Is this against Paypal policy?

[svleonard]

Are either of these things against Paypal policy?  If so, can anyone point out to me where it says so?

1) Requesting that a buyer pay using the "gift" option.

2) Asking a buyer who does not wish to pay using the gift option to include enough extra $ to cover fees?

I don't sell on ebay ... just through the arena.

Thanks

[Corona]

Here's the answer the question 1.

4.1 Receiving Personal Payments. If you are selling goods or services, you may not ask the buyer to send you a Personal Payment for the purchase. If you do so, PayPal may remove your ability to accept Personal Payments.

I can't find the exact quote on question 2 but Paypal reps will tell you it's against their TOS.

[Sarahlacewing]

Here's the answer the question 1.

4.1 Receiving Personal Payments. If you are selling goods or services, you may not ask the buyer to send you a Personal Payment for the purchase. If you do so, PayPal may remove your ability to accept Personal Payments.

I can't find the exact quote on question 2 but Paypal reps will tell you it's against their TOS.

Maybe the surcharge portions?

 4.6 no Surcharges. You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as a payment method. You may charge a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge and is not higher than the handling fee you charge for non-PayPal transactions.

[Ringlets]

Thanks for posting the info  Corona and Sarah   Hopefully that answers your questions
If you want to make sure you dont lose money on your item due to Paypal fees then add the cost onto the price of the item you are selling, dont ask your buyer to pay Paypal fees later

[svleonard]

Thanks for posting the info, guys!  I really had no idea, and I've bought/sold about a hundred things on here without the issue ever coming up before.  Sometimes my whole profit is only a dollar or two on a pony, so that is why I've been asking buyers to pay their own fees.  It was never my intent to go against Paypal policy. But now I know, so I will always ask for payment as goods.

[tulagirl]

Yea just add those fees into the initial price of your pony svleonard.  Thats perfectly okay to do.

[Corona]

Yea just add those fees into the initial price of your pony svleonard.  Thats perfectly okay to do.

Yep! Factoring in fees into the product quietly is fine and a lot of people do it. Outright asking your buyer to pay extra fees is not okay.

[Trish]

This is good to know, I've always been a bit miffed by this. I've been asked a few times in the past by sellers asking me to mark it as gifts but starting from now I'm not going to do so,. if they have any problem with it they should have included the fees from the start

[Icecrystalline]

I had a wonderful member here tell me the total for items I am purchasing and shipping, but then said I needed to pay such and such in fees. I said to them as politely as I could that I would buy them, but it's not my responsibility for the fees. It's put me in a really awkward situation since they're so nice I paid them for the items+shipping, but not for the fees. I hope that's ok, I do feel bad, but after reading all these threads, it's not the buyers responsibility...

[little.fox]

Ice, you really shouldn't feel bad about it, it doesn't matter now nice the seller is, Paypal makes it pretty clear that the fees are the sellers responsibility, it's the cost of the convenience of using PayPal. When you are selling anything you need to factor in all your expenses, wheather it's renting a shop, paying wages or fees. It's not ok to add on hidden fees onto a purchase after prices and shipping cost is agreed upon, imo.

[Icecrystalline]

Ice, you really shouldn't feel bad about it, it doesn't matter now nice the seller is, Paypal makes it pretty clear that the fees are the sellers responsibility, it's the cost of the convenience of using PayPal. When you are selling anything you need to factor in all your expenses, wheather it's renting a shop, paying wages or fees. It's not ok to add on hidden fees onto a purchase after prices and shipping cost is agreed upon, imo.

I feel bad also because they weren't going to sell online, they were just going to sell to people in their area, but I asked if they would send to me, and they said yes it would be fine. They told me the cost that we agreed on, and I waited for them to get back from the PO with a delivery quote, when they did, they sent that to me, plus item total again, plus a small paypal fee. I must admit, I feel bad since they weren't intending on selling online, but I know of others planning purchasing items too, and they weren't in the sellers area. I do feel it is partly my fault since they hadn't planned on selling to others, and I asked. They did accept though, with no warning about paypal fees.... Hopefully it'll be ok, I did pay, I just didn't add the fees on. I hope they're alright with it, they are really, really nice!

[babylofty]

Wow, that actually makes me feel better. I backed out of a deal when a seller asked me to help with his fees.  I felt...insulted? I don't know. I mean, it was only $1, but that's not the point, it's the position it put me in.   

[Stiletto]

I had no idea this was such a highly contested topic!  I've made several small purchases (under $10) from the Arena here recently and I choose to mark the payment as a gift because I would appreciate someone doing that for me since very little to no profit is probably being made, especially if all I am purchasing is a $1 bait pony.  However, on larger purchases I want the buyer protection so I will send it normally.

As a seller it seems like the general consensus is to include the fees in your price and not mention anything about the buyer covering the fees although that is essentially what you are doing.   If I was making a purchase and was asked to cover all fees I would try to get the item for a cheaper price, or suggest splitting the fee with the seller, since we are both benefiting from the service Paypal provides.  It's certainly not worth getting upset over especially if I'm buying an item I've really been wanting or is hard to find, and the buyer protection gained from using Paypal is worth the fees it in the end (on larger purchases).

[tulagirl]

Ice, you really shouldn't feel bad about it, it doesn't matter now nice the seller is, Paypal makes it pretty clear that the fees are the sellers responsibility, it's the cost of the convenience of using PayPal. When you are selling anything you need to factor in all your expenses, wheather it's renting a shop, paying wages or fees. It's not ok to add on hidden fees onto a purchase after prices and shipping cost is agreed upon, imo.

I agree with this, if you are going to factor in your fees it must be done before the item is put up for sale and added to that price when its listed, not after the sale...before.

Post Merge: June 03, 2013, 09:39:16 AM

Wow, that actually makes me feel better. I backed out of a deal when a seller asked me to help with his fees.  I felt...insulted? I don't know. I mean, it was only $1, but that's not the point, it's the position it put me in.   

Yea I don't care for this either. Let me decide what I want to do.

[Sunshine]

Honestly, I as a seller ask people if they feel comfortable sending as a gift to avoid fees on my side, but I've not been adding fees in if they send as "goods"... the only way I have to definitely ask someone to include the fees is if they're bought something THROUGH me and I'm just the sender (overseas), then I need the coverage of what Paypal takes out because I'm quoting exact shipping... I guess I should just overquote the shipping and keep it hidden? I dunno I felt like being honest is the best policy, which is why I disclose that X-amount is going to the fees... Ack I feel like a bad seller now!

I would hope that any buyer with me would just say they don't want to pay as a gift, I never would be rude to them about it, honestly it comes and goes and half the time I send payments through my phone and don't even see the options on there...