcharge. How did that mistakenly make its way into more than one auction?

You do know that you're breaking the law, right?"

shambo2000

I e-mailed the same seller a few days ago and got the same response. I also e-mailed PayPal and got an automated response. Hopefully they will get this guy on the right path or boot him.

Shannon

flash2

paypal does not care.emailed them about a week ago on the 3% fee problem.took 4 days for them to answer(thanks for your question,we are looking into it.if you have further questions call 1- 800- xxxxxxxx.in other words this person is a big seller(our fees) don't rock the boat.

jrdolan

What if you say "Free shipping if you pay by check or MO." It accomplishes the same thing ... reduces costs for buyer and seller, and removes PayPal from the picture. It also removes some protection for the buyer, but he can choose to use PayPal and pay the shipping. Is it kosher to offer that choice?

bobsbbcards

<< <i>What if you say "Free shipping if you pay by check or MO." It accomplishes the same thing ... reduces costs for buyer and seller, and removes PayPal from the picture. It also removes some protection for the buyer, but he can choose to use PayPal and pay the shipping. Is it kosher to offer that choice? >>



No.

PROMETHIUS88

My question then is, how do they get away with allowing the 10% "juice" on the ebay live auctions...like they do at the auction houses? Seems if ebay is going to have the policy of no surcharges, they should remain consistent and not allow these as well.
I personally think it's double dippin' anyway for them to charge the seller a fee and then the buyer as well. Hell, it's not even their stuff...they should be happy to be making good money on items they don't have anything invested in anyway. Can you imagine the outrage if ebay added a "buyers fee"??? I can just see that thread now.....
Any opionions???

kingraider75

he should just overcharge for S/H, then it won't be so obvious. However, if he sells cards for over $50 often, he won't really be able to do that. Very few of us are willing to pay $8.00 to ship one card or whatever outrageous price would be needed to cover the fees.

jrdolan

eBay and PayPal fees are part of the cost of doing business. However, the seller is free to charge too much for his wares to cover those costs. The market will determine whether he sells anything this way.

I guess it doesn't matter in the end whether the extra dollars are built into the goods or the shipping fees. If I don't like the price or the shipping fee, I don't have to buy.