posted on August 16, 2001 08:58:23 PM new
Due to all the new expenses; Auctionwatch's picture fees, and a % of sales...Ebay's higher fees, and PayPal's .30 plus 2.9% of sales, I found that everyone was making money except me! Even uncle Sam will want a piece of my sales next April! I personally do not mind paying Auctionwatch the 5 cents per picture, or PayPal the .30 for the convenience of payments, but I do mind everyone getting a percentage of my final bids!
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I decided to pass some of the cost to my buyers. I posted at the top of my ebay auctions, that if they preferred to pay by PayPal, to please add .30 plus 2.9% of the winning bid to the final total. (I even calculated the total for them)I also posted the same statement in my email confirmation letters. I felt that instead of not offering PayPal at all, I would give the buyer the option. I knew they would have to pay for checks, cashier's checks, money orders, etc...so instead they could pay for the convenience to use PayPal. This was a big NO NO to Ebay! They let me know that I had 24 hrs to remove those statements and that I could not charge anything extra.
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This is what they told me:
'The only fees that may be added to the final price of an eBay item are reasonable shipping and handling, escrow service fees, and currency exchange fees. More information about these fees can be found at the bottom of this eBay policy page:
Currently, we do not permit sellers to charge buyers an additional fee for their use of ordinary forms of payment, including acceptance of checks, money orders, electronic transfers, or credit cards. Such costs should be built into the price of the item. This policy reduces the potential for confusion among bidders about the true cost of the item.
In addition, some forms of payment surcharges, such as credit card surcharges, are forbidden under the laws of many states, including California. For more information please see:
http://www.mastercardintl.com/faq.html#b_cust_serv'
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I suppose I could just charge $5.00 for handling fee and give a $3.50 discount for anyone using money orders or cashier checks That may help cover the extra costs of PayPal or if checks are preferred. How do others feel about all these extra fees that are only given to the seller ?
posted on August 17, 2001 07:23:21 AM new
The only acceptable method of passing fees onto buyers is to include those fees as part of a S/H amount (fixed usually works best), and then offer a discount off of the BID PRICE of the same $ amount..
So for example if your normal S/H is $2.00, increase it to $3.00 S/H. Then put in your EOA notices that buyers paying via cashier's check or money order will receive a $1.00 discount off their final bid price... This has the same net effect of passing on the fees, but doesn't violate any of the cc surcharge policies.
posted on August 17, 2001 11:16:03 AM new
katiyana. So what do you do, just let them deduct the $1.00 from the total they send as long as they are sending money order or cashier's check? If that is how you do it, do you have much problem with others trying to deduct it as well?
posted on August 17, 2001 12:41:05 PM new
I don't use this method myself for my auctions - I treat it as a cost of doing business and cover it with my profits on my sales.... You'd have to find someone who does use it and ask them... I am only passing on the information because a lot of people are still trying to pass on those costs directly, instead of indirectly, and getting in trouble with the Powers That Be.
posted on August 17, 2001 09:41:07 PM new
The dreaded "handling fee" can be calculated in a number of ways. I think the two primary factors to consider are, how many people pay you with ck/mo vs. paypal, and what is your typical paypal fee.
For instance, my items typically sell for about $15.00 and I get right at half paying with billpoint or paypal. So I figure I can calculate the average fee, divide by half, and charge that to everyone, then all my paypal fees should be more or less covered. That's about 40 cents in my case.
That may help cover the extra costs of PayPal or if checks are preferred. How do others feel about all these extra fees that are only given to the seller ?