posted on December 10, 2000 06:50:47 AM
Recently bid on a vintage Christmas item, haven't received it yet, no worries about receiving it but the seller did something that bugged me.
In addition to the item price which was fine and the s/h which was fine, the seller said Paypal payment was preferred but since Paypal was no longer free, I had to pay an extra buck to use Paypal.
Now, I prefer using Paypal myself because God knows if I have to actually write a check, find an envelope, find a stamp and get it in the mail it may never leave my house, so I paid the extra buck.
But I don't think it's right. And I was wondering if it would be okay to leave a neutral and something about fees for using Paypal in the feedback. I'm sure the item will be fine and I will praise that, but this Paypal fee is bugging me.
posted on December 10, 2000 07:16:34 AM
No, I wouldn't leave a neutral for this. But it would bug me too (assuming the extra dollar fee wasn't mentioned in the TOS). I'd probably leave a positive something like 'item great..etc...charged extra for PayPal' or whatever.
Of course, if the fee was mentioned in the TOS, you have no right to complain.
posted on December 10, 2000 07:17:09 AM
To the best of my knowledge, this is against ebay rules, so you may want to check on it. In my opinion, it would merit a neutral feedback, if not a negative. If it is not stated clearly in the sellers terms on the auction listing that Paypal users will pay extra for using Paypal, it's just plain wrong to ask for the fee from the buyer. I sell regularly and use Paypal to take payments, and it does cost me to use it, but that is the cost of doing business.
posted on December 10, 2000 07:19:13 AM
If they listed the surcharge in their auction description, then what the seller did was acceptable.
If the seller did not say they accepted paypal in the description, but would accept it with a charge for your convenience, then I suppose that is also okay.
But I think that if the seller said that they accept paypal in the auction, but wanted additional funds after the fact, that would warrant neutral if not negative feedback.
posted on December 10, 2000 07:23:16 AM
As stated above, so much depends on whether this was mentioned in the auction listing.
If it WASN'T, then I think a neutral, or very possibly a negative, is called for. If it was in the TOS, then you should not complain or downgrade the feedback.
posted on December 10, 2000 08:17:01 AM
I don't think a neutral is warranted at all. He was up front about his fee and you paid it without complaining. You weren't forced to use PayPal and could have paid by another method.
Leaving a neutral would be a really cowardly thing to do. If you didn't like the fee, you should have either taken up the issue with the seller or paid another way.
posted on December 10, 2000 08:52:37 AM
I recently had the same thing done to me although they had dropped paypal from their auctions. When I asked about using it they said yes they take paypal but I would have to pay $1 for the service to use it. My item was probably under $15 bucks if I remember but the shipping already was padded like it should have been $3.20 but it was $3.95 plus the .85 insurance. So I ended up paying $5.80 to ship an item that should have cost me $4.05 or at best for the use of paypal $4.35. Being a seller it really erks me that I didn't purchase this on my buying account. Although I wouldn't neg this guy I really feel ripped off! Fine I agree he didn't mention he took paypal till after the auction. But.....It does leave a bad taste...would not buy from again.
posted on December 10, 2000 09:13:33 AM
The extra dollar was not posted on the item page, and was not brought up until I received email from the seller.
I suppose I could have refused to go through with the deal but I really wanted the item and it was "just a buck". I'm also heading out of town on a business trip with no access to personal mail for 3 days and not a lot of time to wrangle over it.
On the other hand, to find out after the auction closes is far more cowardly on the part of the seller than on the buyer, sir (or madam, as the case may be).
posted on December 10, 2000 09:22:19 AM
Since chargeing buyers to pay with paypal is aganist ebay rules and if its in there auction listing send this info to safeharbor all there auction will be closed down.
you dont have to post feed back on some one who is NARU and buyers should never pay a fee to use a credit card at walmarts or on line. http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
posted on December 10, 2000 09:41:47 AM
I'm sorry to (kind of) change the subject, but Yikes! I didn't know Paypal was charging buyers $1 fee...?!! I state in my congrats letter that I prefer payment by Paypal but that will definitely change if they are doing that to my buyers.
Is it only new users? I pay sellers by Paypal all the time and I haven't been charged anything. In fact, I just logged at their login page and they're still offer $5 who sign up
Please... could you clarify who is being charged $1 and when? Thank you! KatNap
posted on December 10, 2000 01:14:09 PM
PayPal is charging 1.9% per transaction, generally (forget the exact details). So if you did pay an extra $1.00 to use PayPal, the seller was raking in a fair amount of extra on the deal. Add that up over the course of a selling season, and it makes for some nice change.
You would have had to have made a $50 purchase for your "fee" to have amounted to $1 or so. From the sound of your post, it was a much less expensive item.
I sell and buy and use PayPal whenever possible. I haven't figured out how to recoup that extra 1.9% on my sales, but you can bet that an extra fee isn't going to be my choice.
posted on December 10, 2000 01:25:37 PM
This is not a put-down on Online Payments...just an observation that, based on all I am reading about these companies CHARGING for the use, and BILLPOINT CHARGEBACK after 5 months...I am definitely glad I no longer use any of it...Vive Le Money Order...Vive Le Cheque....
I would not leave a Neutral nor a Neg, but definitely would vent my discontentment by Email...then run like the dickens when I came across that seller again....
******************** Gosh Shosh!
