eBay policy and added paypal charges

[Canadian_Eh!]

So I thought adding a line in your auction about adding 5% to auctions for paypal fees was against policy ??

So why are people still getting away with it?

Do a search for Bruiser Resto ....

Its written in red. [!]

So whats the story?

[netsmithUK]

As far as I know it is against the rules - best bet is just to keep email ebay when you see it. Although the sceptic in me says the more people charge in paypal with additional fees the more money ebay make...

Personally though I don't have a problem with it as long as its clearly stated (not that I ever do it) Its not really much different to saying postal orders or western union orders only. Both of these carry a surcharge the buyer has to pay. Even 'cash via registered mail' means you have to pay more to insure it.

Chris

[Canadian_Eh!]

YES .... but its just not fair!!!

[]

[professorslot]

Oh yes it's absolutley fair, seller has to pay listing fees , final value fees, -----> 5% paypal fees, why should the seller pay for everything, only fair if he charges the 5%, final bidprice is what he should receive and not 5% less.

This is just ebay making everything convinient for buyer's and the sellers loose out once again.

Franz

[Clinehobbies]

If you sell alot of items on ebay the fees are just like giving a kit away to the highest bidder as Ebay gets a cut of the total. buy the end of the billing cycle it adds up to about one to two kits on average. so I wish I could charge for the ebay and paypal fees.

they are much higher now than a few years ago.

[Jimmy_GT-R]

I must admit the fees are ridiculous, I never worried about paying the extra 5% fees,because as a seller also I knew how much people had to pay, its just ridiculous. Ebay/Paypal are just getting far too greedy, I think the 5% charge etc was perfectly fair. If you don't like the 5% don't bid, easy as that.

Thans

James

[403forbidden]

quote:Originally posted by professorslot

Oh yes it's absolutley fair, seller has to pay listing fees , final value fees, -----> 5% paypal fees, why should the seller pay for everything, only fair if he charges the 5%, final bidprice is what he should receive and not 5% less.

This is just ebay making everything convinient for buyer's and the sellers loose out once again.

Franz

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If you don't like EBAY or Paypal rules, then you should not sell on EBAY or use Paypal. No one is forcing you to sell your junk. []

[403forbidden]

quote:Originally posted by Jimmy_GT-R

I must admit the fees are ridiculous, I never worried about paying the extra 5% fees,because as a seller also I knew how much people had to pay, its just ridiculous. Ebay/Paypal are just getting far too greedy, I think the 5% charge etc was perfectly fair. If you don't like the 5% don't bid, easy as that.

Thans

James

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If you don't like the rules, don't sell, easy as that.

[professorslot]

403forbidden, what a very tactful and grown up response of yours, It is completly my decision wheter I accept paypal or not, I do but only under certain circumstances, this is what it says in my auction description, as easy as that,

Also I'd like to give you my thoughts on another ebay rule , as you seem to be a stickler for rules (when they are convienient for you), One springs to mind immideatly: Isn't there a rule saying a high bidders bid is a contract ??, how many bidders don't care about that ??

All the best

Franz

P.S: I don't sell junk, you might I don't

[DJTheo]

403 is right IMHO although he could have spoken better, noone is forced to sell in eBay but when they do, they should hold on to the rules. ALso since some buyers don't hold the rules, doesn't give the right for others to ignore them, this way we wouldn't have a civilised world. I am happy to pay the eBay and Paypal fees when I sell, as if I would sell on my street or local ads, I would get less then half.

Cheers

[dhes2809]

Is it not the case that as a seller you know that you are going to be charged 5% and should take this into account when selling your stuff? Like when your buying somthing in a shop you dont look at the price and then have to work out how much tax to pay. The price you see is the price you pay. Which is why in my opinion ebay and paypal have left it up to the seller to work out. I do aggree totaly that 5% is a very high amount to pay But it is because they have you backed in a corner if you dont like it dont use ebay but what else can you use? They are like insurance companys they carnt loose.

[netsmithUK]

I think everyone knows the obvious, about not using it if you are not happy with it. Its like all things in life.

That said we are still all within our rights not to like it - just like postal charges, taxes, etc etc The right to complain is one of the few joys we have left.

I do think though to make a real difference and change things you need to complain to ebay/paypal direct. Who knows if they get enough complaints they might actually change something. (and pigs might fly)

Chris

[DJTheo]

Btw, we shouldn't forget that not only buyers but also sellers gain from Paypal, higher ending price because of ease of payment, immediate payment possible, payment from all over the world (bigger market), no risk of lost cash by airmail or uncovered cheque, etc...

