Sellers charging paypal fees

[x.system]

Anyone had this happen to them yet? I bought a esr pipe and silencer for a good amount of money, paid within minutes after the auction hoping I would get it quick. 5 days later I get an email saying I need to send an additional $7.29 to cover paypal fees or 3% or he couldn't send it out. I must say I am not a happy camper at the moment but I sent him a response anyway.

He did have in his auction that there would be a 3% charge for paypal but I knew I didn't have to pay that acording to ebay's rules so I sent what was required, final price and shipping. I saved his email and my responce just in case it gets interesting.

I know alot of people would pay it and most don't know any better but I'm not one of them.

Thoughts? suggestions?

[seadoo650]

That's B.S. Tell him to ship the product or you ship his ass to ebay dispute's.

[firehart]

Some PayPal sellers ask that you pay with funds from an existing cash balance account and not with a credit card. Most will either put it in bold writing or say please contact them first. When you pay with PayPal using a credir card they charge the seller. I inflate my starting price so I can absorb the cost and not charge the buyer more that he/she bids.

[x.system]

Some PayPal sellers ask that you pay with funds from an existing cash balance account and not with a credit card. Most will either put it in bold writing or say please contact them first. When you pay with PayPal using a credir card they charge the seller. I inflate my starting price so I can absorb the cost and not charge the buyer more that he/she bids.

I understand the fees, I have a business account with paypal so I see them on every transaction. I normally pad the shipping $1 or $2 to cover that. It doesn't always cover their fees on higher priced items but thats the price you pay for using ebay.

[old honda dealr]

If it was in the auction then you should have questioned it. I have the buyers pay the paypal fees and have never had any problems at all. Either that or they can just request a money order.

[x.system]

If it was in the auction then you should have questioned it. I have the buyers pay the paypal fees and have never had any problems at all. Either that or they can just request a money order.


Straight from ebay

Sellers may not charge eBay buyers an additional fee for their use of ordinary forms of payment, including acceptance of checks, money orders, electronic transfers or credit cards. Such costs should be built into the price of the item.

Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:

Listing cancellation

Limits on account privileges

Account suspension

Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings

Loss of PowerSeller status

Not permitted:

Charging an extra fee to use a credit card instead of a check.

Charging an extra fee to use PayPal.


I"ve seen many people doing that but always overlooked it, I've also bought before in the same situation and didn't pay the extra fees with no problems at all.

I still havn't recieved a reply and the money is not in my paypal yet so we will see.

[Teeksoffroad]

If it was in the ad then pay it. Funny how you don't want someone breaking the rules but you are by listing your eBay auctions here and it says not to.

[old honda dealr]

I dont care what those rules say. I am not gonna sell someone something and then pay 3% of that money to paypal if they choose to use paypal then they are gonna pay the 3%. If they would like to send money order or check or some other source of payment then there is no 3% fee. But with paypal they are going to pay it not me.

[Mr. Sandman]

If it was in the ad then pay it. Funny how you don't want someone breaking the rules but you are by listing your eBay auctions here and it says not to.

If your ebay auctions are linked in your signature it's not a violation of the rules.

x-system, I'd tell the seller to ship it for what you paid or face the consequences from ebay.

[x.system]

I dont care what those rules say. I am not gonna sell someone something and then pay 3% of that money to paypal if they choose to use paypal then they are gonna pay the 3%. If they would like to send money order or check or some other source of payment then there is no 3% fee. But with paypal they are going to pay it not me.


If you don't want to pay the fees then don't offer to accept paypal, simple as that. Its not up to the buyer to pay your fees for your paypal.



If it was in the ad then pay it. Funny how you don't want someone breaking the rules but you are by listing your eBay auctions here and it says not to.

This is why I said most would pay it, because they don't know any better and never bothered to read the rules of ebay.

[x.system]

If your ebay auctions are linked in your signature it's not a violation of the rules.

x-system, I'd tell the seller to ship it for what you paid or face the consequences from ebay.

Its funny, I still havn't recieved my money or a responce from this guy. I actually bought 2 items from him and paid shipping on each one so he would send the pipe out asap so I am asuming he will be combining the shipping and he will get his $7 anyway from that. I'm not going to threaten him, I just pointed out the rules and that I wasn't sending him any more money. I left it up to him to either send the part or refund my money.

[350Xccelerator]

i havent had this happen to me but, like x.system said it just seems really stupid to make people pay for YOUR fees.

[Howdy]

I dont care what those rules say. I am not gonna sell someone something and then pay 3% of that money to paypal if they choose to use paypal then they are gonna pay the 3%. If they would like to send money order or check or some other source of payment then there is no 3% fee. But with paypal they are going to pay it not me.

When you buy something via credit card via the internet or via a store do you add 2.5-3% to the total to cover the fees the buisnesses get charged to accept credit cards? I highly doubt you do.

Bottom line is this: If you charge a extra 3% to accept paypal then you should also be paying 3% to everyone that you pay via paypal or credit card. No sence in making them pay the fees because you wish to pay that way.

Bottom line is that for some payments there are fee's involved. If you can't handle the fee's then don't accept that type of payment.

Howdy

[girlsride2]

When you buy something via credit card via the internet or via a store do you add 2.5-3% to the total to cover the fees the buisnesses get charged to accept credit cards? I highly doubt you do.

Bottom line is this: If you charge a extra 3% to accept paypal then you should also be paying 3% to everyone that you pay via paypal or credit card. No sence in making them pay the fees because you wish to pay that way.

