Wrong to ask someone to cover paypal charges?

[Rebtl]

Someone is going to buy a site from me. I am not selling it for much.

Is it wrong for me to ask him to cover the paypal charges if he is going to be paying paypal via credit card? (I don't have a business account)

This feels like a newbie question but I've never really had the issue.


Thanks,

Rebtl

[Michael Oksa]

In my opinion it would be unprofessional. The better option, in the future, is to take PayPal fees into account when setting your price.

However, if it's a personal friend and they know your situation, you could ask.

Anyway, if you're not selling it for much, then PayPal won't take all that much.

All the best,
Michael

[Rebtl]

I see your point, but at the same time, it seems to me like, you are agreeing to pay someone how much they are asking for a given product or service, and because of the way you chose to pay them, they arent getting all of that money.

I guess I might feel differently if I was on the other side.

Rebtl

[Michael Oksa]

Ok, let's say they agreed to pay you $100. They are expecting to pay you $100. Then, all of sudden, you remeber that PayPal is going to take $6 of that - so you tell the buyer that they have to pay you $106.

But, that's not what they agreed to.

In effect, you would be changing the terms of the agreement after the agreement was made.

Like I said, keep it mind next time and calculate the fees into your asking price. This time I would just let it go.

Anyway, that's just my take on it, maybe others have a different view.

~Michael

[Ofthemix]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

In my opinion it would be unprofessional. The better option, in the future, is to take PayPal fees into account when setting your price.

I have to agree with Michael on this one. I'm an eBay PowerSeller and Paypal *cough* screws me (parden my french) out of money every day. If you're going to sell anything on PayPal, you kind of need to account for the fees in the selling price to make up for what they take.

[Rebtl]

I still see it as, they are paying me $100 and they just have to pay $6 to get me that money. They only have to pay the $6 because of the way they chose to give the money to me.

When you go to the bank to get a cashiers check, it costs you $5-7 but no one ever expects the person receiving the money to eat that cost. The person writing the check pays for it because of the way they chose to pay.


THAT being said, if your way is indeed the industry standard then I will abide by that.


Rebtl

[googleninja]

It's true that its not professional. So when setting you're price you always have to set it into your consideration...

It can be different though, when selling websites because most of the time in my auction I tell people to cover up fees (escrow fees and etc.)

[Edgar Moreno]

One more recommendation that I would give is that you should make different payment options and pricing. Just place on the sale price contract that depending on which form of payment they wish to use, there may be other charges. As long as the buyer knows this upfront there is no disputing it.

[Rebtl]

Yea, thanks efus

I definitely plan on doing that next time.


Rebtl

[123rlp]

Don't except payments from paypal problem solved.

[AverageGuy]

i guess it will be weird if you asked the buyer to pay for the paypal fee. it is a kind of transaction fee. if you accept credit card, you still need pay it. not the buyer.

back to your question, no, I do no think it is wrong to ask the buyer, but weird.

good luck

david

[Kay King]

The real problem is using a personal Paypal account. If you plan further sales you should upgrade to premier to avoid problems. Personal accts that receive payments catch some flak from paypal.

kay

[BIG Mike]

PayPal fees are just one of many various costs of doing business and as such, should be factored into your pricing. It has nothing to do with the customer - it has to do with your choice to use them to process payments for you. No matter how you do it, some fees to you, the business owner will always be a part of that.

Besides, it's a violation of PayPal's User Agreement (European Version Anyways):

4.5 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. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to affect the legal right of a merchant in the UK to impose a surcharge for a debit or credit card transaction under the Credit Cards (Price Discrimination) Order 1990.

See this page for more information:

https://www.paypal.com/gr/cgi-bin/we...receive-policy

[SeanSupplee]

Your final price should always cover your butt fee wise or any commissions wise this goes for anything out there that you are doing. If you want to sell the site for $100 but there a $6 fee just make its $110 sale. But in all honesty I would never mention the price is higher because of a fee I get charged from paypal or a credit card order. You rarely see it in the real world and when you do you tend to say forget that such as ATM charges lol.

[GarrieWilson]

If my memory serves me, PayPal doesn't charge a fee on personal accounts so it's a moot point.

Garrie