Charging for paypal fees?

Triton

Triton

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Hello all,

Someone recently posted something over in GB&U about how paypal prohibits the charging by the seller of a fee to cover paypal's transaction fees. This person said that your paypal account would be frozen etc. I looked through paypal's legalese to find this but so far without success. Does anyone know where the relevant information is?
 
Why not just charge a bit more than what you want, same for shipping and then nobody has any reason to complain all the way around.
 
jill jackson said:
Why not just charge a bit more than what you want, same for shipping and then nobody has any reason to complain all the way around.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's precisely what I'll do, if it turns out this is the case, however if at all possible I like to be up front with my fees rather than tacking on hidden costs that the buyer may not understand. Also, at present I give my customers the option.

They can use paypal and pay an extra 3% or they can use personal check / money order and not pay the 3%... but they have to wait longer.
 
If you just say you want 210 shipped (and you need 200 clear or so) and figure the 10 dollars over 200 is for anything that comes up, you are being up front about the price/fees. They see the price agree or not to buy it.
 
Triton said:
Hello all,

Someone recently posted something over in GB&U about how paypal prohibits the charging by the seller of a fee to cover paypal's transaction fees. This person said that your paypal account would be frozen etc. I looked through paypal's legalese to find this but so far without success. Does anyone know where the relevant information is?
Click to expand...

4.5 No Surcharges. You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as a payment method. You may charge a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge and is not higher than the handling fee you charge for non-PayPal transactions.

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?...ntent_ID=ua/UserAgreement_full&locale.x=en_US

An expediency fee maybe. Order today and pay 3% extra :D
 
Nordic Viking said:
4.5 No Surcharges. You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as a payment method. You may charge a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge and is not higher than the handling fee you charge for non-PayPal transactions.

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?...ntent_ID=ua/UserAgreement_full&locale.x=en_US
Click to expand...

There we have it. NV it looks like you nailed it. Thank you sir! Pricing restructuring coming to a Triton website near all of you shortly. :)

LOL! I like the idea of the "expediency fee"
 
It's true you aren't supposed to charge surcharges for the use of paypal, but I have done it before, and so long as you don't try to do it on Ebay, you probably won't have a problem.

You could always price the price of the item 3% over the price you actually want for it, then offer a 3% discount for Money orders and checks, that way if they want to pay with paypal, they can, but you get that 3% back, but if they are okay waiting for a money order to get to you, then they save that 3%. The fact that PP wants 3% for every transaction seems like quite a bit, especially since people let them hang onto (invest) their money like a normal bank would...
 
Moved to GB&U. This is not a Community topic.
 
oguruma said:
It's true you aren't supposed to charge surcharges for the use of paypal, but I have done it before, and so long as you don't try to do it on Ebay, you probably won't have a problem.

You could always price the price of the item 3% over the price you actually want for it, then offer a 3% discount for Money orders and checks, that way if they want to pay with paypal, they can, but you get that 3% back, but if they are okay waiting for a money order to get to you, then they save that 3%. The fact that PP wants 3% for every transaction seems like quite a bit, especially since people let them hang onto (invest) their money like a normal bank would...
Click to expand...

paypal is a business, and provides a secure way for the transfer of funds. by using it, we receive a service, and therefore must pay for that service. we do this in the way of a fee from the transaction.

regardless of how many people do it, it still violates the user agreement. i, for one, am not going to risk my account or money to save myself 3%. having the money instantly and being able to easily print shipping labels also outweighs the fee they charge.

and, i typically remove money once received. i don't like to let it sit there unless i know i am going to be using the funds for another purchase.

as jill said, simply raise your asking price. or better yet, offer a discount for a preferred method of payment like money order, check, cash, whatever.
 
NV beat me to it.

PP has a sliding scale on fees based on membership level and the amount you process every month. The more you sell, the less you pay, and subscription accounts pay a smaller fee as well. PP works just like any other means of taking credit cards. A lot of people see PP as a free way to bypass using a merchant account, and use it as such, passing fees onto the buyer.

Anyways, in the thread that brought this about, the seller is charging 5% in fees for buyers using PP, which is excessive, even if PP allowed charging fees. Doing that is likely to get PP on your butt quicker than just charging the actual fee, but they frown upon either. Best to figure the cost into the price like a retail store would do with credit cards.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
. i, for one, am not going to risk my account or money to save myself 3%. having the money instantly and being able to easily print shipping labels also outweighs the fee they charge.

and, i typically remove money once received. i don't like to let it sit there unless i know i am going to be using the funds for another purchase.
Click to expand...

That's a big reason not to go against their rules too. If they decide to lock your account, they will lock your money into it as long as they please. It's not right, but it happens. I've had a PP account since they started. Back when they were paying people to sign up. I have a debit card from them, and as such, I tend to leave my money in PP and use my card when I need to spend it. If I gave them reason to lock my account, I'd be wishing I'd stuck to the rules.
 
I almost never ask for the fee,I have on a couple things I priced very low or lowered the price a few times on.
I have never asked for it on my lanyard and monkey fist sales,I figure the ease of getting paid and access to the funds are well worth the pay pal charge.
What if you walked into Sears to buy a shirt for 30.00 and get to the check out and see a 3.00 charge for using your CC.I wouldn't like it.
 
