Does this bother anyone else?

[kschweer]

I may be just venting here but I have been seeing more and more of this and it bothers me. What I'm talking about is someone selling something and stating "buyer covers PayPal fees or send as gift" or even worse "add $$to cover PayPal fees" and $$ is more than the actual PayPal fees would be. The way I look at is that the fees are a cost of doing business. I would not buy anything from a store if they wanted to charge me fees to use a credit/debit card so why should I be expected to do so to buy from someone using PayPal or Give up my protection it something goes wrong? This is a major red flag for me and I personally loose any and all interest after seeing this in a for sale thread. Like I said I may just be venting but who knows. I certainly could be wrong. Why not just price the item accordingly so that you will get the amount you want after the fees?

 

[saltyphish]

Definitely agree. Either add the additional cost to the price or eat it as a business expense. I will never buy from someone with these requirements.

 

[jokervueboi]

Same. If I see "Send payment as gifts" or "Buyer covers paypal fee" I don't even read further.

 

[mainereefer]

totally agree... if a convenience store does this they loose their right to accept credit.
it is against the rules with paypal also. if someone asks you to pay the fees just forward the message to paypal protection, the same will happen to that seller....

 

[ontop27]

You have never shopped at a gas station that charges more for non cash?

 

[Opus]

Definitely agree. Either add the additional cost to the price or eat it as a business expense. I will never buy from someone with these requirements.

So you don't have a cellphone or cable bill I take it.

 

[kschweer]

You have never shopped at a gas station that charges more for non cash?

I avoid it at all costs. I'm lucky to have several gas stations nearby that don't do this. It's also why I always carry cash.

 

[SPSDomination]

Ya i mean it does cost a business money to accept credit cards which is a comvenience to the buyer.

 

[SPSDomination]

Convenience**

 

[Bad Company]

Meh, it's just a different way to price an item. If they say $100 plus papal fees, then a local person knows what they can buy it for if they stop by and pay cash... Same thing as saying $100 plus actual shipping.

 

[DFW]

Meh, it's just a different way to price an item. If they say $100 plus papal fees, then a local person knows what they can buy it for if they stop by and pay cash... Same thing as saying $100 plus actual shipping.

What they said!

 

[Neptunes Cove]

yeah, I never knew this until I opened my own shop, but,
-You are the one needing credit, why should the retailer pay for a portion of your purchase??
and American Express can take 5-8% of a sale as a "fee" - the shop didn't need credit- the customer did...
-anyhow its a cost of doing business - I guess

 

[Opus]

Some would say they are being transparent so that the customer can see what the retailer is having to pay for their convienence. Sales tax is added seperately and broken out though that is a different animal and is actually owed by the customer. The whole credit card business can get very complicated. When you go to say Macy's and buy a $100 pair of jeans and use your Macy's credit card, more than likely they don't own or run their own card. They are actually charged by the company that runs the program. To further complicate matters, Macy's may not even own the receivable, it may be owned by the third party credit company. So in the end after fees and charges for the risk taken on by the credit company, Macy's may only get $75 of the $100 the customer charged.

I honestly have no issue with it unless they are trying to make a profit off of it. That is where I run into an issue with shipping. Sometimes I would rather just pay the actual charges instead of a flat fee. Usually not an issue with the aquarium retailers, I think their shipping is reasonable. It is some of the non-aquarium things I buy on ebay. They will charge $10 to $15 for shipping when I know it only cost them maybe $5. I then have to factor that into my bids so I feel like I'm still getting a reasonable deal after I pay their inflated shipping charges.

 

[Pete polyp]

You have a problem paying the 6% PayPal fee, but no problem paying more for sales tax? Why is it ok that you have to pay an additional shipping charge?

Most of the people doing business this way are not a business at all, but a fellow hobbyist. If you are uncomfortable with sending as a gift then yes you should pay the 6% for YOUR protection. Why should it be up to the seller to purchase insurance on the transaction? There are plenty of stand up people selling on here and people send money as gifts. I know, I'm one of them. I have had an issue one time with a shipment. The delivery guy left the box in the truck a whole day and night. The coral did arrive alive (barely) and died a week later. Remember, this payment was as a gift. I made an agreement with the customer to split the shipping and I would replace the coral they lost. They were surprised to see I had included 2 extra frags to cover the additional cost of shipping and for the inconvenience. Did I have to do this? No. Was it a DOA? No. Are there tons of disclaimers stating "not responsible for death by shipping delay"? Yes. But that's not how I would like someone to do me, so I'm not going to do someone else that way.

 

[kschweer]

While I understand everyone's points, my point is that the fees are a cost of doing business through PayPal. Not sure how shipping fits in as there is a set cost for shipping and the buyer is paying to get the product to them. I will say that I have a problem paying anything more than what actual shipping cost plus a little extra for box, heat/cool pack and anything else required for shipping. Like I said PayPal fees and credit card fees are a cost of doing business through those methods in the same way taxes are a cost of buying things. Stores do not need to accept credit it is a choice. There are plenty of cash only businesses out there. If a business wants to accept credit the costs of this are on the business in my opinion. It's really a catch 22 for businesses either pay the fees or take only cash and possibly miss out on any business from those who only use credit or don't have the cash on them. These are just my opinions and others are entitled to theirs as well.

 

[Pete polyp]

But why is the seller responsible to pay a third party for YOUR protection?

 

[kschweer]

Because that is the way PayPal is set up. The seller is paying for the convenience of receiving payment online not for the buyers protection. The buyers protection comes from PayPal not the 3% fee charged to use the service provided by PayPal.

 

[All Delight]

If the seller insists I pay the fee I dont buy. Its the cost of doing business. You can looks at it from all different angels and change the parameters to benefit your argument.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I may be just venting here but I have been seeing more and more of this and it bothers me. What I'm talking about is someone selling something and stating "buyer covers PayPal fees or send as gift" or even worse "add $$to cover PayPal fees" and $$ is more than the actual PayPal fees would be. The way I look at is that the fees are a cost of doing business. I would not buy anything from a store if they wanted to charge me fees to use a credit/debit card so why should I be expected to do so to buy from someone using PayPal or Give up my protection it something goes wrong? This is a major red flag for me and I personally loose any and all interest after seeing this in a for sale thread. Like I said I may just be venting but who knows. I certainly could be wrong. Why not just price the item accordingly so that you will get the amount you want after the fees?

I agree. If I were to sell something, is just make sure to make the price such that fees are in there. PayPal fees aren't much anyway, and I'd say the seller should plan for them to begin with.

 

[Pete polyp]

So what if it was worded.. super coral for sale! $1000 or -3‰ if paid for as gift.

To me the seller is trying to help the people who don't have a problem sending as gift save a little money.