Paypal add "3%" rule illegal?

[lil azn 06 10+ year member]

Hi,

I just posted up computer sales in another forum and put paypal users add 3%. One guy posts and says it violates the user agreement for the paypal. Now personally i really dont care that people post up "paypal users add 3%" and that its up to them, but is this true?

Heres the users agreement link http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/ua-outside

Click to read more...

 

[Blunt 10+ year member]

you can't ask them to pay it. it does violate tos from paypal. that is why ebay won't let you put it in the auction.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

It is a violation of the PayPal and eBay UA if you require that a winning bidder on eBay apply a surcharge of 3% to their payment. (the sole exception to this is for a seller in the UK selling to a buyer in the UK....for some reason they are allowed to charge the surcharge whereas sellers in the US are not) A violation that they take seriously enough that if you find an eBay listing wherein the seller has stated they require the addition of said surcharge and bring it to the attention of eBay they will immediately remove the listing from their servers.

Having said that ~ I do not think it applies to sales outside of eBay and as such whoever told you that on another forum is wrong. (I think)

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

charge an additional 3% for shipping / handling and your covered. hell why not just make it 4%

 

[AVSTANG02]

why would they make a stupid rule like that?

it's because of paypal/ebay fee's that sellers want to charge an extra 3% to make the money they lost on fees back.

ebay sellers have such a small margin to work with especially if they are in competition.

that's why a lot of them charge outrageous amounts for shipping.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

It is a violation of the PayPal and eBay UA if you require that a winning bidder on eBay apply a surcharge of 3% to their payment. (the sole exception to this is for a seller in the UK selling to a buyer in the UK....for some reason they are allowed to charge the surcharge whereas sellers in the US are not) A violation that they take seriously enough that if you find an eBay listing wherein the seller has stated they require the addition of said surcharge and bring it to the attention of eBay they will immediately remove the listing from their servers.
Having said that ~ I do not think it applies to sales outside of eBay and as such whoever told you that on another forum is wrong. (I think)

I agree.

But just to make that guy feel like a jackass, take your set price in mind... add 3%... and then when putting your FS thread up... say you can subtract 3% if NOT using paypal //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif...

Then say, haha... jackass.

nG

 

[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

It is illegal and does violate the agreement. Also think back to the last time you went into a store and the clerk/counter person said Ill let you charge it, but I have to add x.x%...

CC merchants charge me everytime I process a transaction and Im unable to ask for the extra x.x%, so I just add it in prior to the sale. Most stores are already selling at retail and larger stores do enough volume to get lower rates so they factor that in on each sale.

 

[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

Its also a write off come tax season as its not actual income to them.

 

[Mr. Opportunist 10+ year member]

thats why you just add it to the price? include extra money in shipping if need be...

 

[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

Nowadays alot of people are used to the fees and most will include them or not think twice if you ask. Although this applies to person to person sales, not so much Fleabay sales.

When my Paypal rates were lower (2.2%) I still asked, but I also made people aware that they were lower.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

why would they make a stupid rule like that?

It's not paypal's rule. It is Visa/Mastercard's rule, and in the agreement every merchant signs (and hence, in the agreement paypal has with Visa/M/C). And that agreement is a legally binding contract.

Reason for it? Think about it....Visa/Mastercard make money off of consumers charging their purchases and not paying the balance off each month. If said consumer knows they will be charged an extra 3% to 4% for purchasing an item with their charge card, they will pay with cash or check instead whenever possible. This is then, obviously, hurtful to Visa & M/C's potential income. So they therefore do not allow anyone accepting charge cards as a form of payment to charge any extra amount for accepting such forms of payment.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

It is a violation of the PayPal and eBay UA if you require that a winning bidder on eBay apply a surcharge of 3% to their payment. (the sole exception to this is for a seller in the UK selling to a buyer in the UK....for some reason they are allowed to charge the surcharge whereas sellers in the US are not) A violation that they take seriously enough that if you find an eBay listing wherein the seller has stated they require the addition of said surcharge and bring it to the attention of eBay they will immediately remove the listing from their servers.
Having said that ~ I do not think it applies to sales outside of eBay and as such whoever told you that on another forum is wrong. (I think)

You, my friend, are incorrect //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

VI. No Surcharges. Under Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express regulations and the laws of several states, including California, merchants may not charge a fee to the buyer for accepting credit card payments (often called a "surcharge"). You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as payment.

It does not mention ebay specifically. It simply says "you will not" charge a surcharge for accepting paypal as payment, period.

Whoever told him that he is technically not allowed to charge the buyer 3% for accepting paypal as a form of payment is correct. Ebay or not, it technically cannot be done.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

You, my friend, are incorrect //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif


It does not mention ebay specifically. It simply says "you will not" charge a surcharge for accepting paypal as payment, period.

Whoever told him that he is technically not allowed to charge the buyer 3% for accepting paypal as a form of payment is correct. Ebay or not, it technically cannot be done.

I stand corrected! (I'm right about there being an exception for sellers in the UK selling to a buyer in the UK, however...)

I wasn't absolutely sure and as such is why I put "(I think)" at the end of my post.

 

[VOA_NIGHTMARE 10+ year member]

Not to mention alot of people dont think about it but any time you use a visa mastercard etc at a store or anything. The seller, store, mechanic etc they are all charged that fee, for accepting payment. Most do not say anything about it. But the price does not change if you pay them cash or cc. You know what the fee is so anytime you list something for sale just add that fee into it. I personaly dont add it in and take the loss just because its hard enough to sell things as it is now.So I always end up taking the loss just to sell my stuff.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

As a side note....it is illegal to add a surcharge for accepting a credit card or paypal as payment, but I do not believe it is illegal to have a discount for paying in cash/money order //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Technicalities. It's all in the wording.