The owner of the site has made it clear, Bladeforums is a venue to buy, sell, and trade, how people want to go about that is their own business.
That seems reasonable to me. :thumbup: Spark and the mods simply don't have time to "police" every sales thread.
My opinion is, if you don't like the way a seller conducts business, either don't buy from them and/or in the case of PayPal rules violations, report them to PayPal.
The seller's fee is always subsumed in the purchase price, whether the seller tells you so or not.
That's absolutely true for me; I sell my knives for flat prices that
include shipping/handling fees to any US address, as well as insurance and tracking numbers. I take all of that into account when I put a price on my knives. It just makes it easier for everyone involved.
Part of the "handling fees" that I consider are whether or not
I pay PP to make the transaction easier for both me and the customer, or if I have to sit around waiting for a check or MO to show up and take it to the bank myself. It works out about the same for me, so... it's the same price no matter how a person pays.
The only exception to my policy is that I offer a discount if someone buys two or more knives at once (because it costs me about the same to pack/ship another knife in the same box) or if they're close enough to come pick it up in person, because that saves me the trouble of packing it up at all.
The problem comes when sellers charge the buyer EXTRA for the convenience of getting their money faster, and/or ask them to stick their neck out with no "safety net" (gift option). I find that just plain cheap at best, and probably an indication of some shady ethics in general.