posted on July 13, 2001 02:35:29 PM
I have been shopping ebay for some bargins for my daughter and have noticed alot of sellers charging anywhere from 50 cents to 2.9% for the use of PayPal. I thought that was against the rules of ebay, am I wrong about this?
posted on July 13, 2001 02:44:40 PM
Yes, it is wrong to charge the EXTRA fee. However, there is nothing wrong with either building this into you opening bid OR even better, simply factoring into Shipping and Handling.
posted on July 13, 2001 02:53:19 PM
When I sell I do take the fees into consideration. But, one particular auction I was interested in said "If you use PayPal add 2.9% for fees". Others have said add .50 cents if you use Billpoint or Paypal.
posted on July 13, 2001 02:58:30 PM
I used to be the live and let live kind of girl, but since my experience last month with a guy that did NOT disclose this fee untill after the auction ends, I now report them to both Safe Harbor and PayPal every time I see one.
Just like any business, you should build your cost of doing business into the starting bid and/or the s/h charges. These two amounts should total the MINIMUM you will accept for the item.
I personally set my opening bid price for all the expenses in acquiring the item and charge actual s/h/i plus .50 to cover those items that require extra care or a new (non recycled or priority mail) box. If it is a really pricey item, I use reserves to make sure I get what I need to and typically set the opening bid at about 1/10 the reserve price.
B
can't spell tonite!
[ edited by Btrice on Jul 13, 2001 02:59 PM ]
[ edited by Btrice on Jul 13, 2001 03:00 PM ]
posted on July 13, 2001 04:02:51 PM
I don't understand building your fees into your opening bid price. If I'm selling something with a starting bid of $5, and it will sell for $30, it will still sell for $30 even if I add my PayPal fees into the starting bid. If the bidding starts at $6, it will still end at $30, because that is what the bidder is willing to pay for the item.
Can anyone explain this? Maybe I'm missing something...
posted on July 13, 2001 04:13:45 PM
One day I see the light, the next I see the dark on this issue.
Technically, to make your money back (for ALL fees), you need to make $6. So you set the start there. If you get no more, you've broken even.
So if it sells for $30, you've made an extra $24. If it sells for $25, you've only made and extra $19.
Problem is, we're viewing the end result in a different light than the buyer is. They see what they are PAYING. We see what we are GETTING.
It's our own greed (no offense) that makes us say "Hey! I'm not taking the hit from my share of things!"
This is why I eat PayPal as part of Shipping and Handling, period. Basically, I'm charging more for my time and effort
"handling" than others would and basically waiving the PayPal fees.
If I could charge for the PayPal fees, then I would probably charge less for my handling fees.
Get it?
It's just a matter of juggling where you take the loss.
A store isn't the same thing. They take a item and set the fixed price for it and include everything that it costs them to sell that item. We don't -- we have a variable price and have to cover elsewhere.
posted on July 13, 2001 06:50:00 PM
I haven't seen this metioned, it is now against PayPal policy to charge a fee against a sale for accepting PayPal. Doing so just pisses people off anyways. That line of thinking has never made any sense to me anyways. I charge 'about' $1 over actual shipping to cover ,boxes, peanuts, fees, ect. (if shipping is going to be $3.95, S&H is $5) Sometimes I win sometimes I lose. The only time anybody gets peeved is when they win a item for $2 and the S&H is $5, so I try and stay away from that sort of merchandise.
posted on July 13, 2001 08:32:30 PM
I don't think the cost of the item is as important as what the item is.
A baseball card won for $2 and costing $5 to ship is a little off.
A computer game that only went as high as $2, $5 is still perfectly reasonable for shipping. I've many games just sitting on my shelf that I am selling. In these cases, $2 + $5 would be perfectly acceptable to me. If more, then it's gravy.
posted on July 13, 2001 09:50:18 PM
peiklk, you explanation of the "raise the opening bid tocover the PayPal fees" is the first one I've seen that made any sense at all. If I understood you, what people really mean is to set the opening bid high enough to make sure you don't take a loss on this item. If the fees go up, you have to raise the minimum bid.
But I still disagree with it. If you spend 40 hours a week finding product, advertising product, packaging product, etc, and at the end of the week all you get is what you paid for product, what feeds your family? The profit is what you need to live on. Actually, let's not get that serious, but the the profit divided by your time is what gives you the amount you are bing paid for you time.
Unfortunately, the fees are based on the gross sales, not the profits. If you are making 33% gross profit, and Paypal, eBay, and AuctionWatch all raise their fees by one percent of the sales, you've actually lost almost 10% on your profit. At what point does your hourly rate shrink to where it's not worth it amymore?
posted on July 13, 2001 10:40:02 PM
My opening bid starts at a price that will include purchase price and any other fees needed to run the auction. I try and ship actual cost. So if I start my auction at $4.00 and to buy my product is $1.00 then the rest of the opening bid covers everything else. If, and I hope it is only an if, I only get 1 bid then I won't lose any money, but then I won't make a profit but auctions are like that. I want to make sure I don't lose any money because in this day and age it is hard to come by.
posted on July 13, 2001 11:21:58 PM
The biggest problem with a post like this on auctions watch is you will have buyers, people running an on line garage sale, hobby sellers, pseudo businesses, and full blown business including dot coms all posting to the same threats.
Everyone in the group above might see the other persons point of view, but it is unlikely that the any will ever see eye to eye.
cuz i kant speel
[ edited by wranglers on Jul 13, 2001 11:27 PM ]
posted on July 14, 2001 12:00:45 AM
lets get real.. most cover the $$$ in s/h. and get on with life...if people are so cheep only to pay 5 bucks or so for shipping and care if they pay 50-cents x-tra---for pay-pal...to bad..pay-pal is a way of life for all..get over it...
posted on July 14, 2001 05:10:13 AM
It is against Ebays Rules for charging an extra fee, so if that's what you feel
to do, just add it into your bid price or on as handling cost.
I left paypal a long time ago, and I am better off, no problems, no extra paper work, my customers could use BidPay if needed. I feel if you want the item bad enough
and you know the sellers terms, don't complain. As a seller I would not add charges of any kind to my end bid price. Whatever the post office would charge me for shipping, that's what I charge my customer.
I personally don't like when I see an item that I know should ship for $2.00 and I am being charged $5.00, I would stay away from that seller.
Profit is to be made on your merchandise when up on auction, not added to the shipping cost. To me that is wrong.