Cheers

[Shodog]

I know here in the US it is unlawful to make a person pay and additional fee if they use their credit card to make a purchase. I have won a few auctions where the seller wanted an additional fee for paypal. I have pointed them to the link where ebay says it is against their rules and I end up not paying the extra fee.

It's all a part of the selling cost on ebay. Other than the traderoom here there is no other viable alternative to ebay for selling Vintage RC parts. You either accept or you don't

[Twmaster]

I was going to keep my mouth shut but I can't this time.

It is simple. If you accept PayPal you accept their fees. If you don't like them then don't accept them. Simple.

You should build the costs of selling as part of your item's selling price whether that be ePay fees and/or PayPal fees. Nothing smacks of a bad sport like grumping about fees like a cheapskate.

As others have pointed out you will more often than not make a higher ending price if you accept PayPal. To illustrate my point I will not bid on an item if I cannot pay for it via PayPal.

Another thing I find amusing are those sellers who pitch a fit about PayPal fees and refuse to accept PayPal and then go right ahead and pay for their items they buy with PayPal.

For the record I strongly dislike ePayPal. Dirty crooks. But untill something better comes along I will use them.

[ChrisB]

Well as a recent newbie on ebay I wasn't aware of the rule against charging extra for Paypal until someone pointed it out to me [8)].

Now, if I am going to accept Paypal, sadly I adjust my reserve to take into account the possibility I may get a winning bidder who uses paypal, and I also express a strong preference for payment by other methods if at all possible.

I feel quite strongly about PayPal services and regard the costs charged as a complete ripoff for the seller. You only have to read The Slayers thread on how she got ripped off even when a user paid using Paypal - she had NO comeback at all against the money she lost as the buyer was using a cancelled credit card. Bottom line is like insurance companies you gotta read the small print - there are a lot of exclusions in there - Paypal ain't as "sure" a thing as they would like you to believe.

As a buyer I can see the attraction of Paypal as it allows you to buy items using your credit card at no extra cost, and thats because the seller bears ALL the costs.

Sadly people the only way to remove Paypal from the equation is to vote with your feet and don't use it. Also express your dis satisfaction to ebay and Paypal over their fee structure. IMHO the fairest thing would be to split the paypal fee 50:50 between buyre and seller...... I guess I can dream []

Cheers,

Chris

[Shodog]

Paypal isn't much different from any other credit card transaction provider. A regular store that accepts credit card transactions has to pay around 3% of the sale.

I can't see why people would be such chislers about a measliy 4-5% paypal fee. Everyone knows that by accepting paypal, your items is going to get some fat bids because people know that they can charge the item to their credit card.

[Shodog]

quote:Originally posted by Twmaster

To illustrate my point I will not bid on an item if I cannot pay for it via PayPal.

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I look for the opposite. Your almost assured a killer deal from the sellers who don't accept paypal.

[netsmithUK]

LOL - me too.

When I get leads through the local paper or this site and the answer is 'Paypal - whats that?' when I ask if they take it - it normally means you are in for a better deal []

Chris

[professorslot]

just a tought: Why is that Ebay piles up all the fees + paypal onto the sellers, wereas in normal auction house, buyer and seller have to pay fees. I do understand that I on top of having to pay listing fees and final value fees , I should cover the 5% as well , I list most of my stuff on Ebay Germany, and they charge more than Ebay.com, so they don't even have the same fees for the same option,

Here are some examples:

In America a Gallery picture cost 25 cents, in Germany it cost 78 (Euro cents) which is about a dollar, in Ebay Germany they charge 1.55 Eur for a picture pack including gallery, in America it costs 1.00 USD which is about 80 (eur cents).

That's a difference that adds up pretty fast,listing 15 Auctions with a picture pack will set you back about 35-40 USD (no fancy options choosen, just the picture pack), + then you pay the final value fees as well.

I'm still of the opinion, that a final bidprice + postage is what I should actually receive, nothing more nothing less.

Ebay fees some up to about 7 % of the actual bidprice, add another 5%

for paypal fees and your down 12% on each item you sell.

I never stated in my auctions that I accept paypal only if the buyer covers the fees, in my auction description it says:

paypal is also an option, but only under certain circumstances

It would be the same if I transfer money into a bank account for an item I won and didn't pay the charges, so the seller receives 10 Eur less.

I know that I'm bending (or breaking)a rule here, but I do honstley think Ebay is getting enough money from me as it is now, no need to

give them another 5%, as Paypal belongs to Ebay now.

It dosen't affect me that much anyway as I do not sell very much of my stuff outside of Europe at the moment as the dollar is so weak anyway.

I sell most of my stuff on ebay Germany & Austria, and within Europe now with BIC and IBAN it free of charge for seller and bidder !!

