Asking for the 3% PayPal fee

paying for something through ebay is going to default to 'goods' since.. well that's all anyone can buy via ebay.

I used the gift/payment owed option when doing a payment plan a few times, then another time I sent someone $1000 gift and I got an email from paypal asking me to clarify why I sent someone that amount and was it really a gift (it was). I am not sure if it was the number of times I used that option or if there is an amount threshold, but using that option does open one to some scrutiny from paypal. so just a heads up

Originally Posted by btbutler

Now days, paypal will ask the buyer if he/she wants to pay for the selling fee; I just did it the other day. Out of courtesy for the seller, and to ensure he got the full amount he was wanting, I decided to cover it. I feel it is a nice gesture, and I do it every time I buy from someone. I think that it is nice if other buyers do the same.

I just bought some zinnia seeds on Ebay and Paypal didn't ask me anything like that.
I do not any longer deal with people who ask an add-on for fees. And I refuse to purchase something if the seller demands that I pay as a gift. I was paying for a custom aquarium piece of equipment one time and the seller asked. I refused. Just told him 'I don't do that.' He accepted a regular Paypal payment.

If a person would screw Paypal, they would screw you too. My 2 cents.

Part of the cost of doing business is the small fee being paid by the seller.last I seen it is against paypals tos to ask a buyer to pay that fee.personally I would walk away from a seller that asks me to pay the fee.

I know I have made the personal decision to not ask a person for the pay pal fee any longer. It's been a long time since I have, but either way after reading everybody's reasoning for it I know I am on the band wagon. This has turned into a very informative thread.

I have to say I agree with most of you on the not asking for the fee thing. I also am against the paying for shipping supplies, I have never asked for either and will never, you factor it in to your cost and that's it. As far as the sending as a gift, if I remember correctly you are not protected by paypal when you send it as a gift.

Evidently I should stop being nice...

LOL, I just did a search in the classifieds and the first AD I opened stated "Paypal preferred" and then "please add 3%". So its the preferred payment choice and please add 3% ...

Yeah, OK penalize me for using your preferred method of payment. No thanks.

I'm curious as to why people don't just throw amazon giftcards at each other or something. There's no fee if it's an ecard and they go up to amounts far higher than anyone would ever need. Paypal is a terrible, awful service and after the Derek Beando fiasco (among others), it seems like people would shy away from it.

Still, I agree that it's unprofessional, tacky and terrible to ask a 3% fee from both the seller and paypal.

Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

You are not alone Nick. I skip ads that specifically ask for the fee. Isn't it against Paypal's policy anyways?

The seller should understand the fee is the cost of using the benefits of the service and if it's that much of a deal breaker, factor it into the sell price up front. (I kind of feel the same way about people that want to charge the box fee.)

I will add on some extra when I pay just because I think it is a nice gesture.

After re-reading, I think April has the right idea. If you don't like it, add it into your total cost.

Originally Posted by Inret

I'm curious as to why people don't just throw amazon giftcards at each other or something. There's no fee if it's an ecard and they go up to amounts far higher than anyone would ever need. Paypal is a terrible, awful service and after the Derek Beando fiasco (among others), it seems like people would shy away from it.

Still, I agree that it's unprofessional, tacky and terrible to ask a 3% fee from both the seller and paypal.

For me, the giftcard idea wouldn't be practical (at least most of the time). For the most part we use the money for bills or stick it in savings until we want another animal or supplies, so unless I had something specific I needed from wherever the gift card was for, it would be more of a hassle. I have thought about setting up the ability to take cards myself but I'm not sure how practical that would be outside of shows since I am not sure how many buyers would be willing to give out their card number via phone or email. I think Google Checkout was mentioned a while back as an alternative to paypal, but I've never really looked into it.