posted on March 19, 2002 01:26:36 PM
Ever to try a Paypal and Billpoint only auction?
You'll be sorry if you do. An auction seller needs to accept Money Orders to attract all the bidders out there. And about 50% of my buyers still send Money orders (you don't take persional IOU's (I mean checks) do you?
So to say that Paypal is a service of value to me is untrue. I still have to go to the Post Office daily and I still have to go to the bank once or twice a week. Whether someone's package gets shipped today or next week makes no difference to me whatsoever. Whether I get paid now or next week also makes no difference to me whatsoever.
To think you can pass this charge on in an auction format is not true. You will get a less amount in bidding if your shipping charges are higher. The buyers do read that part of the ad. If you sell for a fixed price, the buyer will consider that as well, and possibly forget about internet buying when the total is higher than what they can buy locally.
The only just way to price this is to let the buyer pay the fee if they find it worthwhile to them. Paypal's approach is the same as what they do with chargebacks: They take the easiest and less costly approach for THEM, which means after they take their fee and after they find a stolen Credit card was used to fund your payment, they simpley dip into your account or your bank account if nesessary, and take the money they lost from you.
Remember Paypal is an unlicensed and unregulated company doing banking any way they see fit. So far Louisiana has recently told them to quit operating in their state and to apply for a banking license if they want to do business there. More states to follow, I would hope.
posted on March 19, 2002 01:32:38 PM
I just did some pondering (hehe)..I dont recall who stated he charges and says in his listings FLAT RATE. I'd like to elaborate on that and perhaps say something like "Buyer to pay a Flat rate of XXX for packing/shipping cost." The Flat rate can cover actual postage, fees for launching the auction and other misc. expenses (ie Paypal, recovery of material if applicable).
MEOW
posted on March 19, 2002 01:40:37 PM
Maybe some of you don't get the big picture: The total cost to the buyer is what the buyer uses to compare your item with someone else's.
Paypal is a convenience to the buyer and most will pay more to use it. But to be forced to charge the Money Order buyer the same fees for no such service is not fair, and will discourage them from buying a money order, stamp, waiting, and then haveing to pay excessive shipping and handling. And according to the laws as I understand them, you are not allowed to state a lower handling charge for cash customers. in the same offering.
posted on March 19, 2002 01:41:12 PM
quickdraw, I'm not that dense - I do realize that ebay is permitting sellers to charge for Paypal by adding it to that old "soft money" slushfund known as the handling fee. But at that point it no longer becomes a surcharge even though is covers the same expense as a surcharge would. The "may not" prohibition is against charging a stated surcharge which is how some people get their auctions pulled.
My disagreement with you is over semantics at this point - in this context, the phrase "may not" is not the same thing as "may or may not." If I say "I may or may not post on ebay later today, " then I'm postponing my decision until later. In that case, it is the same as saying "I may not post on ebay later" or for that matter saying "I may post on ebay later" because they all have to do with decisions to be made by me at some later point. However, when an authority figure says "may not" it means you don't have permission. If you're at the scene of an accident and a police officer says "you may not leave until we question you, " then in effect this is saying the decision has been made for you. To use another ebay example, ebay states, "Users may not use systems or techniques to circumvent eBay fees" (on the same page as the Payment Surcharge Policy). That isn't giving the users free reign to do whatever they wish to choose whether or not they want to circumvent ebay fees. Same situation applies for their statement on surcharges - and if you hide the charge within your handling fee that is not a surcharge, in which case the prohibition doesn't apply.
posted on March 19, 2002 02:03:38 PMas I understand them, you are not allowed to state a lower handling charge for cash customers. in the same offering.
If fact, eBay does allow this. For example, it is perfectly acceptable for a seller to include a statement like this: "Deduct $1.00 for payments made by any method other than PayPal".
It *is* simply sematics when eBay rules will not allow you to debit for accepting PayPal but will allow you to credit for not accepting it.
posted on March 20, 2002 05:56:42 AM
You are allow, by law, to offer Cash Discounts. To offset paypal fees, that would be approximately 3+% Remember, when a customer pay by PayPal, Paypal charges fees on the fees.
