mullyman said:
I'm wondering why some people request that if you pay by paypal that you add 3% to cover their charge? To me that just sounds silly. The seller ends up paying 3% out of his pocket anyway. I'm no math guru or anything but if something costs $100.00 there will be $3.00 tacked onto that. If I pay $103.00 to cover the paypal fee then won't the seller get 3% tacked onto that $103.00 and have to pay $3.09? What's the point? Why doesn't the seller just eat the 3 bucks from the get go? He ends up paying more charging 3% to it.
MULLY
I do not see any problem with a seller requesting an additional 3% to cover the paypal fee. Especially if they are willing to take multiple forms of payment and ask you to pay that fee ONLY if you choose to use that form of payment. If you really are opposed to paying the additional fee, you would have another option ( usually slower and less convenient). You could pay with a money order to avoid the fee.
In your example, the seller would have to pay the .09 extra, which is better than paying the $3. In this example it is practically nothing, but as the price of the item increases so do the fees. So no, he would not be paying more than if he did not charge the extra fee.
In business, all costs of doing that business are passed on to the customer, one way or another. Otherwise that business will not be in business for long! In this instance the seller is just being more upfront about it and giving you a choice in the matter. Just as shipping charges will be passed on to the buyer. A seller could just figure out the fees and shipping and add it to the selling price ( some do).
As a buyer you will end up paying for the cost of shipping and paypal fees ( if you use paypal) whether you are explicitly told so or not. I do not see the fact that it is openly disclosed as a sticking point at all.
The other day I was getting gas. The station had a reduced price if I paid with cash. The merchant will have to pay a small fee for using the merchant sysytem. By me paying with cash, they do not have to pay this fee on my transaction, so they passed the lack of this fee on to me. I did not see any problem with this option. I have had a business before and, as they say, that's the cost of doing business. Just about every business has had to increase their prices in the last year due to rising energy costs. Some made it obvious, some did not, but all customers had to absorb this cost in some way.
If you are selling something, you have to get the price that you want for the item as well as any costs involved with the selling of that item. Just the way it is.
JW