I only use paypal for TC transactions really, and here I charge the 4%

The stuff I sell here is normally gone within hours, as I don't ask tremendous prices, and most of the buyers are happy to pay the fee, as the price of my stuff is ok, I could maybe make considerably more on Ebay, but here it's nice and troublefree.

If I post a wanted add, I always state that I will cover the 4% fees,

so I'm not charging it only, but also paying it myself

I'll stop now as I could go on for hours........

Franz

[|)]

[ChrisB]

I guess for a very occasional seller on smaller things the 4-5% doesn't amount to much, but as the prof infers, if you sell a few high value things or are a regular ebay seller then that 4-5% adds up in my experience, (and don't forget the paypal fee is on top of the ebay fees).

The fact is Paypal are offering a service, so its fair to have to pay for that, I guess I just think the service isn't quite as "safe" as ebay / paypal would like you to think it is, and the cost they pass onto the seller seems disproportionately high.

Still as others have said, if you don't like the heat, stay out of the kitchen []. I still sell on ebay, despite the fees because at the end of the day there is little out there to match it for "circulation", and also people do seem to be prepared to bid silly money for things that they could probably source elsewhere for much less if they could be bothered to do a bit of research....

I guess my view is Ebay and Paypal are a necessary evil - I may not like the way its setup, but its a service you can't get anywhere else. Maybe they need a bit of competition [}]

Chris

[wriggleandgiggle]

My take on ebay/paypal is this.

Any Item that isn't complete junk and has a decent description will make far more money than if you sold it anywhere else.. The reason behind this is the fact that people CAN pay by paypal, whether it's funded by a credit card or 'saved' funds in your paypal account.

I usually sell a load of stuff on ebay and build up a decent amount of money in my paypal account. I then go off and buy something I want with the funds in my paypal account.

To illustrate my point I recently wanted a new mobile phone, the model I wanted was going for anywhere between £80 for a used one to about £150 for an NIB.

I sold 4 old mobile phones that I would have been hard pressed to get £60 in the real world. All the items were described very accuratley and I got good feedback from all these transactions. I made enough money (after fee's and charges) to buy the phone i wanted and an Infra red adaptor too.

If anyone is really bothered by eBay/Paypals charges you should pay your listing/FVF's with Paypal! That is exactly what I do.

Yes, eBay and Paypal could be cheaper, much cheaper, but it's still much cheaper than advertising in a local newspaper, you don't have to put up with goodness knows who coming to your house and you can carry out all aspects of the transaction WHEN YOU WANT!.

You reply to an email when it suits you, you send the item when it suits you. Be honest, if you could advertise soemthing for free in the paper, would you really want to wait in for some complete stranger to come to your home and then try knocking you down on the price?

I'm not trying to wind anyone up, just putting things into perspective a little.

[403forbidden]

quote:Originally posted by professorslot

...Also I'd like to give you my thoughts on another ebay rule , as you seem to be a stickler for rules (when they are convienient for you), One springs to mind immideatly: Isn't there a rule saying a high bidders bid is a contract ??, how many bidders don't care about that ??

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What does one rule breaker have to do with the other? Don't try to muddy the issue. A buyer who refuses to honor their bid is as much of a rule breaker as you are when you charge extra fees.

Fact remains that you think you have some sort of "right" to use EBAY/Paypal and that the rules do not apply to you. I repeat, if you have a problem with EBAY/Paypal rules, either petition them to change the rules or stop stop using their services. Simple as that.

[403forbidden]

quote:Originally posted by professorslot

...

P.S: I don't sell junk, you might I don't

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Oh spare me...one man's trash is another man's treasure...that's what EBAY's based upon...so calm down.

[DJTheo]

quote:Sadly people the only way to remove Paypal from the equation is to vote with your feet and don't use it. Also express your dis satisfaction to ebay and Paypal over their fee structure. IMHO the fairest thing would be to split the paypal fee 50:50 between buyre and seller...... I guess I can dream

id="quote">id="quote">

I don't really understand this discussion. In the end doesn't the buyer pay all the money? The seller has just to calculate it in his minimum or reserve price, like if he would be a door to door salesman his travel costs, if he doesn't he should get a different job.

Putting extra fees for Paypal wouldn't be a problem for me, if it was allowed, but since its not, it is unfair to sellers who follow the rules and thus calculate their prices accordingly higher.

Unfortunately above is done very often in eBay lately also in other ways, some seller impress with the lowest price and have hidded extra expenses to equalize their gain, like extra handling or abnormal shipping price, unfair competition as first they attract more buyers and second avoid also eBay fees.

Cheers