posted on April 10, 2003 12:08:05 AM new
Hi Folks...
Okay, I made an exception for one person to pay via credit card.
All is well, shipped item to germany, happy days.
But now the two other winning bidders on smaller auctions pay via paypal, but paypal does not let me know IF they paid with a credit card or not. It just accepts the payment with a fee.
So a $7 item gets a .50 fee (which matches the 2.whatever % and the 30 cent fee)
ugh.
Is there a way to see how a person paid? Or is the fee the indicator?
I can't find a break down, and since I said yes, I guess when I transfer funds out, I will close my account.
I know, tomwii, I was using paypal and not paying fees, but I can't figure a good way to factor it into my starting bids!
Babble mode [off]
posted on April 10, 2003 04:56:10 AM new
PP discontinued showing payment method-used info probably over 1 year ago.
Since ALL transactions now incur a fee, I guess they felt that info was unecessary!
Yes, sellers are charged to accept payments (BUSINESS & PREMIER). I have not found it too difficult to pass these on, especially with the help of ENDICIA.COM's Stealth mode!
Ralphie loves Mr Blonde:
"Are you gonna bark all day little doggie, or are you gonna bite?" http://tinyurl.com/5duz
posted on April 10, 2003 05:07:36 AM new
"Just start the bid 80 cents higher."
This won't work. If you could add 80 cents to the FINAL bid, it would work. But you can't. (And starting higher doesn't translate into ending that much higher.)
Covering the cost with an increase in Endicia stealth postage or UPS shipping (neither of which will tip off the buyer) is one way to do it.
posted on April 10, 2003 06:53:50 AM new
The problem is that when you accepted that payment, you automatically upgraded your Paypal account to a business account. You'll get fees on everything after this point.
At one point, Paypal would let you "revirginize" an account (go back down to Personal, which has no fee for accepting bank transfer and balance payments) once. I don't know if this is still the case. I had to go through this process when a seller issued a refund to me on my personal account by simply sending me a credit-card payment, instead of using the refund mechanism. (Why, I don't know, but that's what they did.)
posted on April 10, 2003 08:45:50 AM new
I now charge $1.00 handling fee. It covers my Ebay fees and my Paypal fees.
Don't yell, those that don't agree! It works for me and I have had no complaints. For $4 to $9.95 items I couldn't afford to "eat" the costs of all these fees, and people do love Paypal!
But, I state the shipping as $5.00, etc. S&H in my add. (I can do this because everything I sell is under 1 pound).
posted on April 10, 2003 09:30:24 AM new
Add it to the Shipping and Handling fee. I know paypal charges are high but most of my buyers use it and with the auctions that end high I really don't lose anything except a little profit. I hate losing that but if that is the way they want to pay I will accept it. Sometimes I add in my TOS. For this auction I prefer Money Orders or Personal Checks but if that is inconvenient I will accept PayPal. They usually choose PayPal. I like PayPal because your items are out of your house the next day and if your eBay room is like mine you want them out the next day.
posted on April 10, 2003 10:55:46 AM new
I agree with Libra, although I don't think that the fees are high. Most small businesses are charged from 3 to 4 per cent for credit card fees. I like the instant payment & fast turnover of my $$. I have been with P/P since it began & would never consider anything else.
posted on April 10, 2003 04:41:27 PM new
Actually, I own a small business and the credit card fee that the bank charges me is a whopping 5.5%. So it's a small price to pay to use PayPal and I'm certainly not complaining. I used them for quite some time before they did charge and couldn't believe a company would do that. If only my local banks would offer such deals!
posted on April 10, 2003 05:54:54 PM newActually, I own a small business and the credit card fee that the bank charges me is a whopping 5.5%
WOW! That is really high. The most I can remember anyone I know being charged is 2.69% and 25¢ a transaction. That was for mail order/internet.
Retail B & M locations are usually about 1.69% give or take a little. I have retail processing accounts that are as low as 1.49%. I have seen others on these boards with similar pricing. Many charge little or no setup fees.
Shop around. Paypal is okay, but merchant accounts are much better in my opinion.
echo-inc has great internet accounts and somone (ysgoodman?) said they really like payquake.
EDITED TO ADD:
You can get an American Express merchant account in a few minutes. You can pay a percentage or a flat fee of $5.00 per month.
posted on April 11, 2003 05:59:24 AM new
The merchant account I had for our shop charged on a sliding scale depending on the volume of business we did. We didn't have many charges so it was 5%. On months we didn't have any charges we were charged a flat $2.00. I soon realized it wasn't worth it for us.
posted on April 11, 2003 06:55:31 AM new
There are merchant account providers who have recognized that today's small business can become tomorrow's large business. They have created a merchant account just for small businesses. Accounts start with 3.5% but no monthly minimums or gateway fees. As your business increases, you can move up to tiers which have monthly minimums but lower rates.
Yes, it's a little higher than paypal at first. But as your business grows, your rates drop and what you get is a REAL merchant account where you and the customer talk directly. No middle man to confuse the issue when there is a problem. No minimum wage clerk who will let a customer charge something back one day after the purchase. And if there is a problem, at worst you will have the charge back of one transaction - none of those stupid account restrictions where the money goes in but it can't come out.
I have found that many folks consider a merchant with a real merchant account more reliable than someone using a payment service roach motel.
