| Author | Content |
invermontdirt
Lyndonville, VT
January 14, 2009
09:37 AM Post #6003990
| This is a sore subject in my book, as I have sold and purchased . I would never charge a customer a fee that was designed for me. Don't except paypal and wait for your money, its a convenience thing, want your money now, pay the fee. Has anyone looked at the economy lately. Probably not a good time to mess with consumers. If you back the fee on me i will not do business with you...period. This is my Opinion whats yours. |
GreenThumbsTN
Chattanooga, TN
(Zone 7b)
January 14, 2009
11:49 AM Post #6004458
| i am not sure i understand your post.
all costs must be integrated into item prices, it doesn't matter whether that's banking fees, rental and employee expenses, shrinkage, utilities or whatever. a business can not stay in business unless it makes a profit. period.
|
gone2seed
Milton, FL
(Zone 8a)
January 14, 2009
12:01 PM Post #6004511
| If you are talking about adding a specific "fee" to cover Paypal cost then I agree with you completely.Paypal fees should be a part of overhead which should be built into the price of the item. |
invermontdirt
Lyndonville, VT
January 14, 2009
12:10 PM Post #6004559
| Sellers are marking invoices
Item = ?
Shipping = ?
Paypal fees = ?
Total for all above=?
Want not just mark the invoice
Item=
Plus electric bill
plus overhead
plus heating
plus gas
plus handling
plus employee wages
plus Taxes
plus building rental
plus shipping
Your total= ?
If the fee is in your item so be it, I would rather not see it on my invoices. |
invermontdirt
Lyndonville, VT
January 14, 2009
12:12 PM Post #6004581
| Thank you gone2seed, I am glad I am not the only one appauld by this |
GreenThumbsTN
Chattanooga, TN
(Zone 7b)
January 14, 2009
12:58 PM Post #6004769
| i didn't know people were breaking down invoices like that.
|
gone2seed
Milton, FL
(Zone 8a)
January 14, 2009
02:04 PM Post #6005005
| I have bought some and sold a lot.I have never seen an invoice listing Paypal fees.I'm sure it happens but i'm willing too bet that seller won't last long.Word gets around fast in a small community like this. |
summerkid
Rose Lodge, OR
(Zone 8b)
January 14, 2009
06:28 PM Post #6006067
| Is it because the seller will accept other forms of payment & is willing to give a break to cash payers? |
Syrumani
San Antonio, TX
(Zone 8b)
January 14, 2009
08:38 PM Post #6006521
| I know when the Marketplace was first opened last year, there was alot of confusion - on the seller's side - about what to do about Paypal fees.
As a seller on ebay, I was pretty much forced to upgrade my Paypal account to accept credit card payments. In which case, I was charged a fee whether a credit card was used or not . . .
I personally don't pass the Paypal fees to a Marketplace customer . . . but I don't want to have to pay the fees every time I receive a Paypal payment. Once the Marketplace opened, I opened a second Paypal account. I now have 2 Paypal accounts - one for credit card payments, one for non-credit card payments. For Marketplace customers, I provide both payment options, and let the customer take it from there. It seems to work fine on both sides. |
summerkid
Rose Lodge, OR
(Zone 8b)
January 14, 2009
08:51 PM Post #6006576
| Yeah, I don't this this is some egregious practice requiring outrage. If you don't like the seller's fee structure or shipping charges or whatever, just move on to the next listing. No harm done. |
glendalekid
Tuscaloosa, AL
(Zone 7b)
January 18, 2009
11:28 AM Post #6019541
| Syrumani,
Are you speaking of e-checks vs credit card payments in PayPal? A different PP account for each?
I pay PP fees on any eBay purchase that is paid for via PP whether credit card or e-check, but I don't pay PP fees to ship an eBay item that I received a check or money order for. No doubt this is the reason why eBay has now made it mandatory to use PP for payment. So, I'm interested in how your second PP account works.
I have a second account, but I use it only for my personal purchases.
Karen
|
Syrumani
San Antonio, TX
(Zone 8b)
January 18, 2009
12:20 PM Post #6019743
| On the Paypal account I have that I was forced to upgrade to accept credit card payments, I am charged a fee even with balance transfers. That is why the second account was opened . . . so I would be able to receive funds without being charged a fee. |
emh48
Premont, TX
(Zone 9b)
January 18, 2009
03:35 PM Post #6020450
| one seller on here did that to me, tho in the add there was nothing said about a paypal fee.. Once they send me a invoice they put down their paypal fee for me to pay.. Now I only buy from sellers like gone2seed and about 3 others that dont do that..
This message was edited Feb 4, 2009 10:40 AM |
glendalekid
Tuscaloosa, AL
(Zone 7b)
January 18, 2009
03:44 PM Post #6020473
| Syrumani,
Okay, I see what you are saying. Yes, to receive credit card payments you had to upgrade to a Premier Account. I did, too.
