PayPal Transaction Fees...Who Pays?

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

Are vendors meant to charge a 3.5% Transaction Fee if a customer pays via PayPal?

[doppler (Rick)]

I have used Paypal (as a buyer) on numerous occasions and have never been charged a transaction fee.

[killswitch (Edison)]

No vendors/stores are supposed to pay the transaction fee unless its for a personal transaction in which case you can select who pays the fee.

Its actually against Paypals T&C to make the buyer pay a surcharge but some stores do it anyway.

Obligations when receiving funds

11.2 If you receive funds through our Services you must:

1. Pay any applicable fees for receiving the funds into your account;
2. Not ask the buyer to send you the payment through a Personal Transaction if you sell goods or services; and
3. Not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting our Services as a payment method.

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mp...eceiving_funds

[csb (Craig)]

Beat me! Ditto above.

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

I have paid a 3.5-4% Transaction Fee when I elect to pay via PayPal on private purchases like on Astromart but this is the first time a vendor has requested the 3.5% transaction fee, 6 days after I paid through PayPal. Because the vendor advertises here on IIS I cannot reveal their name so please don't ask.

[Monstar (Johnny)]

So.....who was it then?

[astroron (Ron)]

I pay most of my purchases by paypal and have not paid a cent,
I don't have any money in there account, I just pay by paypal and have never been asked to pay any charges for anything.
Cheers

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Originally Posted by Hans Tucker

I have paid a 3.5-4% Transaction Fee when I elect to pay via PayPal on private purchases like on Astromart but this is the first time a vendor has requested the 3.5% transaction fee, 6 days after I paid through PayPal. Because the vendor advertises here on IIS I cannot reveal their name so please don't ask.

I think I know to whom you are referring, Hans, because I have had to pay 3.5% on anything I have purchased through Paypal with this dealer.
His reasoning is that Paypal's fees are so high (which they are!), he cannot absorb them. I guess small dealers are more adversely affected than the large ones who are more able to absorb the fees.
Having sold things myself where the buyer has used Paypal, and having incurred significant losses from the sale price, I can sympathise with him.

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Vendors are entitled to ask for that fee, since they would plainly get more money with a bank transfer.

But they would have to be upfront about it before the purchase takes place, else one could reasonably tell them that the transaction is now voided because of the new contract condition, and lodge a complaint against them with Paypal, and get one's money back.
Regards,
Renato

[dannat (Daniel)]

as sellers [non-business private sellers] we should pass on the paypal fee cost to buyers -why would you lose money & give the buyer the ultimate protection -almost all paypal cases are settled in favour of the buyer

[pluto (Hugh)]

This is quite interesting as I would absolutely agree that a non-business seller on somewhere like IIS shouldn't have to absorb the fees. However those T&Cs are very clear that you must and it's against those T&Cs to ask the buyer to cover the fees.

I'm thinking how I go about offering PayPal as an option when I sell stuff here now... perhaps one sale ad for bank transfer at one price and a separate ad just for PayPal at a different price?
I wonder if that's still against the T&Cs...?

Anyone have any ideas?

[raymo]

The Paypal fee does seem a little high, but it's not really any
different to paying with a credit card; many businesses charge a 3%
fee when paying with a card. I suppose the best way for small vendors
is to stick to bank transfers.
raymo

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Originally Posted by raymo

The Paypal fee does seem a little high, but it's not really any
different to paying with a credit card; many businesses charge a 3%
fee when paying with a card. I suppose the best way for small vendors
is to stick to bank transfers.
raymo

Paypal is much higher, Raymo. When I was running my own business, I paid 1.5% merchant transaction fee

[raymo]

The latest rates for Paypal are 2.4% + 30cents fixed fee, for domestic sales for small traders. Merchant traders start at 2.0% and drop to 1.5%
and 1.1% depending on turnover. Paypal also offers protection not offered by credit cards.
Why do some businesses charge 3% for credit card transactions when
the cost to them is less than that?
raymo

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Isn't there also some fee that someone has to pay when they move money from a Paypal account to their bank account?
I've never actually done it, but vaguely have a recollection of that being the case when I first joined it.
Regards,
Renato

[raymo]

It doesn't cost anything to retrieve your money from your Paypal a/c, and
personal money transfers are also free as long as they are funded from a Paypal a/c balance, or a bank a/c, but a fee of 2.4% is levied if the transfer is funded by an Australian debit or credit card, or 3.4% for a
foreign card.
raymo