Question about threads in For Sale forum

[Namtaru]

Why is it commonplace for people to post they are charging 3% for Paypal fees ?

It's blatantly against Paypal's policy to charge people the fee for their service.

Why don't people just bump the price ?


Personally I don't even bother looking at an item when people post this and I know others that do also.

[cosworth]

It's blatantly against Paypal's policy to charge people the fee for their service.

Why don't people just bump the price ?


Do you see the paradox here?

[LucyRoberts]

Why is it commonplace for people to post they are charging 3% for Paypal fees ?

It's blatantly against Paypal's policy to charge people the fee for their service.

Why don't people just bump the price ?


Personally I don't even bother looking at an item when people post this and I know others that do also.
They are bumping the price, they are just being honest about the reasoning.

[CyberDyneSystems]

It's blatantly against Paypal's policy to charge people the fee for their service.

.

Paypal legally and morally has no leg to stand on here,
Are you sure that this is true?

I know that E-Bay rules disallow this, and yes if E-bay says this is so, than it's there ballpark, there rules, they can do so)
But off of E-bay if such a rule is stated anywhere it is truly unenforcible and frankly ridiculous.
Escrow and Paypal and shipping and insurance and most other services associated with making a sale are optional. If said options incur additional cost, it is up to the seller to chose if they intend to "eat" those additional optional fees.
In most cases, we tend s=to see that the seller is not willing to do so.
If the buyer feels the seller should "eat the costs" then the buyer should simply buy from someone who is willing to do so.

FYI, asking them to bump there prices instead is shady, and does not address the actual situation. The seller is selling the product for the advertised price, and will take payment for that price.
If the Buyer insists on only using a form of payment that costs 3% to use, than only in that situation would the 3% be added.

Plus if the 3% is "built in" then the price might be too high, and then the "price police" might circle again, just as you did here.

[Namtaru]

They are bumping the price, they are just being honest about the reasoning.

In a lot of the threads, people are requesting 3% more than the price they posted if the buyer pays with Paypal


Do you see the paradox here?


Don't take what i'm saying the wrong way, Paypal fees annoy me too. I would just think that people would be able to sell their items easier if they didn't flat out tell others they want to charge you more for using paypal.

It's like when the cable company adds hidden fees on your bill at the end of the month, if the fees were just in the original price it wouldn't bother me to pay it as much.

[stathunter]

CyberDyne,
I am on the fence with this. I understand that there is a cost associated with Paypal for the service. I beleive that all merchants have always paid fees (maybe not as much as paypal) every time you use your credit card at their place of business.
For a long time many merchants did not like American Express, because they charged the merchant a higher rate.
In all fairness if we can get away with adding paypal fees great. But I personally will look elsewhere if someone wants to charge me a fee so they can get my money through paypal. Just personal opinion.

[cosworth]

Human psychology plays here.

2 cameras for sale. One is $1000 plus paypal fees. One is $1030. Who is gonna get the first PM?

[sugarzebra]

Human psychology plays here.

2 cameras for sale. One is $1000 plus paypal fees. One is $1030. Who is gonna get the first PM?

The second one because we all know he'll take a $1,000 for it :)

[cdifoto]

Human psychology plays here.

2 cameras for sale. One is $1000 plus paypal fees. One is $1030. Who is gonna get the first PM?

The $1030 if the PM is coming from me. ;)

I'm one of the few that includes PayPal in the total price. I buy from those who do the same.

[Namtaru]

The second one because we all know he'll take a $1,000 for it :)



lol, i was going to say the same thing

[cosworth]

Sigh.

[CyberDyneSystems]

FYI most merchants do not charge 3% for the credit card fees over the advertised price, we all have to shoulder this cost even if we pay in cash.
Some however do, (ticket outlets for one) and it's legal to do so.

On the large scale where we are not talking about an individual "eating" costs, you can rest assured that no vendor is "eating" the CC fees. No the bottom line is the highest priority, and thus the price is inflated as suggested by the OP.
And thus all of us get to pay extra for this option whether we are using it or not.

[Mr. Clean]

Sigh.
That's your own witty retort blowing that time :D



I post a price and it includes paypal fees, sometimes it sells for the price I ask, sometimes it doesn't. I try to eat paypal fees though...I hate charging people for it. I sold my 580 for a fair street price and ate the paypal fees, and unfortunately due to a slight error on my part, ate the next day air FedEx charges.