For my shipping insurance I recently started using third-party insurance, which is way cheaper than the USPS. I just paid my invoice with them using money from my Premier account balance and sending it as "services-other". There should be no PP fee on their end for this, but I am going to check with them to be sure.
emh48,
Adding for the PayPal fee is very wrong. The PP fee should already be figured in somewhere as a "cost of doing business". In fact, I'm not sure but adding it in like that may be against PP rules as well.
Karen
|
ecrane3
Dublin, CA
(Zone 9a)
January 18, 2009
04:03 PM Post #6020538
| I have a feeling that some of the sellers who are doing that are doing it because they don't know any better, not because they're trying to cheat buyers, break rules, etc. If the person is an established vendor who's been doing this for a while then they should definitely know better, but for many people who just have a few extra plants to sell or are just starting off they may not realize that it's not appropriate to do that. They may figure if people want the added convenience of paying via Paypal that the buyer should pay the extra charge, or if they don't want to be charged then send a check, money order, etc. Similar to how a lot of companies used to charge you extra if you wanted to pay with a credit card. Or if they've participated in co-ops here, the hostess would often arrange for payments via Paypal and the Paypal fee would be passed on to the buyer in those cases, and they may have experienced that and not taken the time to think through why selling something on the marketplace would work differently. |
glendalekid
Tuscaloosa, AL
(Zone 7b)
January 18, 2009
04:16 PM Post #6020570
| ecrane3,
I agree that this problem probably does involve inexperienced sellers. As suggested earlier, some who are inexperienced and take checks, money orders, and PP may well be trying to be more fair to the checks/money orders customers by not including the PP fee unless PP is used.
I don't know the experience of other sellers, but my checks/money orders payments run to only about 1 out of every 50 sales, if that often -- so, it's just not worth it to figure the shipping in two different modes. Also, I feel that the wait and extra processing of money orders/checks kind of undoes the "gee, but you didn't have to pay a PP fee" side of it.
Karen
|
emh48
Premont, TX
(Zone 9b)
January 18, 2009
09:52 PM Post #6021958
| At one point paypal used to charge a fee to buyers on ebay, than the quit and started charging the sellers. When a person is in business they have overhead, it isnt all profit..paypal fee is overhead. I wont buy from anyone charging it as part of the invoice.
|
gessiegail
Taft, TX
(Zone 9a)
January 25, 2009
07:55 PM Post #6050624
| I don't even know why anyone would be upset either way. I , in particular don't care if the pay pal fee is included in the price of the plant or added on(whether I am buying or selling). I do know that Dave isn't even charging us yet unless we are 'big time' selling. When I sell I calculate in my head what the paypal fee is and just add it on to the cost of the plant. I am not making any money on DG markeplace by selling plant I have propagated...but growing and having a lot of fun. |
synda
Carrollton, OH
(Zone 6a)
February 03, 2009
09:07 AM Post #6086812
| It states on ebay if you BUY there is NO fee, but if you SELL you the SELLER pay a fee.So the fee is up to the seller to pay for using that service.Just the same as a store pays a fee for people using credit cards. |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
12:43 PM Post #6087665
| buyers should be aware that if the seller comes right out and states the PayPal fee or not, like Gail says, you are paying it rolled into the price of the plant/item. That's one of the reasons the prices aren't as cheap--and then some of the buyers complain about that too. |
emh48
Premont, TX
(Zone 9b)
February 03, 2009
01:34 PM Post #6087907
| The one I was talking about listed the selling price and the shipping price than when the she send the invoice it listed selling price, shipping and than a 55 cent paypal fee added at end. this is not right. I only buy know from sellers that I know now. and thats it.
This message was edited Feb 7, 2009 10:36 AM |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
01:37 PM Post #6087927
| I would not judge all sellers by one bad experience--there are many really good sellers on the MarketPlace--just check out their feedback. |
invermontdirt
Lyndonville, VT
February 03, 2009
06:09 PM Post #6089109
| Consumers have the right to complain dmj1218 its our money and if you want to earn it, I wouldn't try to scalp people, I know your probably not doing it, but to make a statement about complaining customers, and then add all sellers are not the same.
If you can't afford the fees...Go out of biz...Period.
I have spent a lot of money on the market place, so I wasn't making a blanket statement, only to the few who do. |
maggidew
(Maggi) Big Sandy, TX
(Zone 8a)
February 03, 2009
06:16 PM Post #6089131
| I know that in co-ops oftentimes the host/hostess adds the PayPal fee into the invoice for co-op purchases. I think that is fair because otherwise the co-op host ends up 'eating' those fees.
