posted on March 26, 2001 02:35:48 PM new
I won two very small auctions last night, the amount in question being less than $10.00 for both, including shipping and surcharges. The seller uses Billpoint for Visa/Mastercard.
I received his end of auction email today. Both state there is a .35 surcharge for using Billpoint on orders under $30.00. This was NOT mentioned in the auctions.
It's such a small amount of money that it isn't really an issue, and I'm quite happy with my winnings.
Mostly I'm fishing for opinions. Should the surcharge have been specified in the auctions? Would any of you sellers recover your costs in this manner?
posted on March 26, 2001 02:50:04 PM new
I think that the surcharge should have been mentioned in the auction. As a seller, that's a no-no to me. If I make a mistake in my TOS I eat the loss.
As a buyer, it would depend. I am saving the cost of the stamp for mailing the payment. I would complain and mention it in the feedback. Like: Seller added extra fees not mentioned in auction.
posted on March 26, 2001 07:15:47 PM new
BE carefull...
Did he say he took billpoint in the auction description?? Only if he said he took billpoint AND he did not mention the surcharge then is there a problem.
posted on March 26, 2001 07:20:29 PM new
No way can he add a surcharge; whether or not he says yea or nay in his auction!
From BillPoint:
"Can I charge the Billpoint fee to my buyer?
A seller may not charge the Billpoint fee for credit card payments ("credit card surcharges" to the buyer for using Billpoint. Credit card association rules and many state laws prohibit charging additional fees to buyers for use of credit cards.
For more information, please refer to "Credit Card Surcharges" on eBay's Listing Policies page in Safe Harbor. "
posted on March 26, 2001 09:23:19 PM newunknownYou can't charge for CREDIT card, but you can charge for billpoint since that includes credit card and electronic check.
I don't think that the terms in BillPoint's rule leaves much room for argument.
A seller may not charge the Billpoint fee for credit card payments("credit card surcharges" to the buyer for using Billpoint. Credit card association rules and many state laws prohibit charging additional fees to buyers for use of credit cards.
posted on March 26, 2001 09:51:52 PM new
Here's a quote from an eBay pink on the Trust & Safety Board regarding surcharges:
QUOTE
From: [email protected](6) (view author's auctions)
Topic: Re: eBay Workshop: Trust & Safety Overview of Fee Circumvention & Fee Avoidance
Message: 105 of 152 (In response to rosalie!)
Sent: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 18:13:35 -0800
"Actually, international law differs considerably from US law. In many states, surcharges are not allowed, which is why eBay doesn't allow sellers to tack on fees for payment methods, their eBay fees, etc. on our core US site. In other countries, however, there are no similar rules. I can't say precisely what the rules are for Germany and eBay.de, but you can report one of these auctions with that question to [email protected], and they will route to the German support staff to get an answer for you."
END QUOTE
You simply CANNOT tack on a surcharge for folks using credit cards. It doesn't matter if it's legal to do so in your state and it doesn't matter if you're not the one with the merchant account BECAUSE eBay says you can't do it!! If you get caught doing this you could possibly be suspended so why on earth would anyone take this risk for 35 cents?. The only thing you can do is offer a discount if the customer pays in cash.
to the buyer for using Billpoint. Credit card association rules and many state laws prohibit charging additional fees to buyers for use of credit cards.