PAYPAL-CAN SELLERS CHARGE XTRA TO COVER PP FEES?

Mr_T_5

The idea of adding money on top of your auction to cover paypal fees removes your competitiveness against other sellers. For example, as a laptop seller we are talking about paypal charging around £12 in order to receive payments. If I add 12 to the cost of my laptops I wold not sell as much - putting up your auction prices is also unfair on folk who would rather pay via other means eg direct transfer. I strongly believe by adding a surcharge on paypal payments (remember you are still offering other forms of payment without surcharges) you are giving the buyer as much choice and freedom as possible.

scruffy

I wanted to buy an item off eBay & because I needed it for Xmas I wanted to pay by Paypal. Unfortunately the seller was adding a surcharge for using Paypal. Anyway I emailed him & reminded him that it was against eBay rules to charge. I got a message back almost straight away that he didn't know this! and to take the surcharge off. So if in doubt ask, you never know it may work.

angelcake

I think that no matter what people will carry on with what they are doing and everyone has there own way!!

veronarona

I mainly buy but sometimes sell too. I know how hefty PayPal charges are, especially on low-value items. I think it's worth pointing out some bits:

(1) Sellers who surcharge lose protection against chargebacks.

(2) Sellers who offer PayPal (or other online payments) attract more bids.

(3) Reporting surchargers to eBay (whose rules it is also against) has no effect, as with reporting keyword spamming and other declared "minor illegalities".

(4)

soolin wrote:

Maybe we need to spread the word about bank transfers?

There are lots of posts about it on the eBay Community forums (how many eBayers just don't go there?). The ignorance surrounding Bank Transfer is astounding in this day and age. Many sellers refuse to give their bank details*, fearing fraud, and one seller has just told me that my payment will take 10 days to clear (big bank to big bank!).

*You can tell them the same details are on their cheques until you're blue in the face, they get confused by what they've been told about credit/debit card info and won't budge.

Has anyone got a link to info with gravitas describing the safety of Bank Transfer from a seller's point of view? I found something from Apacs and wrote to them about it, they denied the info had come from them.

veronarona

Sybarite

Once I started the post it grew, so your patient reading is required.

I used to add a 3% surcharge as I do think it's fair for the convenience of paypal verses other means - however ebay did contact me to say that this is in violation, etc, and the omnious 'you will be suspended' blah blah message.

I preferred to do this, as I think it adds transparency to the P&P costs and that way buyers can then tell that I'm not trying to milk the postage cost in any way.

What Ebay did advise is that as a seller you can offer a discount for those people choosing not to pay via paypal - so effectively you have to build-in the surcharge to the listing price (if possible) which obviously decreases your competitiveness. This is what I now do and I haven't had any problems.

I'm very disenchanted with paypal for a few reasons and I'm very tired of the way that Ebay bangs on about how marvelous the system is (although this isn't surprising since the recent take-over). Most people think that the two companies are separate - but they aren't. In effect Ebay is quite happy to add a surcharge of 27p + 3% to the seller on top of the listing and final value fees but really, really doesn't like this to be publicised that much.

I've also recently taken my first direct bank transfer and guess what? no fees and increased security for me, as a unlike cheque or paypal payments cancelling/reversing a transfer requires my written permission. Odd how Ebay never seems that keen to promote this method of payment though isn't it? I suppose if enough people start to use it the paypal surcharge may be reconsidered.

I know that there is a paypal hate site that was launched in the States - I learn't this after dealing with a very nice American seller who regretted not being able to take paypal after her account had been frozen for more than a month - effectively suspending her business - because of a fraudulent non-delivery claimback.

I't always struck me that the whole claimback thing via paypal or ebay is a bit of a waste of time and gives a very false sense of security to the buyer for these reasons; you are limited to the number of times you can claim, the amount of the claim and because of the hefty admin charges - for small value items this means that the guarantee is effectlively worthless as it simply isn't viable to make a claim.

I generally follow the 80/20 rule: 80% of people are honest and just want to trade legitimately, 20% aren't worth dealing with - if in doubt move on to the next seller/buyer as it simply isn't worth the hassle of dealing with the artful dodgers of this world.

Ebay exposition over!

save'n'spend

Sybarite wrote:

I know that there is a paypal hate site that was launched in the States - I learn't this after dealing with a very nice American seller who regretted not being able to take paypal after her account had been frozen for more than a month - effectively suspending her business - because of a fraudulent non-delivery claimback.

You must be refering to https://www.paypalsucks.com

First of all, I sell mainly low value items so the extra 20p on top of the 3.4% can make a big difference, I reckon PayPal takes around 10% from each payment I receive!

PayPal is not a bank and whilst your money is in your PayPal account it is literally PayPal's money and they can and will do what they like with it for any reason. All PayPal users have agreed to this and more as per their user agreement!

I don't surcharge but If sellers want to surcharge they should be allowed to.

Getting payment to the seller should be the buyers responsibilty
If a buyer wants to pay by Cheque, he/she has to pay for the stamp and the envelope to post the Cheque
If a buyer wants to pay by Postal Order, he/she has to pay the post office a set fee plus the stamp and the envelope to post the Postal Order
However, If a buyer wants to pay by PayPal, he/she will rely on the seller to pay any associated fees on receiving payment!

At the end of the day, Buyers can choose if they want to bid on an item with a surcharge, let sellers choose if they want to surcharge!

EDIT: Not using PayPal, you're probably better off without it. ''According to PayPal accepting their ToS (Terms of Service) in effect means you waive your rights to credit card consumer protection laws if you want to use their service, and that you may not issue a chargeback for unauthorized use of your credit card and PayPal account, or if you do, then they have the right to limit your account''