posted on October 10, 2001 04:33:45 PM
Report this seller to eBay and PayPal. This is a violation of both companies policy. The seller obviously realizes it or wouldn't have you contact them by email to get the information they would have it on their auction page. This seller is trying to circumvent the system.
If he /she is so concerned about a meager 2% fee that PayPal charges them they should build in this cost of doing business into their auction starting price not ask the buyer to pay it.
How would you feel if you were at WalMart for instants and when you went to use your credit card the clerk advised you there would be an additional 2% added to your purchases because the bank charges them a fee to accept the credit card you just handed them. Doesn't fly does it. It shouldn't in this case either.
posted on October 10, 2001 04:54:46 PM
I do not bid on auctions that say that, and I see them pretty often.
I recently saw an auction that said something like "we accept Paypal, but we only have a personal account and are only allowed to accept up to $100 in paypal payments. So we accept Paypal as long as we have not met our limit for the month. Otherwise, we will only accept money orers."
So basically, you won't know until you go to pay them if they will accept your Paypal payment.
posted on October 10, 2001 04:56:53 PM
most ebay sellers are no walmart by that i mean most of us do not have the advantage of volume to make up for low margin.
some dealers margin may be razor thin.
posted on October 10, 2001 04:59:50 PM
it is easy to say BUILD INTO COST OF DOING BUSINESS.
first in an auction,you are to start the asking price low,then you cannot ask much for shipping else you get neg,with so little bidding going on these days,you are lucky if someone bid on your item.
then comes paypal or billpoint.
easy said than done,each seller has his/her reason,but i agree he should just say we do not accept paypal
posted on October 10, 2001 05:09:47 PM
My profit margin isn't anything to write home about, but I see no need to try and use that as an excuse for trying to attach a surcharge so as to avoid paying the fees.
I keep pretty good financial records of my auction activity and the credit card fees I pay through Billpoint and PayPal are one of the smallest expenses I have, and that's with 60% of my customers having paid with either Billpoint or PayPal this year so far.
I agree with most of what's been said. Report this person and steer clear of these types of "terms".
posted on October 10, 2001 07:17:47 PMHow would you feel if you were at WalMart for instants and when you went to use your credit card the clerk advised you there would be an additional 2% added to your purchases because the bank charges them a fee to accept the credit card you just handed them.
The reason WalMart doesn't do this is that the credit card fee is already figured into the price of the item.
This works just fine for fixed price sales where the seller knows what the item is going to sell for. In an auction, the buyer sets the price, not the seller, so it is not possible to "build it into the price" unless the seller sets the price such that he is only expecting to get one bid.
posted on October 10, 2001 07:19:48 PM
I just had to let you know how the auction finished!
I took the advice of this group and did not bid on the auction. I did go back to see what it sold for, only to find that the seller had ended it early. His reason? The camera was stolen!
There was no indication whether they were selling stolen goods or someone had stolen it from them.
This person must be a real winner, has a ME page devoted to explaining 17 negs.
