PayPal Fees

[Mr. P]

I personally despise vendors who pawn THEIR fees off on the customer, I will never do business with them.
What is your opinion.

 

[MassExodus]

Agreed. Tbh I always choose send money to a friend. Its never backfired on me. Yet.

 

[sdsnybny]

I am a hobbyist/breeder that is technically handicapped and live off my SSD. So I politely request to get paid via family/friends option or if the customer isnt comfortable with that add the 3% fees. I always give references and I have many all great no negative reviews. There is a difference between "Vendors" with a business license and us hobbyists sharing our success with others.

 

[PanzoN88]

I don't and won't use PayPal anymore, but I picked option 1, because that's how I used to do it.

 

[Enn49]

I'll use Friends and Family for hobbyists but businesses I don't.

 

[Arachnoclown]

All fees should be paid by the buyer for private party sales...its only far.

Big time vendors shouldn't be using PayPal or similar ways to get money. They should run credit or debit cards as a normal business... fee free.

 

[Metalman2004]

I think if the fee were called what it really is, an insurance policy, some might change their mind. If you want to pay “friends and family” that’s fine but there are no extra protections. If you prefer, pay the 3% for the insurance policy against things going wrong. Every other insurance policy is paid for by the buyer so same goes here in my opinion.

That being said, when it’s person to person anything is negotiable. Before I had any reviews I covered half the fee for buyers. These days I say do friends and family (and check out my reviews) or add the 3%.

 

[Mr. P]

I think if the fee were called what it really is, an insurance policy, some might change their mind.

I disagree, If that were the case then Paypal would charge the buyer and not the seller. If you used a credit at Walmart would you expect them to add the 3% on to the purchase? This has already been through the courts and denied.

Plain and simple, Paypal is the same as a credit processor for a seller. If a seller wants their money immediately instead of waiting on money orders or checks by mail then Paypal is a convenience for them. Otherwise most smaller sellers would not be able to do online business.

 

[Mr. P]

Paypal Policy:

4.6 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.

So technically you can charge a handleing fee that must apply to all cutomers and not just Paypal users.

 

[Metalman2004]

Unfortunately business is rampant with legal rulings and constant workarounds, most of which have people supporting both sides of the argument.

The majority of local businesses around here have a “no credit cards under $5” policy. Tons of places (and almost every gas station) have a cash price and a credit price that is magically the exact amount they have to pay to the credit card company. Those who don’t have different cash vs credit prices have the extra percentage added in to all transactions including the cash transactions.

Like it or not, you are paying this percentage in almost every transaction you make. People just don’t like it here because they see it.

 

[Mr. P]

Actually when you pay less for using cash you are getting a discount. Legally they can't charge more for using credit cards.

If you went in to the grocery store and bought a candy bar which is listed as $1.00 they can't charge you $1.03 at the register. However, they can charge you $0.97 which is below listed price for using cash. Consider it a cash coupon.

 

[Metalman2004]

Actually when you pay less for using cash you are getting a discount. Legally they can't charge more for using credit cards.

If you went in to the grocery store and bought a candy bar which is listed as $1.00 they can't charge you $1.03 at the register. However, they can charge you $0.97 which is below listed price for using cash. Consider it a cash coupon.

You are exactly right, but it’s all semantics and consumer psychology.

Consumers respond much better to a 3 cent discount on $1.00 than a 3 cent credit card charge on .97. Either way you are being charged the fee. It just isn’t listed as a line item on your bill.

No matter how you slice it, the consumer is paying the credit card fee in almost all cases. Personally I’d prefer someone who tells me what’s going on up front and gives me the chance to wave the fee if I want.

 

[Mr. P]

Totally agree but most places don't give a cash discount so everyone pays the same price whether cash or credit.

Paypal on the other hand states in their policy that a seller cannot ask the buyer to pay fees.

 

[Metalman2004]

TONS of places here give a cash discount. Just about everything but the regular grocery store have a cash discount. Every gas station has both prices on their signs and the largest liquor store chain in Texas has two price tags on everything and the cashiers ask you before they ring your items “would you like to save 5% by using cash?”

I’ll give a hobby- specific example. Right now an online dealer has P rufilata 1”ers for $50. There is also a personal seller on FB right now selling them for $39. That online dealer has all of their overhead (including that CC fee) worked into that price so it’s almost 30% higher than the personal seller. Would you really hold it against the personal seller with good reviews that adds $1.17 per sling for goods and services when the online dealer is almost 30% more for the same reasons?

Would your opinion be different if the personal seller just set their price at $40 and the online dealer put their prices at $39 + add 30% overhead/ handling CC charge/ etc fee?

 

[Tnoob]

It's my vender account, so it's my responsibility to take care of my business expenses. I'll just claim it on taxes anyway.

 

[Jess S]

Any fees involved in a transaction will ultimately get passed back to the customer at some point anyway. If the seller is picking up the tab for PayPal fees, they'll soon start upping their prices to take that loss into account, unless they can claim it back on taxes as @Tnoob says.