Paypal question

I have a personal account and often receive credit card payments (which that acct can't accept) whether I say I can't accept them in the description or not. I usually have to deny them and its a pain in the butt for all. What does everyone else do with regard to this, any good ways to avoid getting the credit card payments?

 

Other than emphasizing it in your auction listings there's not much you can do I guess. That or upgrade the account.

 

I just upgraded my account. It's totally simple, but you do pay I think approximately 3% of fees to accept a credit card. Be aware it's illegal for a seller to pass that cost on to the consumer in an explicit fashion (of course retailers figure these costs into their prices, so everyone pays them).

 

I actually did upgrade my account the first time (when the slyly lured me into it) and then promptly downgraded. This time if I upgrade again I cannot downgrade (they allow it only once). What turned me off is the 3% fees on EVERYTHING -- not just credit card. Oh well.

 

Exactly. Avoid this ripoff.

All you can do is indicate in your listing that you don't accept payments from credit cards and deal with it. Some people can't read.

 

...and it's a ripoff how???

Make that most people when it comes to ebay.

 

Agreed. Our business accepts credit cards and to do so we must pay a banking and handling fee of approx 2.5%.....it's called the cost of doing business!

Think of all the people who want to give you their money but cannot if you don't accept their credit cards....


Ben

 

Count me in as someone who believes that accepting credit cards, via Paypal, on Ebay is a necessary thing. Like it or not, we live in a world where most people are more apt to purchase if they can do so using their credit card. IMO, you just face the possibility of losing too many customers (and generally *larger* spenders) if you don't accept them. More importantly, most buyers use Paypal for that very convenience of being able to charge things.

And while, as mentioned earlier, you can't explicitly pass those Paypal fees on to your Ebay customer, there *are* are ways to discreetly (and fairly) build the majority of those costs into your business. At worst, accept that on occasion you might lose a few pesos on an auction, courtesy of the Paypal fees. In the long run, you'll make it up with higher bids due to the conveniences you offer.

Just my opinion,
Dave

 

A well known fact. And it varies depending on what sort of account you establish with the credit card company, and the fees are higher for some cards - e.g. American Express. And surely you have noticed that some businesses will not accept Amex due to the higher fees. I have no problem with this.

The reason I call it a rip-off is because it applies to all contracts via PayPal. There is simply no technical reason why payments from a buyer's bank account should be taxed by PayPal at 3%. If you upgrade your account to Premium so that you can take credit card payments (less 3%), why should you also lose 3% when the money comes from the buyer's bank account? Such payments are not taxed when you have a Personal account.

 

I agree with you Geoff. If it was only credit card payments that get charged extra -- fine, I would've stayed upgraded. But when EVERYTHING is, I'm sorry, I didn't think that was fair. And I don't exactly run a large-scale business (not even small-scale), all I do is buy and sell a few things here and there if it can make me a couple bucks.

 

I do not understand this. I am so clear that I do not accept the credit card version, but I get a TON of those payments....Maybe a lot of buyers just don't understand???

 

I think they don't. Honestly, I didn't understand until I got my first one of these a few weeks ago. What a pain in the butt. I forgot to mention it in my last two listings (though I doubt it would have made much difference) and am now dealing with TWO credit card payments I had to deny. Now I'm working out other options...

 

I understand what you're saying. However the upgraded accounts are for folks doing larger volumes of business, not casual transactions. Just like there are fees for taking checks electronically if you do it in your business there are fees for doing so through PayPal. If those fees weren't there for business accounts then PayPal wouldn't be able to offer basic accounts to casual users & people who are just buyers.

Hope that makes sense. I'm typing with one hand while I sit on hold & listening to poor qulity music.

 

Give you that one...point taken.

I guess you can't win either way....


Ben

 

Conversely, on the buyer side, it appears to me that once I've exceeded my initial Paypal limit of $2,000, for credit card payments via Paypal, that I am required (!) to have a verified account, which will require me to provide bank account info rather than using credit card.

Am I misunderstanding this? I really don't want to tie a bank account to my Paypal account.

Does anyone have any perspective on this?

 

Well, I've changed my opinion. I realized two things: one, if I had a premier account, minus a dollar or two I would've had payment close to a week ago -- that's nice. Also, even a postal money order they charge you a buck for it...methods of payment have fees, we just have to get used to it. I'm now a premier account, I can handle a buck or two here and there if it means a faster and more reliable payment method.

 

No, not misunderstanding. unverified accounts are a risk that paypal will only allow to go so far, currently $2000. It decreases their risk of fraud, by identifying you better. If it increases your level of anxiety, don't use PayPal. I think there are other ways of becoming verified, but can't find them now on the PayPal site.

More about this and other things at the paypal discussion on eBay.

Mike