PayPal Fees

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 11:27 am

Not sure if any of you have noticed this, but PayPal charges their fee based on the total amount charged, INCLUDING the shipping portion. Not sure how they're legally able to do this, but it seems pretty wrong to me. I don't mark up the shipping charges incurred, but they profit off of them. Maybe no one has challenged this practice yet, but I bet someone eventually will.

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 11:46 am

Fleabay does the same thing Tom...and they get 10%, instead of 2.9%...... it just aint right.

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 12:01 pm

I am not doing anything on ebay, but a friend of mine does and he occasionally helps me out to sell or buy something. He keeps track of all the cost involved in selling on ebay and showed me a spreadsheet he keeps. It is mind-boggling. In addition to the ebay and Paypal fees, a lot of time he is short on money, because ebay quotes shipping charges that are incorrect and when he goes to the post office, he pays more. He sold an 1100R tank for me and from the $875.- high bid, there were $745.- left. You almost have to inflate your reserve or buying price in order to get the money you want.

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 12:31 pm

Well Tom...I can understand your frustration....but if you step back and look at it...if they are moving the money....they can charge on it no matter what it is for. To them it is just funds.....
Not saying it is right.....but it helps to understand sometimes.
Oh....and Hello!

Jebby

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 12:42 pm

Pick another battle, this is no different than a credit card - the cost of using a financial services firm rather than a personal check.

The eBay method is a bigger problem but there you need to price the various fees into a listing. And don't let eBay estimate shipping, I would suggest weighing/measuring and going with actual shipping costs (and make sure your thumb is on the scale when doing it).

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 12:50 pm

I have absolutely no problem paying a fee for the ability to have PayPal move the money - that's the cost of doing business. What I do have a problem with is them charging fees for an outside service that profits no one involved in the transaction.

Hi to you Jebby - long time no see! Hope you're doing well.

Tom

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:14 pm

Maybe an example would help, I feel like there's something I don't understand. Any online purchase I make with a credit card or PayPal, they only see the total which includes any shipping costs so I don't see how this gets broken out.

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:24 pm

sillygoose wrote:

Maybe an example would help, I feel like there's something I don't understand. Any online purchase I make with a credit card or PayPal, they only see the total which includes any shipping costs so I don't see how this gets broken out.

I always send invoices now, which break everything down to line items. At the bottom, there's a field for shipping charges. It's there for them to see clear as day, separate from the rest.

If I look at it like a MasterCard/Visa transaction, they would do the same, so I guess that's the way it is. Just seems excessive to me.

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 2:37 pm

If you separate out shipping from the CC/Paypal fees watch prices drop and shipping go sky high. That's what I would do but then again I don't care for JP Morgan or Paypal and which is why we do friends and family payments for forum members (and if anyone reading this doesn't you are a bad, bad person).

I have to ask, does Paypal even see the invoice line items? Being the best damn powdercoater east of the Mississippi, you have a lot more experience than me with Paypal.

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 3:36 pm

DOHCRob wrote:

I am not doing anything on ebay, but a friend of mine does and he occasionally helps me out to sell or buy something. He keeps track of all the cost involved in selling on ebay and showed me a spreadsheet he keeps. It is mind-boggling. In addition to the ebay and Paypal fees, a lot of time he is short on money, because ebay quotes shipping charges that are incorrect and when he goes to the post office, he pays more. He sold an 1100R tank for me and from the $875.- high bid, there were $745.- left. You almost have to inflate your reserve or buying price in order to get the money you want.

If you sell on fleabay, you must figure out what you want in your pocket for your item, figure out exactly what it will cost to ship, and add 10% just in case you figure wrong. Add 10% for ebay fee's, add 3% for paypal fee's, then add a couple bucks more for handling or what ever. After all that, your selling price is to high, Crying or Very sad

and your item wont sell....... Crying or Very sad

There has to be a better way...

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 8:59 pm

I do (almost) all my seals and bolts over PayPal. I try to keep them done as friends and family to avoid the fees. PayPal does this kind of transaction, because it's valuable for them to be able to touch the money, with no expectation of other services, such as service complaints, settlements, or sales rip-offs being done.

When PayPal is charging their percentage, they get it on the total amount of money they handle. It doesn't matter what it's for. It could all be shipping, they'd still want their percentage fee.

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 9:04 pm

This practice of theirs to apply the fees to the total price is why shipping costs on ebay have risen so dramatically. For us foreign buyers, ebay tends to select the most expensive method to ship so that their fees are maximized. It is absolutely crazy what shipping rates will come up from eBay's "shipping calculator". It makes many purchases from ebay totally prohibitive. The seller is probably not even aware what the shipping rates are being quoted at. All they see is that there is no sale, which is not very fair to the seller. I know it has drastically reduced my purchases. I think if the seller takes more control of the shipping, a cheaper method can be selected. Most sellers won't bother, though. In the end if you want something bad enough, just get the Vaseline out and bend over.

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 9:09 pm

genesound wrote:

I do (almost) all my seals and bolts over PayPal. I try to keep them done as friends and family to avoid the fees. PayPal does this kind of transaction, because it's valuable for them to be able to touch the money, with no expectation of other services, such as service complaints or sales rip-offs being done.

PayPal is cracking down on this practice. If they see numerous transactions adding up, involving numerous different last names of so-called friends and families, they'll issue a warning to cease and desist. They'll threaten to disable the account if it continues. I can't afford to have that happen, so I pay their fee.

I guess it's a small price to pay for doing business and it is very convenient. Convenience usually comes with a price.

There is one thing I do like besides the convenience. If you print the mailing label through your PayPal account, there's a discount for USPS shippjng. The discount I used to get when I used my USPS account went away when they increased all their rates, so this is a nice feature.