"Paypal add 3%"..... ??

After hearing all the horror stories about e-bay, Pay Pal stories I wonder why people do e-bay, or Pay Pal anyway.
 
Rocket354 said:
I don't understand--you hate if someone requests an extra 3% if the buyer wants to pay with paypal, but you're perfectly OK with someone just listing their item at a 3% higher price? What's the difference?

If someone requests 3% for paypal then at least they are offering a cheaper alternative for those who don't want to pay with paypal. Instead of viewing it as "$500 + 3% for paypal" look at it as "$515 ($500 if you pay with money order)."

Although, clearly, the best way to do it would be to just ask for $515 right off the bat, because for some reason that's so much less offensive.

Have people noticed how many sellers are asking $x35 for items (ie, $735, $935, etc; a few other numbers too). You think that $35 is just random? I read that as "I want to get $700 for the item, and that $35 is to cover paypal and shipping fees."

Like I said, a seller can list an item for whatever they want to. If the price is inline with the value, it will sell.....

Again, it's people that want to charge a premium (or their fees, rather) to use a service that gets them their money quicker....
 
CK6Speed said:
I'm in no way an ebay power seller. I have been on ebay since nearly the beginning and do buy and sell personal things there a lot. I do notice the trend that people rather only accept paypal, but most still give you other options. I have seen paypal only auctions, but I don't think that is the majority. I am always worried about paypal fraud. I only had one case where I had to file a complaint with paypal and I got most of my money back. It is a risk thats for sure. That is also why my paypal checking account generally has less than $10 in it. If I need to use it I transfer money into it. If I get paid by paypal I immediately transfer my money out. If something goes totally wrong, the most paypal can do is freeze my paypal account, but I loose virtually no money since my money would already be in another account.

As for safe, I don't consider paypal any safer than mailing a check or cash even. I just think of it as another form of payment. The day I get majorly burned by paypal is the day I'll probably stop using it like many have already, but so far I've been able to choose carefully or maybe just be luck in the last 10 or how many years paypal has been in existence.

I do see your concern, but convenience and technology will keep on moving forward. Either you have to keep up and accept this whole electronic media and banking age, or you have to accept you will loose business if you choose not to.

I am a Power Seller and if you try this on ebay they will cancel your listing immediately. However, The seller is zapped the 3% PayPal fee on the amount the item sells for right off the top before the funds are added to the sellers account on all transactions in addition to the sellers listing fees and final value fees for ebay... It is against PayPal policy to do this and I am surprised they have not cracked down on it.
 
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Well, the way I see it is that Paypal charges that 3% to the seller so why should the seller turn it around and put it on the buyer? If Paypal wanted the buyer to pay it they would have put it on the buyer. In all fairness, they should split it 1.5% on each end and then everyone can STFU about it. Personally, I had one transaction on here where the seller wanted me to pay the 3%. I wasn't thrilled about it but what the hell, I'd have to pay sales tax if I bought it somewhere else.

And I agree that if the seller wants to charge that 3% then they should tack 3% on to their original price and then not even mention it.
MULLY
 
Ebay is forcing sellars to take paypal now. (under a certain amount of sales) When I sell on ebay, I don't want to take paypal. I can't stand that i have to give them 3% of the sale. You know who owns Paypal? Freakin' ebay!

I like to do it by check or money order, or if close by good ol' cash.

On my last sale of a collectible, I was forced to take paypal against my wishes, and I told the buyer the same, please send check, or include the fee for paypal.

Hope my experience helps.
 
Bigjohn said:
I am a Power Seller and if you try this on ebay they will cancel your listing immediately. However, The seller is zapped the 3% PayPal fee on the amount the item sells for right off the top before the funds are added to the sellers account on all transactions in addition to the sellers listing fees and final value fees for ebay... It is against PayPal policy to do this and I am surprised they have not cracked down on it.

Which part is against ebay rules? Just for clarification as I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean requesting paypal only payments or about me transferring my money out of my paypal account as soon as I get it?
 
PS I own ebay stock, and am really thinking about selling. That company has strayed from it's original core business model. It was the perfect biz model in my opinion. No storage, no shipping, no sales, no shrinkage, just brokering electronically. Of course tons of comp equip and security and such.

