eBay/PayPal question -- WWYD? About This Page:

[whoSEZ]

First, thanks again for all your encouragement and pixies -- this is going way better than I expected! After less than 2 weeks, I'm about 1/4 of the way to my new digital SLR.

I listed a couple things with "buy it now" last weekend, and one of them went right away. The buyer paid via PayPal with an eCheck, so it didn't clear until yesterday. I noticed this morning that there's an extra fee in PayPal -- for "cross-border" transactions. The buyer's address is a PO Box in North Dakota. I'm guessing she lives in Canada and got the PO Box to get around all those "US bidder only" ads, which included mine. (I plan to include Canada at some point, but wanted to get used to selling with just US bidders first.)

I'm not really all that bothered by any of this -- hey, if it works, more power to her, and she has stellar feedback as a buyer. I'm not thinking this is fraudulent or worrisome.

What bothers me is the extra fee that I've been charged because her bank is apparently in Canada. It's not a huge fee -- less than 50 cents for this $25 purchase -- but I can imagine some sellers would not be so "whatever" about it.

So would you mention it to her? Make sure she knows her sellers will be charged extra for the cross-border fee? Just let it go? Help!

Thanks.

[whoSEZ]

Okay, so I just posted the same question on an eBay message board, and nobody seems all that bothered by it. Not all that uncommon, apparently! Good to know.

[snoozin]

Paypal drives me nuts, quite frankly. I love the ease of it, but when I've got a $2 item, and the person pays paypal, there's a 50 cent charge plus the percentage... on top of my listing fee, final value fee, breathing fee, the honor of looking at eBay fee, the chance to make eBay rich fee... sorry, there I go again... It's something I know I have to pay, but it irks me no end.

Its unfortunately the cost of doing business. I don't think she realized there's a fee for cross-border; she uses the PO Box so she doesn't have to pay the import fees to Canada for getting items sent from the US.

[tndisneyfam]

Originally Posted by snoozin

Paypal drives me nuts, quite frankly. I love the ease of it, but when I've got a $2 item, and the person pays paypal, there's a 50 cent charge plus the percentage... on top of my listing fee, final value fee, breathing fee, the honor of looking at eBay fee, the chance to make eBay rich fee... sorry, there I go again... It's something I know I have to pay, but it irks me no end.

Its unfortunately the cost of doing business. I don't think she realized there's a fee for cross-border; she uses the PO Box so she doesn't have to pay the import fees to Canada for getting items sent from the US.

I love your explanation of their fees snoozin. Sometimes the fees aren't really worth it to me. But, whatcha goin' to do. I keep listing items.

[whoSEZ]

Originally Posted by snoozin

on top of my listing fee, final value fee, breathing fee, the honor of looking at eBay fee, the chance to make eBay rich fee...

I can totally relate. I'll admit it: I came up with a spreadsheet to list all my selling prices, s/h, eBay fees, PayPal fees, postage costs, and final profit ... and it's been quite interesting, to say the least! PayPal fees are as crazy as eBay fees! Makes a difference in how you price things, doesn't it??

[loobyoxlip]

A good way to get Paypal to "pay you back" is to use their debit card. Everytime you use it in a store or online as a credit card, you get a percentage back. It's about the only thing I use. Even if you have a 0 balance at Paypal, they will take the money out of your personal savings/checking account for free. The percentage isn't that much (I recently got $1.57 back for a $100 purchase at Menards) but heh it's better than nothing.

[eff051102]

Some sellers will include the charge that paypal sends you into their buy it now amount or starting fee. What I include is a statement like, "I will ship out of the country, but there might be an additional fee tacked on if......." However once the sale has gone through and I didn't catch it in time, I won't go back to the buyer and tack on another fee. That's just me though. I would advise her of the fee issue for future reference.

I was once told by a seller (of an item I bought) that the shipping charge was $10.00 and when the item arrived, the postage on the package was $4.95!!!!! Now granted I pd. $.99 for the item, but to up charge the shipping that much was a total rip off. This is what the seller told me when I e-mailed them....."With the fees that Ebay and Paypal charge now adays, the only way I can sell an item at $.99 is by adding fees to my shipping?????" I couldn't believe it. I don't mind paying a resonable amount for shipping and fees (I sell on ebay also) but I draw the line at paying double! I reported her to Ebay and they are investigating her sales practices.

Oh and what I really thought was funny was that she said that she was a SAHM and was only trying to make some extra money for her kids clothes and toys......well DUH......SO AM I!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's like she was the only one out there doing this for her kids.

[DVC_Increda_Man]

Welcome to the real world of Business

Good News Though.
If you start to do Ebay as a business, its called a "Business Expense" on your tax forms and is deductable. YEAH!!