Seller Asking For Payment For Paypal Fees.

JohalaReewi

jenpoptab wrote:

I work on the principal that you should shop the seller. If they want extra money they are in the wrong game. If you paid by alternate method they can't request extra so why should paypal be different. If you went to the supermarket & had to pay extra for using debit card you would pay with cash in future- surely?

If you pay by credit card (not debit card), the retailer can add extra to cover charges if they so wish. I can't see it being unreasonable for ebay sellers to do the same with Paypal when they also accept other payment methods which would cost them less. On the other hand, advertising that you charge extra for paypal can have the negative impact of detering bids so it is up to the seller to make their choice and make their payment policy known up front for all to see. Ebay presumably take a dim view of paypal surcharging because it puts people off using paypal.

soolin

JohalaReewi wrote:

If you pay by credit card (not debit card), the retailer can add extra to cover charges if they so wish. I can't see it being unreasonable for ebay sellers to do the same with Paypal when they also accept other payment methods which would cost them less. On the other hand, advertising that you charge extra for paypal can have the negative impact of detering bids so it is up to the seller to make their choice and make their payment policy known up front for all to see. Ebay presumably take a dim view of paypal surcharging because it puts people off using paypal.

It doesn't matter what is reasonable and what is not, surcharging is specifically against ebay terms and conditions and the seller should be reported to ebay and hopefully get a warning placed on their account.

Soo

mcwarre

soolin wrote:

It doesn't matter what is reasonable and what is not, surcharging is specifically against ebay terms and conditions and the seller should be reported to ebay and hopefully get a warning placed on their account.

Soo

Soo,

I think you may be partially wrong on this (sorry).

Not permitted:

* Electronic Money Services: Sellers who accept electronic money services as a means of payment for an item purchased on eBay may not impose a surcharge. Electronic money services include, but are not limited to, services such as PayPal, Nochex, FastPay or Moneybookers.

Permitted:

A seller can add a surcharge to the final price of the item in four instances:

* Credit and Debit Card Payments - Surcharging is permitted where sellers accept credit or debit cards as a means of payment for an item purchased on eBay. Such sellers will have merchant accounts with a bank or credit card company. These sellers may not pass on to the buyer a charge greater than the amount of the commission payable by the seller to the bank processing that credit or debit card payment. In other words, sellers may recoup the charges incurred as a direct consequence of accepting the credit or debit card, but no more. Please note that under English law, sellers have a legal right to pass onto the buyer the charges incurred for a credit or debit card transaction. However, this right does not apply to electronic money services. Where a credit or debit card is used to purchase electronic money to fund a transaction made via an electronic money service such as the ones listed above, this is not a credit or debit card transaction, but an electronic money service transaction.
* Postage and packing - Sellers may add a reasonable postage and packing fee to the final price of their item. A postage and packing fee can cover the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item. Postage and packing fees cannot be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.
* Escrow - Sellers may pass along the costs associated with using escrow, if the buyer agrees to use escrow. Use caution when considering escrow. To avoid being deceived by fraudulent escrow services, use https://www.escrow.com, eBay's approved escrow service.
* Different Currency - Sellers may choose to accept payment in a different currency than the currency listed on eBay. If the buyer chooses to take advantage of this optional payment method, the seller may pass along to the buyer any costs associated with the currency exchange, provided that the costs are disclosed and agreed to in advance by the buyer.

soolin

The original post was about surcharging for paypal which is against ebay terms and conditions and should be reported to ebay if the potential bidder chooses.

I agree however that if a business seller holds a merchant account with a bank and takes direct credit card payments and provides full registration details, as outlined in your post above then that is allowed.

Interestingly there is another thread on here at the moment where a seller has had his account suspended for surcharging, that is the first time I have ever seen such drastic action taken by ebay for this offence, I had thought the seller just got the auction pulled and a warning.

With paypal surcharges it is always worth contacting the seller to query it as the last couple of times I have done that pointing out it is not allowed the seller has amended his auction to remove the surcharge, which was the best result really.

Soo

foreverskint

hello there,

just to update, i decided to politely ignore the request for extra payment for paypal fees, just paid the final auction price + P&P and the seller did not re-request extra, left me a pos feedpack and item very good.

soolin

foreverskint wrote:

hello there,

just to update, i decided to politely ignore the request for extra payment for paypal fees, just paid the final auction price + P&P and the seller did not re-request extra, left me a pos feedpack and item very good.

Well done, that's a good result for you.

I do wonder how many people just try it on with surcharges on the basis that some buyers will just pay up.

Soo

sp41700

I am a platinum (hi soo) seller and I think sellers should not charge for paypal.

Other options for payment that we accept: nochex, cheques direct bank transfer are all subject to fees by the big banks and such paypal is about the same fee.

I am pleased to see that ebay are doing something about sellers that do charge surcharges, About time!

I know there are business bank accounts which dont charge the type of fees we currently pay and we are about to switch