I agree that sellers should build the PayPal fee into the asking price and not invoice it after the sale. Any seller that's doing that should at the very least include that information in their listings and let the buyers decide beforehand if they want to pay that extra fee. |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
06:22 PM Post #6089158
| key phrase up there was "some of the buyers"--I did not lump them all into one category, please read carefully
but some of them do complain:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/925572/ |
gessiegail
Taft, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
07:38 PM Post #6089500
| In the past I sold streps for 4-6 dollars each on DG. I may have to charge more this year.
Have you noticed on ebay that lilriver has a starting price now of 8.88 and then people bid? The fees pay pal is charging just get higher.
I have noticed that good vendors like Lyndon Lyons and Rob's Violet Barn are still charging respectively about 5.50 to 10.50 for smaller streps but then the shipping charges are really really high. Buyers pay for it one way or another except on DG Marketplace. I have spent hours packing and don't charge anyone except the most minimal amount and none for my hours and hours of packing.
I have no problems selling streps except that many of us also enjoy trading for fun. |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
07:56 PM Post #6089595
| I've gotten PayPal payments this week and they have not increased the fees for me (but I'm not an ebay seller either--they were MarketPlace orders). But I was expecting them to this year so I've been keeping a close watch on the current orders. Sometimes its a fine line between adding the PayPal fees and the profit not enough to make it worthwhile. I'm also looking for USPS to raise priority shipping at any time--I heard they were supposed to have a general postal increase in May, but don't know if it applies to priority shipping. I know FedEx and UPS increased rates Jan1. |
gessiegail
Taft, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
08:51 PM Post #6089844
| The only thing I heard about USPS is that to make for the money they are losing they are going to solve the problem by stopping Saturday deliveries. FedEx and UPS are both in trouble financially a lot worse than USPS, I think. |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
08:55 PM Post #6089861
| found this on rate increases USPS:
http://www.pb.com/cgi-bin/pb.dll/jsp/Postalinfo.do?sitelet=R...
edited to add--my next door neighbor worked for DHL as an MBA until Jan31, they've pulled out of US altogether; she's been there about 3-4 years, now laid off
This message was edited Feb 3, 2009 6:57 PM |
Syrumani
San Antonio, TX
(Zone 8b)
February 03, 2009
08:57 PM Post #6089872
| I heard it may be Tuesdays, since that is a "slow mail day" . . . I guess we'll have to wait and see. |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
09:04 PM Post #6089912
| This one says 3.9% for priority and it supposedly already went through 1/18--I didn't really notice it on the orders I just sent out, but none of them were flat-rate so I didn't think anything about the price when I did them online. Guess I just thought that was the price with the weight.
http://www.wholesalecentral.com/USPS-Rates-Rise.htm
edited to add--I don't seem to be finding a main stream media source for this info though
This message was edited Feb 3, 2009 7:06 PM |
gessiegail
Taft, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
09:19 PM Post #6089988
| I was shocked on MOnday when I sent a trade package to a fellow DGer. I printed it on line with my scales and used click and ship. The amount came to 11 dollars and change. It weighed 3 lbs and 3 ounces. I have shipped many a package and never had one cost over 11.00 for gesneriads. They are small plants. |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
09:27 PM Post #6090024
| I do all mine that way too.
What really shocked me is I took a big box of LA Iris to the post office Saturday morning, dropped them on the counter, and they actually arrived in New York on Monday. Last summer, anything going to New York ALWAYS took 5 days, minimum.
It was $9.85--I charged the person $9.29 (which WAS my standard shipping charge for 8 LA Iris) shipping, so I then had to change it to $9.79. I hated to do that to those that ordered after that person (and one slipped thru after before I could edit it) but I can't continue to eat shipping charges either.
Debbie |
gessiegail
Taft, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
11:16 PM Post #6090533
| I never feel badly if I have charged someone a dollar more than it actually cost me. I don't do it intentionally, but I am not going to the trouble of refunding a buck. (I have eaten shipping costs, also, and didn't go back and ask for more) |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 03, 2009
11:19 PM Post #6090542
| I didn't change it for the people that bought it at that stated shipping rate--I just edited it for any purchases that occur in the future. |
Doe41
(Audrey) Dyersburg, TN
(Zone 7a)
February 03, 2009
11:33 PM Post #6090601
| The trouble I've had with the PO is when they find out I'm doing a swap, etc., they double the postage. I went to Ups and sent it $10.00 cheaper!
I've also found that on E-Bay they charge enough shipping to take care of any Pay Pal charges! Win something for .01 and you pay $3.00 shipping and handling! Not any more! I learned my lesson! LOL! |
buggycrazy
Lebanon, OR
(Zone 7b)
February 06, 2009
11:20 PM Post #6104476
| Doe, that makes no sense, they all charge by weight and how fast you want it to arrive.
