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PayPal Surcharge

I have noticed alot of people add a (3% or so) PayPal fee to their items and I wonder if everyone is aware, that is against the user agreement. It seems that PayPal looks at sellers as "merchants". This is cut from the Paypal website:

-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. This restriction does not prevent you from imposing a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge (in other words, the handling fee for transactions paid through PayPal may not be higher than the handling fee for transactions paid through other payment methods). Nor does this restriction apply to Pound-denominated transactions by sellers residing in the United Kingdom listing items for sale on a UK-based website.
dill

Showing 2 responses by rockvirgo

rockvirgo
587 posts
 
Thanks for your post. My gut reaction when I see the Paypal surcharge in an ad is problematic, nickel-dime seller. It becomes especially ridiculous on items priced under a couple of hundred bucks.

Credit card processing is an arcane and labyrinthine set of rules and procedures. Believe it or not, but compared to merchant services companies who impose monthly statement fees, monthly minimums as well as hefty interchange fees for sub-optimal transactions, all on top of their own 2 - 3% discount fees, Paypal is an amazing bargain for the occasional seller.

In my experience, no matter how fair a listing is, most buyers jostle for a deal. Competition works. Our transactions are already complicated with haggling over price, shipping and insurance. Streamlining the process by eliminating the upcharge issue makes good sense. If a seller offers the convenience and timeliness of Paypal up front, he/she ought to take the fee on the chin as a cost of facillitating trade.
rockvirgo
587 posts
 
Sugarbrie is right on it. In general, I'm all for venting about injustice but why whine about Paypal on the surcharge deal? They are simply protecting their ability to accept Mastercard/Visa which, like it or not, sets the rules of the credit card game. Likewise the seller who appreciates Paypal will do what he/she can to protect their service.

Btw, thanks to Jetkitty for possessing such a keen intellect :^)
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