Paypal fees discussion

Same here. I have never charged buyers for my PayPal fees. But after I was charged for them for the umpteenth time I was tempted to!

 

I don't charge for PP fees.
Never have & don't plan to in the future.
I just don't think it's right. Personal opinion.

 

Paypal fee charges:
Never have, never will. It's just another cost of doing business. If you can't stand to lose a few bucks here and there, you should not be selling with Paypal.

 

After reading through the thread, I was wondering about a certain situation. (It has not come up with me personally, I was just supposing.)

What if a seller who builds the fees into each transaction (without stating) ran across one of the users who habitually sends extra to cover fees? How would the situation be handled delicately?

 

I don't know, I don't think it would be wrong to keep the money myself, since the buyer was obviously willing to buy the item at the price the seller listed AND include fees. At the same time, it would be nice of a seller to send the extra back.

When you get down to it I think that if someone sends extra money just to be nice, without being asked, there's no obligation to refund them if you've already received the money. I mean... if a doll company sent you an extra like a pair of eyes or a hat or candies or stickers or.... WHATEVER, would you send their extra gift back because you didn't order it, or would you just feel happy that they sent a little extra for you? : )

 

I've read a lot in this thread about people who refuse to buy from sellers who charge a PayPal fee on top of selling costs, but here's a scenario I haven't seen anyone really talk about:

I've sold several dolls here in the Marketplace auction-style. ...and YES, I do state in advance that if the buyer will be paying by PayPal, there will be a 4% fee in addition to the ending bid. Why? As I always open up doll sales for what I paid or less, it's really not possible to build the fees that can be quite high for something like a doll into an auction.

Also, fun things like this can happen (I was in a situation very much like this last year...): If I have Bidder A who offers me $2000 in person, in cash for a doll, and international Bidder B who offers me $2050 with PayPal, who is the rightful winner? Neither is willing to go higher. PayPal fees at 2.9% are ~$58. Do you go with the person who's handing over more money, or the person you will actually get more money from? (Who you also don't have to ship internationally to. If you're eating the shipping cost, there's even MORE money gone.) Making the fees a separate percentage over the auction cost takes them out of the equation and makes it fair to all bidders.


Also, in response to trying to build fees into shipping... I had a package worth about $100 that I shipped overseas... and the buyer was angry at me when the package arrived and postage was $0.40 less than what I charged them based on a USPS estimation. I tried to explain that the packaging cost several dollars, and they paid far less extra than that... they still asked for a $0.40 refund. For real.


I think that modern consumers have gotten far too used to the fact that in many places it is actually criminal to charge a different price for different forms of payment. In the US, it varies by state as to if it is actually criminal or not. Here in California, I've gone to gas stations that have two prices listed - a cash price and a credit card price. (Though honestly, I usually opt for paying by CC at the pump because it's easier, and yes, I pay for it.) In VA, this is illegal. Does this mean you're getting a discount on gas in Virginia? No. It simply means that everyone is paying for the additional markup, regardless of what form of payment they're using. Is that really better?

If you are ONLY willing to take PayPal for a transaction, I understand that the 4% added onto a sale is kind of silly, when it could be added into the cost of the item, but I'm almost always willing to take other forms of payment as well as PayPal. Is it fair for the local guy paying cash to fork over more just because people don't want to pay extra to use the service that is PayPal?

 

Well, I have told someone before that the total amount includes paypal fees. And a few PMs later, the buyer forgets and offers to pay more paypal fees. It was no small amount either (to me at least), but I told her again that it was already included in the total so no extra was needed.

So, the three options are to turn down the money by saying that it's included in the price, to turn down the money by saying that you don't usually charge paypal fees or to accept the extra money anyway. It depends on what your conscience can let you live with.

On the rest of this topic, I've only ever included paypal fees into the total price once. The rest of the time I've just eaten the cost. I don't mind that so much except for the one or two times that the buyer didn't warn me that they were paying through credit card. Unfortunately, I've also been charged with paypal fees more often than I haven't been.

Edit: Just read what EvaFriedel said. She raises a good point too.

 

The problem with that is when you have an item that is used and not rare or anything like that. When you charge the extra in your total price, it looks like you are asking for more money than the item is actually worth. This is a problem for me, because I just want to sell the item to someone who wants it, for the same price I bought it at. I don't see why I should have to eat 3% when I'm already losing money by offering a cheaper price on the item and the shipping. So yes, I charge Paypal fees and I don't mind if I have to pay other people Paypal fees. I get trying to get back what you paid for an item. I think that's fine.

If you are running a business, you ought to factor in the Paypal fee to your own price. But just trying to re-sell something you didn't realize wasn't for you? You are already paying for your mistake, I don't see why anyone should have to pay more for it.

