posted on April 18, 2001 06:47:30 PM new
So PayPal and eBay say you can't charge buyers a fee for accepting PayPal or BillPoint, because Visa/MasterCard say you can't.
(even though with PayPal and BillPoint the seller is not technically accepting Visa/MasterCard)
So now's here c2it advertising:
"Imagine a payment service designed for sellers...
Where Sellers can receive online payments FREE! ..."
Uh... because they are charging the buyer the fees and not the seller.
So who is right? Isn't Citibank the largest Visa issuer on planet Earth?
posted on April 18, 2001 07:59:54 PM new
I didn't notice that the buyer pays, but I did see something in terms and conditions about fees after 3 months. And I don't like that they want the social #. I don't remember having to do that with Paypal.
posted on April 19, 2001 05:57:32 AM new
Plus, I noticed when you finishing my taxes, that you can pay with your credit card. And you guessed it, the IRS charges the payer a fee!
Perhaps eBay will tell the IRS they can't do that!
posted on April 21, 2001 06:38:24 PM new
Most states have a law that the seller can not charge a fee for credit card acceptance. Most credit cards make the vendor accept a contract that says they can't charge extra for CC acceptance. However, when you accept a service like Paypal, you are NOT accepting a credit card. So it is NOT illegal to charge a fee. However, ebay and paypal say that it is against THEIR rules. So if you want to list on ebay, you can't charge a fee and if you want to accept paypal, you can't charge a fee. It has nothing to do with legalities.
Why can Paypal do it? Because they charge even if you pay by bank transfer or existing paypal balance. They are NOT charging for credit card alone.
There is a very simple way around this for any seller. Put in your terms "we charge a 2.5% handling fee to ALL bidders. We also give a discount of this same amount to anyone who pays with check, money order, moneyzap, C2it, bidpay...." everything but Paypal, Billpoint or whatever service you use that does charge you a fee.
Jayadiaz: Paypal started asking for social security numbers a long time ago. You may get away with not giving it to them if you don't open a money market. Remember that Citibank is a REAL bank (unlike paypal) and is subject to banking rules that paypal can ignore. That is why citibank does ask for social security number. And you should feel perfectly safe giving it to them.
Personally, I may have given Paypal my ss#. I dont recall what else they asked for when I became verified and opened a premier account back when I trusted them. In my years as a consultant, I gave my ss# to credit card companies, banks to which I applied to credit, companies for which I worked, etc. I think it is fairly easy to get someone's ss# and just having this info isn't enough to cause damage. Giving your credit card info and access to your bank account to an unregulated company is a much bigger problem.
My recommendation is to use trusted and regulated companies when possible and right now Western Union's Moneyzap and C2it have earned my trust.
posted on April 21, 2001 07:29:51 PM new
Annoying how PayPal passes the buck and claims that it has nothing to do with them and they are just following eBay and Visa/Mastercard rules. And eBay says it has nothing to do with them but they are just following Visa/MasterCard rules.
I still wonder what eBay thinks about c2it charging the buyer. Do eBay policies then technically prohibit you from using c2it?