USPS is having 2 rate hikes/per year now, one in Jan and one in May, they used to just have one in May. Anything over 2 lbs is cheaper to ship in a flat-rate box unless it is going to somewhere very close. Also parcel post is now more expensive that Priority due to the additional penalties imposed on parcel post and discounts applied to priority, only if you do postage online. I also pay a monthly fee for a shipping service so I do not have to hassle with the USPS or Paypal shipping "services" which cost me a bunch of wasted time.
I used to ship the larger, heavier packages UPS, (as long as it didn't matter how slow it got there) it used to be about the same as parcel post but with $100.00 of free insurance. It is now more expensive, but I have mostly quit selling any wholesale amounts so ship very few large package anymore. I still prefer to ship them UPS since the Post office seems to treat those large, heavy ones like trash.
Even with the high UPS rates this year it didn't justify some of the shipping charges certain wholesalers were charging so I saved a bunch of money not ordering any wholesale bulbs this year. The penalties charged by some companies for the "end of season" sales are totally out of line. I decided to invest in vegetable seeds instead, everybody has to eat, including me! |
Doe41
(Audrey) Dyersburg, TN
(Zone 7a)
February 07, 2009
12:15 PM Post #6106037
| I know it makes no sense, but she did it while I stood before her, and I took my package and walked out. |
buggycrazy
Lebanon, OR
(Zone 7b)
February 07, 2009
10:10 PM Post #6108098
| Find another Post office!
It really can make a difference.
Unfortunately I lost my good mail delivery person.
We are fortunate that our UPS route is now done by a guy that looks like he won't retire next week, so I won't have to train a new one for awhile! |
Doe41
(Audrey) Dyersburg, TN
(Zone 7a)
February 08, 2009
12:33 PM Post #6109919
| LOL! I'd have to go out of town to find another one! |
gessiegail
Taft, TX
(Zone 9a)
February 08, 2009
10:15 PM Post #6112467
| I love my local post office and its' employees but there are a zillion little towns within 15 minutes of where I live. If I didn't love my post office, I would just go to another one. |
celtic_wyndes_f
Hallsville, MO
(Zone 5b)
February 09, 2009
03:03 PM Post #6115659
| I wonder about the Pay Pal fees and how do I handle also. I am one of those that charge the PayPal fee to the customer. The reason is that it is a convience for the customer. If they want to use a credit card and getting the product sooner, then they can use PayPal. I do give them the option, since I do accept checks and money orders. It would not be fair to raise the price for those who do not use PayPal. I am selling my product the cheapest as I can, sometimes I think that I am too cheap and may be shorting myself. With Pay Pal you can NEVER get ahead with the fees in the first place. If I charge and extra 2.9% on the total order and they send the money thru, Pay Pal is still going to charge 2.9% on top of the new total dollar amount anyways. It is like shipping, do I raise the price of my product and figure in the worst case scenario on shipping cost to everyone, just so I can say, "FREE SHIPPING". even though it is NOT free. You as consumers, how would you like to see it? |
GreenThumbsTN
Chattanooga, TN
(Zone 7b)
February 09, 2009
03:37 PM Post #6115820
| celtic_wyndes_f, if you read above, your customers are speaking and they don't like to know the details of your operation and how you come up with your charges.
just think, when you shop online anywhere else, do you get a breakdown of the S&H? no, of course not.
i have bought seeds from places that charged $7.95 S&H for a single pack. did i pay it? yes. did i complain? no, because i knew the fees up front and i could, at that time, decide whether to pay or do business elsewhere.
so my suggestion to you is to build in your paypal fees. if you sell small dollar amounts, sign up for the paypal 'micropayments' that have lower fees (5 cents plus 5% of the the total). |
celtic_wyndes_f
Hallsville, MO
(Zone 5b)
February 09, 2009
03:46 PM Post #6115855
| Thanks for your input GreenThumbsTN. Maybe that is what I need to do. I wish everyone had your same understanding on how it works on the business end of thing. |
BuriedTreasures
Valrico, FL
(Zone 9a)
February 09, 2009
04:31 PM Post #6116005
| As an FYI it's against the terms of service to charge a fee to accept paypal, as it is to charge a fee to accept credit cards. I find that many that do it are coming from co-op experiences where it's common practice.
Merchant accounts and business accounts can be canceled if it's discovered that you are tacking on fees versus offering a discount for cash. |
celtic_wyndes_f
Hallsville, MO
(Zone 5b)
February 09, 2009
04:37 PM Post #6116027
| This is all new to me, I am learning. I like the route of giving a discount for the cash users. Now I have to do some refiguring. Thanks for all the help. I want to be fair and by the rules.
Brian |