That being said, a local gunshop I used to frequent had to prices displayed for each gun, one for cash, one for credit.

[CyberDyneSystems]

..

That being said, a local gunshop I used to frequent had to prices displayed for each gun, one for cash, one for credit.

Interesting, this is another of the few merchants I know that do the same, another Gun shop..

[Jon]

And then there are a number of the lower-priced gas stations . . .

[CyberDyneSystems]

Yep cheaper gas,.

So by this logic,. we know that CDI and Mr Clean are huge bloated Big Box superstores with inflated prices and bad customer support,.
I;m giving my business to the smaller mom and pop shop that charges extra for paypal fees! :lol: :)

[Mr. Clean]

Hahahha!

[dburg30]

Yep, I was going to say, we handle equipment, that has a very low % of profit on it. We arent allowed to charge a cc fee or a financing fee (folks those 12 months same as cash arent 'free' trust me). BUT, as a few examples above, we ARE allowed to have a 'cash' price, then if you want to pay cc we'll tack on the % or if you want that 12 months same as cash, we'll tack on that fee. That makes it legal. If we dont specify a 'cash price' we cant charge extra for CC.

And if you ever see places that say 'minimum credit card purchase of x.xx' or whatever, those arent allowed either.

[::John::]

This subsequent to Paypal discussion is, of course, is mainly US centric.

Here, if we are paying for petrol with Amex or Diners, there is an additional 3% fee on the pump price. Cash or other credit cards pay the pump price. It happens across all brands of petrol. Some may offer 'discounts' for receipts from major food supermarkets but they will still add on the AMEX and Diners fees.

Many other retailers are adopting the same strategy.

[dekalbSTEEL]

from the paypal user agreement (https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/UserAgreement/ua/USUA#receive-policy)

4.7 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.

My handling fee is generally around 3%;)

[Reeforbust]

I only use Paypal so I just come up with a fair price and that price will include shipping and Paypal fees. I definitely hate to see a classified that says "plus 3%"... Next!

If someone wants to toss me a money order... well, thats just Mo money Fo me!!:lol:

[-Pleiades-]

As far as I know paypal don't charge any fees if you use your savings/debit/whatever-you-call-it card?

Why not just use that?

[Reeforbust]

As far as I know paypal don't charge any fees if you use your savings/debit/whatever-you-call-it card?

Why not just use that?

They don't charge for buying things... They charge when someone receives money in their account.

[-Pleiades-]

yes, I understand that, but when people buy with direct debit instead of credit card I dont think paypal charge the 3%.

Sorry, should have phrased it better.

[condyk]

In a context of selling stuff here seems to me that it is the buyer who wants to use Paypal because they can use a CC with a private seller and/or they want their gear quicker. For the seller it is finacially much nicer to get paid by bank transfer and the buy then must wait until payment cleared. So, as someone who likes to be fair in everything i do it seems the buyer should swallow that cost because he or she is getting benefit while I am losing 3% and getting ZERO benefit. Selling a £500 lens costs me £15! Why should I pay that when the buyer gets the benefit? Usually I swallow Paypal myself but the principle is that it is unfair that i should do that.

[NickSimcheck]

Would there be a problem if I said I was selling a lens for $1,030 but would give a 3% discount to money orders & checks?

Same difference really.

[cdifoto]

yes, I understand that, but when people buy with direct debit instead of credit card I dont think paypal charge the 3%.

Sorry, should have phrased it better.

Depends what kind of account you have. I have a business account and get a fee charged for ALL payments received.

From https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-fees-outside:

241466

[JohnnyG]

One problem with fees charged in the For Sale forum is when I use my debit card, there are no fees incurred. It's only when I use credit that they are charged.

So, if I use debit, why would I be charged 3% like some ads show? 3% for paypal!

