PayPal Fees (Surcharge)

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Hangul · #1 Post by **Hangul** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:56 pm

Isn't it against PayPal agreement to tack on extra for CC PayPal fees?

Otherwise, that's a pretty good price for what you're selling.

Hangul

MODERATOR EDIT: Split from a FS ad in the Marketplace.

Mr_Roboto · #2 Post by **Mr_Roboto** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:12 pm

Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

I will remove the fee.

Regards,

~Rich

Website · #3 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:40 pm

Hangul wrote:Isn't it against PayPal agreement to tack on extra for CC PayPal fees?

Actually, that is for eBay only. Outside of eBay, you can charge whatever total you'd like because it is a separate service.

scosgt1 · #4 Post by **scosgt1** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 5:05 pm

Acutally, charging a fee violates the PayPal terms of service. Nothing at all to do with Ebay (yes, Ebay owns PayPal).

That being said, PP fees are outrageous, and I personally see nothing wrong with negotiating the fees.

skitty4gzus · #5 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 3:51 pm

charging a payal fee outside of ebay is perfectly fine. If you dont like the terms of his payment ask him if you can send him money order?

scosgt1 · #6 Post by **scosgt1** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:05 pm

It violates the PP terms of service (log in and read the TOS) and you can be banned from PP for charging a fee.

That being said, I don't personally see anything wrong with it, but those are the rules.

It is also illegal to charge someone a fee for paying with a credit card in NY, but one can offer a cash discount.

Website · #7 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:50 pm

Taken from PayPal's Payments (Sending, Receiving, and Withdrawals) Policy:

PayPal wrote:VI. 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).

christopher_wolf · #8 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 8:44 pm

Maybe a sticky in the Marketplace?

I'll be a monkey's uncle; I really didn't know you couldn't legally charge a fee for a CC paypal transaction.

smugiri · #9 Post by **smugiri** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:02 pm

christopher_wolf wrote:Maybe a sticky in the Marketplace?

I'll be a monkey's uncle; I really didn't know you couldn't legally charge a fee for a CC paypal transaction.

Would you like to pick a specific one?

christopher_wolf · #10 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:51 pm

smugiri wrote:
christopher_wolf wrote:Maybe a sticky in the Marketplace?

I'll be a monkey's uncle; I really didn't know you couldn't legally charge a fee for a CC paypal transaction.
Would you like to pick a specific one?

Sure, I will take the cool shot of Vader that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with "monkeys" and Images. I always wanted to be the Uncle of a Jedi/Sith Lord; I do have LightSaber capability on my Thinkpad you know.

brainpicker · #11 Post by **brainpicker** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:38 pm

This is exactly the reason I will plainly state that I can only accept eChecks with PayPal when selling a laptop. Simple $5 fee charged to the receiver on any size sale. I usually state that I can't afford to pay the fees which is why I can't accept credit cards. A buyer who insists on paying via credit card contacts me and offers to pay the fees. That way is OK as far as I know as I'm not initiating anything, just accepting the buyer's offer.

I asked PayPal about this today while calling for another reason and was told the law in the states in which you are doing business govern this (charging fees). BUT, any seller who states that the buyer pays the credit card fees will not be covered by PayPal's Seller Protection (and the practice is prohibited on ebay sales). I tried to get more specifics but got the impression they didn't want to get involved.

- Yak

#12 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 1:22 am

no need for a sticky IRT prohibiting CC fees charged by sellers..
that is entirely between the buyer and seller..

it is against RULES put forth by visa and mastercard (not sure is amex is the same) that a merchant may not add a fee for taking a visa or MC..

i'm not sure if there are any state laws against adding a surcharge when using a CC..

for me, i had a merchant account for years and finally gave it up when they raised the fees once again..

since that time i have only taken cash or equivalent..
or a CC via paypal.. only after letting the potential buyer know that there was a 3% fee associated with using a CC..
most opt to pay cash..

i dislike visa and MC because they make going into debt too easy and 18% to 24% ids usury or worse..
amex (at least they uised to) make you pay in full each month..

i personally don't think we here (thinkpads.com forum) are in the business of enriching visa & MC..

christopher_wolf · #13 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 5:46 am

Am I the only one that finds jumping through these Now-you-see-them-now-you-don't semi-official hoops with fees and such annoying?

Mr_Roboto · #14 Post by **Mr_Roboto** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:37 am

I find these fees to be quite annoying as well. I can understand wanting to be compensated for your service, but taking a percentage instead of a flat fee is just plane greedy.

I will climb off my soap box now

Dead1nside · #15 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:57 am

Paypal want to charge you for the "convenience" of their service. They are greedy, but they do swiften up the transaction beforehand. What I would do is tell the person to put the funds into their Paypal account beforehand. And then you will accept it. Apparently (someone on the forums told me) that the seller is not charged for "available" funds.

jjesusfreak01 · #16 Post by **jjesusfreak01** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:25 am

Dead1nside wrote:Paypal want to charge you for the "convenience" of their service. They are greedy, but they do swiften up the transaction beforehand. What I would do is tell the person to put the funds into their Paypal account beforehand. And then you will accept it. Apparently (someone on the forums told me) that the seller is not charged for "available" funds.

PayPal is downright evil. Their TOS agreement essentially says if you give them a dirty look they can freeze your account, all the while they charge sellers an arm and a leg, but dont let you negotiate surcharges? Just tack on the surcharges to the original price, and no one will know the difference.

Website · #17 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:34 am

Whats so funny is that I have no problem with the PayPal fees, because as small a town that I live in, I wouldn't be able to sell some of the things that I have sold, if it weren't for PayPal.

My selling prices generally include any fees that I might incur. (eBay, PayPal, etc.) It is the price that I am comfortable with to satisfy my needs.