But now they have grown fat, their stock is down, and I believe they are begining to become RIPE for a new ebay to come along and kick some tail with lower fees etc. There are a lot of unhappy users especially sellars out there. JMO.
 
1pRoscoe said:
Like I said, a seller can list an item for whatever they want to. If the price is inline with the value, it will sell.....

Again, it's people that want to charge a premium (or their fees, rather) to use a service that gets them their money quicker....

Which, by your own statement, is ok if the premium is hidden, but quite offensive if they state there's a premium. That just doesn't make sense to me.
 
One other thing, 3% is pretty steep. I totally understand that Paypal has to charge something to stay in existence but 3%? With the number of transactions they do daily they could charge .5% and still make a killing.

Yahoo auction in Japan is like that. They charge you a monthly membership fee of like 3 bucks or something, then they charge you 10 cents for putting something up on auction and then charge you, the seller, another 3% on the sale. Ebay didn't make it over here. They tried to get it off the ground but the Japanese people started off with Yahoo auction and they stayed with it. Ebay tanked and went under. Once that happened Yahoo went nuts with the charges. No major competition around to stop them.
MULLY
of course Yahoo will cut your auction off if they find you charging the fee to the customer.
 
Rocket354 said:
Which, by your own statement, is ok if the premium is hidden, but quite offensive if they state there's a premium. That just doesn't make sense to me.

I think from a buyers perspective, it sounds and feels better that everyone is paying the same price regardless of payment method and nobody is getting preferential treatment on price based on payment method. Kind of like going into Walmart and knowing that if you pay by credit card, you are still paying the same price as the guy paying in cash. Just like how a company has to pay the credit card company for accepting a Visa, or Mastercard, all his customers still pay the same price. I view paypal as just another method of payment, so cash, check, credit card, paypal, pigeons, no different. As long as everyone is paying the same monetary value for the goods.
 
CK6Speed said:
Which part is against ebay rules? Just for clarification as I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean requesting paypal only payments or about me transferring my money out of my paypal account as soon as I get it?

If you, as the seller on ebay... try to pass the 3% PayPal fee to the buyer. ebay will cancel your listing. Transferring your money out of your PayPal account is up to you. They can't stop you from doing that... yet anyway!:(
 
1pRoscoe said:
This is just a peeve of mine, but isn't the use of paypal supposed to make it easier/quicker for the seller to get their funds? Why should they feel the need to charge the fee associated?

A few years ago, nobody ever asked for the purchaser to add funds if they want to use paypal, it was just part of the cost of doing a deal. Now (along with raffles) this seems to be the new trend..... a seller will only take paypal if the buyer covers the fee for them. I can't remember paying someone with a credit card and having to pay more... Why should this be any different?

My opinion - if you're willing to accept payment real time, be prepared to suck up the 3% fee, which in the grand scheme of things is minimal. Either that, or price your item 3% higher to offset....

Am I the only one that thinks this is another way to nickle and dime a buyer???

Thoughts?

As a very general concept, yes, Ross, I agree with you. But, if somebody is selling something at a deep discount or less than cost, then asking the buyer to cover that 3% is not out of line IMO. I for one am certainly not going to pass on a good deal for $1000 having to kick in an extra $30. Buyers don't have to buy...that's the way I look at this.

And we all know, there is no more "real time" anymore with getting a payment. The only real time is when it gets sucked out of your bank account....never in.

Lots of good comments in this thread about Paypal and EBay...a couple of lost souls. :(
 
I have been using PayPal for around 8 years or since it started and have had next to no problems. Knock on wood.

The cost of accepting PayPal and Credit Cards is part of the cost of doing business. Most sellers just build those costs into their pricing and then offer discounts if a person pays in cash.

PayPal is instant payment. At least for me it is. I am able to withdraw immediately with no limit as soon as a payment hits my account.

Unless a deal is insanely good I won't buy from a seller that asks for the fees. I don't think a lot of sellers realize that this is offensive. If you as a seller don't like the PP fees then don't take PP. If I see an auction where the shipping fees are jacked up or it's indicated that the seller is charging for payment fees then I generally skip it.

I have found that it's much better not to annoy the buyers by nickle and diming them after the sale. Just build your costs into the prices you charge and no one will care.
 
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