 

this can sometimes be a bit of an annoyance, but most of the time the fees aren't that big,
when ever i sold on eBay, i calculated how much it would cost me, and just sorta added that in, when i sell something i know exactly what i should receive at the end after all the fees.
if it bothers someone that much to loose a little, then they should included listing (for ebay) or paypal fees in their item cost.

also i meant to ask, i see it alot on ebay where sellers will charge an insane amount of shipping on small items that sell for a low price,
is this against the rules here?
because it's sort of annoying when you buy alot of items and then they say they won't discount you X_X.

 

well the way i see it, is that you are providing a service by allowing paypal payments. i know that encourages me to purchase an item. it is a major pain in the but for me to do the whole postal money order thing or wait the 2 weeks on the personal check. i will bid higher or not bid depending on paypal accepted.
paypal protects the buyer and seller and i have been saved by paypal on both ends of buying and selling.
the couple of percent that paypal charges is well worth the cost and as a seller i just "eat the cost" because i know i am getting way more money for my item on ebay with paypal then if i tried to sell it at a garage sale.

 

I can understand Paypal fees if you are in a group order or a split - obviously if the order organizer has a Paypal account type that charges a percent on incoming cash and credit, that organizer needs to make sure that the amount of cash they get from you is the total of your items and shipping, not the total minus a few percent.

But I think for normal person-to-person purchases it should never be charged - it violates the Paypal user agreement for sellers (similarly, stores may not charge extra if someone pays with a credit card). The seller needs to raise their prices a bit and charge everyone the same regardless of payment method.

Carolyn

 

i haven't charged before, but as i recently opened a permier account, and my buisness deals with small amounts of money, i just raised my prices a buck.

I have had someone overpay on shipping before. I refunded everything i didn't use.

i wouldn't charge fee's on something really big though. Like... a full doll. Shipping is enough. But on anything $300 or below i'd charge a small fee. If it ever got up around $10 for fee, than i wouldn't. but for $5- fee's i'll charge. Just because.

Plus the cost of supplies around here are going up, so i kinda need to charge more in my shops. So all in all, it's fair. Wire's gone up 50cents a foot, they stopped selling the kind of glue i use so i have to take a 30 mile trip to the next store that has them to buy them.

^^;;

 

I've recently started selling some extra stuff online, and since Paypal is sometimes the *only* way people will pay for things nowadays, it's a bit tricky... thankfully none of my stuff is over $100, so the *most* I'd have to lost is $5.

On one hand, I don't want to "include" the fee in my price because people will be turned off by the higher price. But when you start getting $100 and over, the fees (especially for non-premier accounts) start adding up.

I would rather have, though, someone tell me up front that I need to add the fee to the total, because at least I know why the price is a bit higher and can sympathise with the fee.

Just my two cents.

 

I say if it's not illegal in your country then it's perfectly acceptable. Why should the buyer have to pay these fees? The whole point of selling something is to make a profit. Whether you state that you charge the fees up front, or you just up the price to make up for it, the bottom line is that you are still charging more money for it. Frankly, I think it's more honest to say that you are doing it. If I wanted something badly enough, I'd be willing to pay them.

 

I agree with the no charge. It is the sellers responsability. I wanted a boy here on DOA and I would have had enough for him if it werent for the 4% charge for the sellers fees... U_U It would have been easier had they just put the fees in the price rather than I wait two weeks to find out I couldn't afford him...

 

I do not charge paypal fees but when I sold a doll,wich is brand new,I can't never get the price I paid for because paypal eats a lot of money. And if I ask for fees,no one would buy from me,because the price would be higher than it was when I bought the item. So you always will loose money. I wish there was a service like we have in Europe. (Bank transfer with iban code,it's free)

 

If someone opts to pay for something with paypal, I think it's their obligation to cover any extra fees encurred as a result of their choice. Why should the seller eat that amount because of a choice the buyer made? They're certainly free to use other methods, such as mailing in a money order. They wouldn't ask the seller to pay the fee required to purchase a money order, so why should the seller have to pay the fee required for this form of payment?

 

I have run a business for years where a lot of people pay by paypal, I NEVER charge the cistomer as it is my choice to use payapl in order to accept international orders and easy payments withing my own country ( UK) i don't think it is fair to ask for the fees on top of an item. I agree that is it concerns people, they should add the cost on to the item first and not mention the fees.

If people are sending you money, paypal are charging you to receive the money- rememeber when we send money we don't get charged, imagine if they did that too!

I too tend to avoid people that ask for the charges. it doesn't seem nice somehow!

 

You are free to think that, but you are violating your Paypal agreement if you charge a fee in any way for Paypal use vs other methods of payment.

I don't think anybody is saying that the seller is responsible for the fee - rather the seller should raise their fixed or starting price so their net after Paypal fees is acceptable to them.

Carolyn