I think that the point, for this forum, is to not state that you are "adding" fees to cover paypal fees. Set your prices to already include any additional fees that you might incur by using PayPal.

brainpicker · #18 Post by **brainpicker** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:36 am

Dead1nside wrote:Paypal want to charge you for the "convenience" of their service. They are greedy, but they do swiften up the transaction beforehand. What I would do is tell the person to put the funds into their Paypal account beforehand. And then you will accept it. Apparently (someone on the forums told me) that the seller is not charged for "available" funds.

NO. PayPal charges you (with a Premier or Merchant account) the same 3% fee whether the buyer uses a credit card OR if the funds are in the account! THAT is truely unfair. I don't mind paying them to handle a credit card transaction for me that I otherwise could not perform, but with a PayPal account transfer or a checking account transfer paying the exact same fee seems unfair as they are not paying anyone a fee to do this as they are when they process a credit card payment. Now they don't charge this fee if you have a regular account, but then the $500 a month limit is too small unless one is selling a 4-5 year old Thinkpad (or a 1 year old Dell) and I go through mine far to fast for that! Just ask Mrs. Yak. The only way around it on a large purchase is the eCheck (flat $5 fee). That does take about 2-3 business days to clear, but it is by far the best way to avoid a $30-40 fee you have to absorb. I suppose offering a cash discount is OK too, but some buyers can't see that quickly. If you price something at $999 it's going to sell far faster than selling it for $1030 with a 3% discount for cash payment.

- Yak

Dead1nside · #19 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:40 am

Lot of strong views on this, since I haven't had to experience selling using Paypal. And it is a buyer's market as I've heard some people say. But if someone asked me to pay a bit towards the Paypal fees, I would. Or, I'd just send them a cheque.

Dimitri_P · #20 Post by **Dimitri_P** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:32 pm

Why are you so concerned with Paypal policy on whether it is alright or not to charge the extra fee. I mean seriously?!

If the whoever I send money to wants me to cover their fees on the ammount agreed, then it's up to me whether to go ahead with the deal or not.

People grow up.

bigtiger · #21 Post by **bigtiger** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 1:04 pm

Well. I think for people to de-commission some extra stuff. 3 percent should not be a problem.

for those who want to make money, I think 3 percent should not be a problem too. You get some protection out of the 3 percent and you do not need to maintain a merchant account.

All in all, I do not see too much trouble for 3 percent.

Dimitri_P · #22 Post by **Dimitri_P** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 1:09 pm

Exactly, I don't see anything wrong with 3% too

BTW, there is not much protection with Paypal, just read Paypal horror stries.

On the contrary, Google checkout offers better protection for sellers, they are actually fighting and investigating every chargeback...

D.

bigtiger · #23 Post by **bigtiger** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 1:12 pm

Dimitri_P wrote:On the contrary, Google checkout offers better protection for sellers, they are actually fighting and investigating every chargeback...

D.

Nice to know.

Well for PayPal, the service is not good. But it works sometime. I use it twice againest some c**p users who claim they didnot receive anything while the tracking system showed that they signed. PayPal was able to straight everything out. Cannot expect too much out of 3 percent though.

skitty4gzus · #24 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 1:33 pm

we have got to find an alternative method for transferring money between each other for these transactions. Paypal is awesome for the buyer, but a pain for a seller. Unless you transfer money between each other as Goods(other) there is no charge to send or receive money this way to my knowledge, but I have a bank account attached to my paypal so you just pay paypal fees not CC processing fees. I dont know if there is a difference to paypal though? I guess make sure people are confirmed users with paypal first and if they are than they can bank transfer funds across to each other as Goods(other) and there is no fee.

bigtiger · #25 Post by **bigtiger** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 1:47 pm

I guess there is no free lunch in the world.

One way that might work is to let people deposit money to SELLERS' account. Sellers need to maintain an account in a national bank though.

Chaoz · #26 Post by **Chaoz** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 2:17 pm

I'm not sure about chargebacks, but moneybookers.com is quite widespread in Germany. The best thing about them is that they charge a very very small commission in comparison to Paypal.

brentpresley · #27 Post by **brentpresley** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 3:23 pm

Paypal SUCKS.

I maintain two accounts, one that is "personal" so that I can accept non-CC payments and not get charged a commission, and a second merchant account that accepts CC/DC payments.

I am seriously investigating Google Checkout b/c of some bad experiences w/ paypal and the high fee structure.

(not to mention the HUNDREDS of dollars in commissions they have taken from me this year)

EDIT - and if you think taking CC payments is BAD, trying taking an international CC payment - Paypal will tack on up to 1.5% MORE fees for that one.

dsigma6 · #28 Post by **dsigma6** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 7:20 pm

i was just down at happy garden chinese restaurant and noticed the "$.75 charge for credit card purchase under $10." I'm calling the credit bureau.

scosgt1 · #29 Post by **scosgt1** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 7:42 pm

3% for PayPal, another 3% or so for Ebay, a seller of a $1000 item gets only $940

It makes it hard to make a profit if you are a non-casual seller. I know that the buyer does not care if a seller makes a profit, but in the end it is the buyer who actually pays the vig. The PP/Ebay fees drive up the market.

#30 Post by **bill bolton** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:14 pm

scosgt1 wrote:3% for PayPal, another 3% or so for Ebay, a seller of a $1000 item gets only $940.

So just go stick a sign on your front lawn instead, which costs you nothing, and see if can get all of the $1000.

If you can't, then maybe there's a good reason to give up 6%!

Buyers just want to know the price they will pay.

Cheers,

Bill

PayPal Fees (Surcharge)

PayPal Fees (Surcharge)

Not true

NO, it is NOT perfectly fine

The thing is....

Re: The thing is....

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