Kiah said:
That's a big reason not to go against their rules too. If they decide to lock your account, they will lock your money into it as long as they please. It's not right, but it happens. I've had a PP account since they started. Back when they were paying people to sign up. I have a debit card from them, and as such, I tend to leave my money in PP and use my card when I need to spend it. If I gave them reason to lock my account, I'd be wishing I'd stuck to the rules.
Click to expand...

That debit card is very handy,I have had one for a couple years.
 
I don't understand why sellers give their customers more complications to quibble about.

When you walk into a store, the groceries have a price on them, take it or leave it. The grocer doesn't price the canned goods and then charge you extra to bag them and a different fee for paper or plastic.

Keep it simple: figure how much you want for the knife, add in a few bucks for the financial transaction, add in a few bucks for shipping, quote the total as the price you want. If you like, let the buyer know that you will need extra to ship out of the country.

Nothing sounds sillier than seeing a sales thread where the seller comes down from $300 to $250 to $200 -- but still wants his 3.5% for PayPal. :)
 
Kiah said:
That's a big reason not to go against their rules too. If they decide to lock your account, they will lock your money into it as long as they please. It's not right, but it happens. I've had a PP account since they started. Back when they were paying people to sign up. I have a debit card from them, and as such, I tend to leave my money in PP and use my card when I need to spend it. If I gave them reason to lock my account, I'd be wishing I'd stuck to the rules.
Click to expand...

Another fact to consider is this scenario. Buyer A and Seller B have a transaction and use Paypal to consummate the deal. Seller B charges a fee for the use of Paypal. For one reason or another the transaction goes south, Buyer A turns out to be an unstable, demanding jerk, and files a claim against Seller B with Paypal. Being such a jerk, Buyer A informs Paypal that Seller B "forced him" to pay a fee to use Paypal. Buyer A in an effort to get more leverage on his claim with Paypal, informs them that "a lot" of people on the forum he belongs too, charge a percentage fee to use Paypal when buying there items. Paypal is now curious and starts snooping around the forum, and Paypal indeed finds fees being charged in contradiction to the user agreement, Paypal's reaction will be what?? Is it worth finding out. Sorry for the ramble:o but just sayin...
 
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Pay Pal did snoop around a gun forum they got wind of a while back looking for people asking for pay pal for gun items.Anything I do there now I say I will take P P in hopes the search will not pick it up.
Does not even need to be gun stuff as I heard of one guy getting his account locked for taking pay pal on tactical flashlights.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
paypal is a business, and provides a secure way for the transfer of funds. by using it, we receive a service, and therefore must pay for that service. we do this in the way of a fee from the transaction.

regardless of how many people do it, it still violates the user agreement. i, for one, am not going to risk my account or money to save myself 3%. having the money instantly and being able to easily print shipping labels also outweighs the fee they charge.

and, i typically remove money once received. i don't like to let it sit there unless i know i am going to be using the funds for another purchase.

as jill said, simply raise your asking price. or better yet, offer a discount for a preferred method of payment like money order, check, cash, whatever.
Click to expand...

That's what I was suggesting.

And I know that it's a business, but I am simply saying that they hold onto god knows how much money for people, and my assumption (could be wrong) is that they are making investments with that capital and not just letting it sit in an account and wait to be transferred to somebody else. Either way 3.5% isn't much to complain about, and it's a much more secure and convenient way to receive funds than hoping somebody's check doesn't bounce.
 
Kiah said:
PP has a sliding scale on fees based on membership level and the amount you process every month. The more you sell, the less you pay, and subscription accounts pay a smaller fee as well. PP works just like any other means of taking credit cards.
Click to expand...

Does anyone know what the approximate range of the "sliding scale" is.

I would be curious to know, as some "makers" lead you to believe they are splitting the fee with you, at say .... 2%.
When in actuality, if they are a high volume user.... they could possibly be making money off of your use of PP to pay them.

That kind of goes along with a "maker" who charges 'x' for shipping 1 knife, & '1/2 x' for each additional knife.

Then when 'he' ships it to you there is no insurance, no tracking, and it is all crammed in a small "Flat Rate Box" that cost $4.95 to ship...... which is less than "'1/2 x"'....... :confused:

So when 'he' ships you 2 knives 'he' charges you "1 & 1/2 x".

It costs a bit less than "1/2 x" to ship it with the free USPS supplies. ;)

So 'he' is making a little more than 'x' on two knives and '1/2 x' on one knife.

Not bad wages if you figure out how many 'he' can box up in an hour. :D

[Note / 'he' .... is being used as a generic term for a theoretical "maker" in the above.]

Probably a subject for another thread though..... :thumbup:
Forgive me for "thinking out loud".

If anyone does know the approximate range of the PayPal "sliding scale"..... I would love to know. :thumbup: ;)

Thanks in advance,
Cp
 
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I do not know what the scale is.I have used it alot.Most of the time on 10.00 the fee is .59 but on 40.00 it is 1.46.
Outside the US it is higher.
 
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