Bottom line is that for some payments there are fee's involved. If you can't handle the fee's then don't accept that type of payment.

Howdy

I agree. I don't charge anything extra for paypal fees. And I'm not gonna pay extra to use it when I buy something. I know if most buyers are like me I skip most auctions that don't accept paypal.

[TimSr]

I think its idiotic to inflate fees for people paying with paypal, because I know for a fact that by accepting Paypal, you will generally get a better price from your auction. Some guys only accpet money orders to avoid the paypal fees, and really have no clue as to how much they lose in the final price by doing so. My best buys were from guys who didnt get bids on big ticket items because they wouldnt take Paypal. I dont like screwing with money orders and waiting but for the right price Ill do it.
Having said this, if the guy clearly stated it in his auction, I dont see how you can have a moral leg to stand on. If the terms are not acceptable, dont bid. I think its wrong to ignore his terms, bid and then argue with him when you clearly accept his terms by bidding.

As for the rules about charging fees for standard forms of payment, Paypal fees do not apply. When they mention fees for accepting credit cards, they are talking about if you have a merchant account and can process credit cards in your business in which case, charging a fee for cards is illegal. How merchants get around this law is by upping their price to everyone and then offering a "discount" for cash, checks, or other forms of payment of their choosing. As a former merchant, it sucks to sell something at a 5% margin, and then have them pay with AMEX who takes 3%$ off the top!

[x.system]

[QUOTE=TimSr]

As for the rules about charging fees for standard forms of payment, Paypal fees do not apply. When they mention fees for accepting credit cards, they are talking about if you have a merchant account and can process credit cards in your business in which case, charging a fee for cards is illegal.QUOTE]

I understand what your saying but I do believe you are wrong on this matter. This is from paypal,

No Surcharges. Under Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express regulations and the laws of several states, including California, merchants may not charge a fee to the buyer for accepting credit card payments (often called a "surcharge"). You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as payment. This restriction does not prevent you from imposing a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge (in other words, the handling fee for transactions paid through PayPal may not be higher than the handling fee for transactions paid through other payment methods).


Use of PayPal on eBay. Sellers who offer PayPal as a payment option in their eBay listings (either via logos or through text in the item description) must accept all forms of PayPal payment including account balance, bank account transfer, and credit cards. Sellers must have a Premier or Business PayPal Account, or be willing to upgrade from a Personal PayPal Account to a Premier or Business Account if sellers receive a credit card payment. Sellers may not communicate to buyers that they only accept, or will not accept, specific forms of PayPal payment.


You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as payment.
That right there includes paypal fees if I'm understanding it correctly.

From his auction,

Paypal is accepted, money orders too. Items $100 or more please add 3% if using paypal to cover there fees.

I bid knowing he had that in his auction only because I needed the part bad, it was a 50/50 shot. I also mentioned to him it was against ebay and paypal rules to do so. Just because its in his add doesn't make it right, maybe he had no idea it was against ebay policy. I will not be ignoring these auctions any longer from now on though.

[firehart]

If I am selling something and I don't want to share with PayPal, I simply put money orders only. I do like the instant payment and the extra benefits of PayPal. Specially dealing with buyers from other countries. I got a money order from Canada once. I could not get anybody to cash it. I had to send it back to the buyer and make him send US currency.

[Sqirtster]

Wow, this is good stuff! Everyone that has posted has a valid point that is worth considering. But, I feel that x.system has a point. The great legal minds have already discussed this sensitive issue, and resolved that it "is in violation of ebay policy". He also offered the seller to simply return his money, and not go crying to the powers that be. If I sell a used battery, but will include my kidneys if the auction goes over $10,000, this does not make the auction legitimate as it violates policy, even though I may be serious about sharing my internal organs. Best bet would have been to report it rather than bid on it and get it relisted. But now that he has bid on it, and paid for it according to ebay policy, this seller is required to suck it up or be banned. After all, it's not his server, it's ebays. So they get to make any rules they like. That's my rant...

[Orangecnty250r]

I am going to take the unpopular road on this one.

First off I didnt know ebay/paypal The King of FEES had a policy regarding sellers charging extra fees to cover the acceptance of paypal. It seems they want to the ultimate "Fee Whore" charging fees for everything..watch out they may have a fee for looking at the computer and breathing at the same time soon. I believe if a person does not want to be charged heftly paypal fee on an item (it does add up nicely on big items) it should be their choice if they choose to CLEARLY list all fees in the auction and bidder can then bid accordingly based on that.....very simple math.

But in this case a rule is a rule and X system has that in his court but I personally dont agree with the rule. Dont get me wrong I still like ebay and couldn't have my collection without it. But to me it demonstrates one thing ebay/paypal hold near and dear to their heart....CONTROL

[88 Turbo Coupe]

Thanks for pointing that out X.system. Never knew seller was reponsible for the fees. Kinda stinks that a seller would make YOU pay for somthing You don't have to. I also would not pay the fee. Tell the seller no deal. Send my item or a refund.

Alot of buyers seem to think that the item they're bidding on is the only one in existance. This drives up the price. There always is another same item being listed after an auction ends.

The seller wants to be slick, and milk you for every penny he or she can get out of you. I would tell them nicly to go pound salt.

[OldSchoolin86]

I agree that it's BS for the seller to ask you to pay the fees but on the other hand if it was in the auction then you stepped right into this mess with your own free will. IMO it's kind of hard to complain about a hole you dug yourself. It looks like the solution is simple, either pay the extra money and get your parts or continue the battle and expect this to take a little time.