Update: I just saw the previous post to mine from Paypal for their fees and I see "withdraw from bank" as free. When I use Debit, it is an instant withdrawal from my bank account so I guess that's why there is no fee. But yet, the chart shows debit as having a fee. I'm confused!:confused:

[cdifoto]

Update: I just saw the previous post to mine from Paypal for their fees and I see "withdraw from bank" as free. When I use Debit, it is an instant withdrawal from my bank account so I guess that's why there is no fee. But yet, the chart shows debit as having a fee. I'm confused!:confused:

"Withdraw from Bank" isn't for the buyer. None of these fees have anything to do with being a buyer. All these fees are from the perspective of the owner of the PayPal account as a seller. Thus, "Withdraw from Bank" means me, as a seller, withdrawing MY PayPal funds and placing them in MY bank. If you're only a buyer, and never a seller, you won't have funds in your PayPal account to withdraw in the first place. And, as a buyer, you are never assessed fees by PayPal so you wouldn't have any need to look at a fee chart.

[Jon Smith]

Funny thing about a free market... if you don't like the way one party sells something, or the price they ask, buy elsewhere. Problem solved, and one less thread draining valuable bandwidth! :D

[NSWESP]

If Paypal is the only accepted method by the seller they should eat the fees if they give an option for check or money order etc they should be allowed to charge extra if you want to use Paypal.

[surfnron]

Hi all - I am new here. Been thinking about posting an item or 2 for sale. I've been using FM for a while....
My prices include shipping and paypal. I don't mind anyone asking for a lower price if they pay with another method, or are close enough to pick an item up.
Ron

Edit to add: I don't mind paying the paypal fees just for the security. If someone was to stiff me after receiving a mo, I most likely am stuck. At least with paypal, I have a chance of getting my money back ~ R

[NSWESP]

Hi all - I am new here. Been thinking about posting an item or 2 for sale. I've been using FM for a while....
My prices include shipping and paypal. I don't mind anyone asking for a lower price if they pay with another method, or are close enough to pick an item up.
Ron

Edit to add: I don't mind paying the paypal fees just for the security. If someone was to stiff me after receiving a mo, I most likely am stuck. At least with paypal, I have a chance of getting my money back ~ R

You have more chance of being stuck by lighting 25 times in one night then you do getting money back from Paypal.

[JohnnyG]

You have more chance of being stuck by lighting 25 times in one night then you do getting money back from Paypal.
As far as I'm concerned, that's not true!

I was ripped off by a Ebay crook for over $1000.00 and Paypal took care of it promptly. They did eventually get the money back from the crook but they paid me quickly!

[NSWESP]

Johnny, You where extremely lucky.

[belmondo]

You have more chance of being stuck by lighting 25 times in one night then you do getting money back from Paypal.

I was ripped off by a Ebay crook for over $1000.00 and Paypal took care of it promptly.

I'm sensing that lightning is much more dangerous than I ever imagined.

[JohnnyG]

Johnny, You where extremely lucky.
Which part? Getting ripped off (very unlucky):( or getting covered by Paypal.:D

Paypal was very thorough about the whole thing. It did take over a week but I did get my money back. I was very impressed by Paypal for the way they treated the whole thing. Very professional. I also had my bank looking into it and if Paypal hadn't covered it, my bank probably would have. The card backing my account was a Visa check card and the bank backs Visa.

The accounts used by the crooks were in England and Ireland, or at least the 2 accounts used were. It seems that there was only one crook and he/she resided in England according to Paypal. Paypal got the money back from him and he said it was a mistake of course. I don't know whether charges were ever brought against him. I also don't know if there were other people ripped off by this guy.

They had hijacked my Paypal account by stealing my sign on and password. How they got that, I have never figured out. My account, after hijacking, bought two expensive cell phones and the money was taken from my account. That's basically how they did it. When and how he got the password is unknown.

Paypal's fraud unit was excellent and identified the crook in a few days. They then managed to get the money back from him.

All in all, lessons learned: Be extremely careful of passwords for all accounts involving money, especially banks and Paypal. Make them complex and change them frequently. Once crooks get those passwords, they quickly drain your account. My account had around $1100.00 in it and they hit it for very near that amount. They were able to find out balances somehow and went for all of it.

[NSWESP]

Another POTN member was scammed $1600 on a 5D and paypal refunded only $67.50 of fees.

[surfnron]

You have more chance of being stuck by lighting 25 times in one night then you do getting money back from Paypal.

Well, I have done just that - paypal refunded me $1200. Guess I should stay inside during stormy weather....
Ron