Adding 3% on paypal

I know a lot of people are going to be very against this, but I wanted to show the other side of the issue.  I'm really on the fence right now.

1.  When I signed up for paypal, I do not believe there was an extra 3% added on for receiving payment.  Is this right?  
2.  To me, I would rather receive a check or M.O. in the mail, so I consider it sort of a convienence for the buyer, not the seller.  As a buyer, I think it's worth it to pay an extra 3% for a bit of added security.  
3.  This is more of a question.  How is this really that different from sales tax?  Why should the seller have to pay this one?
4.  Another question.  Is this really illegal?  I know that some people have said that it flat out is, I also think I've read that it's illegal in some states.  What are the facts here?

....Gosh, I know that there are a lot more points that I can't think of right now, but I just wanted to get this up there.

Lucas Denning

I don't know about legalities...

I do know that when I first dealth with Kathy Love (as an example of an "internet transaction" she said she'd *prefer* to not use PayPal and I respected that request, but if you are going to accept it I think you should just deal with the fee, personally. It's like taking American Express.... it's another way to get people to buy from you, so a little cut into their coffer doesn't seem unreasonable, and that you pay it yourself doesn't either.

Also, I think you might be incorrect about how it works. It's my understanding that if you are a *premire* member they take a cut, but if you are a plain vanilla "verified" member they do not. What you are paying for is listing in their directory of vendors, technically (I think - again, I'm no legal expert.)

Just offering some opinion!
^Curtis Brown

so if you bought a stereo system that was advertised for $1000.00  you wouldn't care if I added $20.00 to the price if you used your master card.  Its the same thing.  The seller pays for the convenience of offering a customer another way to pay in the hopes that it increases his number of sales.  You are right, I would much rather take a check than a credit card.  Even worse are those people that get a dozen crickets and want to put the $1.25 on their debit card.  I add 25 cents to any debit or credit card transaction under $5.00  it simply cover the cost of the card swipe.  I still pay the 2%.

as for charging an extra 3% to cover the paypal fees.  I will not do business with anyone who tries to pull that.  

Steve Schindler

I believe that Paypal is good for the seller and the buyer. As a seller on the internet or a store taking a credit card payment cost the seller money. I think it is wrong for anyone to ask the buyer to add 3% to thier total for using paypal.

If you have a paypal account there are ways for you to get that money back.
1. get thier debit card to get cash back from paypal
2. enroll in thier money market account and get money back.

If you do it right you can actually get paid from paypal to use thier service. Just my thoughts

VERY good points.  As of now, you guys have changed my mind.  I'm on your side of the fence.  But, I don't think it would keep me from purchasing from someone because I can see the other side of it, and I don't think that most people that charge the extra 3% are knowingly doing anything ...unbecoming of a good business person.  Thank you for the opinions!  Keep them coming!
Lucas Denning

clarity

I came back to this thread, and it struck me that my comment about Kathy could possibly be misconstrued. Just for the record, I do not think that Kathy mentioning she'd prefer to not use PayPal was in anyway "unbusinesslike". To be clear, she says she accepts PayPal, and she also told me she would honor that style of payment; I do not think stating a preference for money-order was out-of-line, because she was willing to take PayPal as her site says.

Frankly, I knew she was trustworthy, and she didn't know me from Adam so I was ready to be patient. I actually just sent her a personal check and waited the week or two for it to clear her account. No biggie. Not quite as "easy" as PayPal but still beats money-orders in my book (such a pain to get.)

I'll be honest though - as a buyer I love PayPal. I feel a certian amount of pretoection from scammers if I use PayPal, and even better is the fact that I can use my credit card and earn &quot;points&quot;. I have yet to find a bank that gives points for ATM withdrawls, checks, or money orders <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

^Curtis

Curtis,
clarity....
In no way was I saying that Kathy Love was doing anything &quot;unbecoming of a good business person.&quot; &nbsp;I was just speaking in general. &nbsp;I have absolutely no problem with someone that is not comfortable using paypal for any reason what-so-ever. &nbsp;That is completely their decision. &nbsp;Sorry if my words lacked...clarity.
LOL
Lucas Denning

As a seller what is the impression you want your customer to have after everything is said and done.

1. &quot;Easy transaction, great animals&quot;

or

2. &quot;The animals are worth the hassle of figuring out his payment methods&quot;

Anything you can do to take the decision focus off of the dollar amount they are spending and focus it on the animals you are selling will reap you rewards. By adding an additional charge you are giving your customers an excuse to not buy from you.

Here is an example of what I mean. I see an ad for a bearded dragon for $X. I say to myself, &quot;ok, that dragon is worth that amount&quot;. I'm sold. I email you to make sure if it's still available and any questions I have. You then tell me that their is a processing fee for using PayPal. Now, I'm back to step one, unsold and have to decide (again) if the dragon is worth $X + $ProcessFee. Why make sales harder for you to get?

I send money and accept money via paypal. I charge buyers the 3% and if they have a 3% fee i pay unless there ad says no charge. Most people put ad 3% paypal fee in the ad so not a hard thing to figure 3% for every 100.00. &nbsp;If you own a credit card you are paying a finance charge (same difference). It is a pain when someone says i want that animal i will send money tomorrow in the mail. You wait a week and they didn't send. Paypal works for me and apparentley for many other as they are on the stock exchange... Like all things in life there are some good and bad things you just have to weigh the +'s and -'s. I only accept paypal and m.o. sent 2-3 day priority. If someone doesn't want to buy from me due to that see ya...

well.... to be honest it doesn't really matter what YOU think, as a buyer or seller about extra fees.. PAYPAL has clearly spelled it out...
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin....ayments

QUOTE:&quot;
5.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 &quot;surcharge&quot. 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 spam_paid through PayPal may not be higher than the handling fee for transactions paid through other payment methods). spam_&quot;

in a nutshell, it is in violation of PAYPAL TOS to charge extra for using their service, if a vendor attempts to charge you, tell them to read their USER AGREEMENT (link at bottom of most PP webpages) if they continue to insist that you pay a surcharge, report them to PP and their account will be closed...
as a seller, I prefer PP, even with their fees its better than wondering if the 'check' will ever arrive in the mail (it usually doesn't)