I see there is lots of support for the new fee structure. I can understand it for all the high end sellers. It is cheaper than the alternatives. I sell very small items usually under $5.00. This will kill me! Ebay is hard enough to pay for 400 of these a month. Since most of my customers paid by Paypal that would add over $100 a month to my expenses. For those who say "just add another dollar to the starting bid". That doesn't work for the small seller. People won't even look if it is more than $5.00 starting! My profit margin is very small as it is!
I feel cheated since they started us out saying FREE and always FREE. Now if you are full time or part time you HAVE to upgrade. They are not satisfied with the 1.9%, but want a quarter also per transaction! Can't afford that so will have to go back to checks and money orders.
Someone else in another thread said something about two accounts - one for larger items and one for smaller ones -- won't work because you have to say point blank -- I am not a seller!
posted on September 13, 2000 10:38:02 AM
I'm with you on this one! I wouldn't mind a fee on transactions over $20. Small dollar transaction already feel like a giveaway. If you mess up on shipping, your profit is gone!
Moderator: Please don't lock this thread. This is an important issue which needs to be addressed.
posted on September 13, 2000 11:15:14 AM
I don't mind at all mailing out a money order or check to pay for a purchase on eBay, and it's no problem for me to wait a few days for payment on one of my auctions. I'll just use the "ol' fashioned way" of going through the post office. CYA PayPal!
I will be doing a post in the partner services forum in a little bit on the business accounts issue. Thank you all for taking the time to address your concerns.
posted on September 13, 2000 11:21:08 AM
As a small seller my main concern is not the fees, but rather that if I have a business account with PayPal will that tag me as a business elsewhere? Will I need to get a business account at the bank instead of having my PayPal balance deposited into my personal account? Will I need a business license? Will I need to file a separate tax return (and pay state taxes quarterly) and start charging sales tax to my auction customers?
I average no more than half a dozen sales a week. I've considered making it a legitimate part-time business but I'm not sure I want to make that leap. It would feel strange to be a "business" at PayPal but nowhere else.
posted on September 13, 2000 11:32:14 AM
Unfortunately, the problem with the "fees for over $20, free if under" kind of fee structure is that sellers with more expensive items subsidize sellers with less expensive items. It costs paypal money for every transaction, so giving small sellers freebies isn't justified on an economic basis. It just isn't paypal's place to support low-cost-item sellers on ebay at the expense of other sellers.
the bottom line is that if it isn't worth $.35 to you to avoid the time and hassle of dealing with checks, etc., then its back to the old payment method.
Which isn't to say, by the way, that Paypal shouldn't be tarred and feathered for lying through their teeth...("free forever!" )
[ edited by captainkirk on Sep 13, 2000 11:35 AM ]
posted on September 13, 2000 11:53:29 AM
captainkirk -
Not true about large sellers subsidizing the small ones if the fee structure was for larger amounts. As it is set up now, we, the small sellers, are subsidizing the larger ones. The same is true of Ebays fee structure.
Ex. If it takes 5 sales to make me $20 I pay 5 x .25 + .40 = $1.65
If you sell something for $20 then you will only pay $.25 + .40 for only $.65.
That is my complaint. Don't suggest we stop dealing in smaller items because the smaller items are the only way many of us "part-time" dealers can survive. I can't invest in the type of inventory it takes to sell high-end things, and besides I like what I am selling. It just seems unfair to keep hitting us with more and more fees!
posted on September 13, 2000 12:19:49 PM
Everyone,
Once again, threads concerning PayPal are dominating the eBay Outlook. I am going to lock this thread as well as several others, and ask that you confine your comments concerning PayPal to the one PayPal thread that will be left open in the eBay Outlook, or start a new thread in the Partner Services Forum.
