Why is there a 3% pay pal fee??

[whistler222]

I'm trying to buy some used harddrive, but noticed that a lot of places charge a 3% fee for using pay pal.

but when i send money with it, it's free
when i got money with it, i got it out for free.

where's the 3% fee going to?

 

[aethelbert]

Paypal charges a fee to use the service. The sellers probably just want that money to be reimbursed from the buyer. They don't charge you, but the amount that you receive upon payment is slightly less than what the buyer sent due to these fees.

 

[WildCowboy]

PayPal fees vary depending on whether it's a personal or premier/business account.

Paypal Fees

 

[kgarner]

Yeah, PayPal doesn't charge the buyer a fee, but they take a cut of the what the seller receives. I usually just figure that into the price I ask, but I suppose some people want to advertise the lowest possible price, but don't want to be out an extra 3%.

 

[danny_w]

PayPal only charges a fee to use the service if the funds that are received are from a Credit or Debit card, not from a bank account (and then only charges the recipient of the money). Standard (free) PayPal accounts can send but not receive CC payments without upgrading and paying a fee. When a merchant wants to add a fee for using PayPal, it normally only applies if you are paying with a CC and ss an attempt by the merchant to recoup the costs to him for using the service. I only have a standard (free) account so I can't accept CC payments, but I can still receive bank-funded PayPal payments and they don't cost me anything.

 

[whistler222]

Yeah, PayPal doesn't charge the buyer a fee, but they take a cut of the what the seller receives. I usually just figure that into the price I ask, but I suppose some people want to advertise the lowest possible price, but don't want to be out an extra 3%.

really?

but i sold a used camera for 300 bucks
he sent me 300 bucks. and i got 300 bucks.. i didn't get 291.. so i don't get what the 3% is..

i'm a personal account b/c i'm not a business.. does that make the difference then?

WHO would sign up for a business if that's the case?

 

[utekineir]

If you want to accept credit card payments on paypal you have to have premier. I used to do a lot of online sales and would eat the 3% fee. For me it was well worth the extra business i got by being able to accept credit card payments as opposed to just money people had transfered into their accounts.

 

[whistler222]

If you want to accept credit card payments on paypal you have to have premier. I used to do a lot of online sales and would eat the 3% fee. For me it was well worth the extra business i got by being able to accept credit card payments as opposed to just money people had transfered into their accounts.

clarify again pls. i'm sorry i'm new to this paypal business.

i registered pay pal, and i have a registered credit card.

so if u are a "personal" account, i can't use that credit card to send u money?
or they will automatically take 3% for credit card?

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

really?

but i sold a used camera for 300 bucks
he sent me 300 bucks. and i got 300 bucks.. i didn't get 291.. so i don't get what the 3% is..

i'm a personal account b/c i'm not a business.. does that make the difference then?

WHO would sign up for a business if that's the case?

If you want someone to be able to send you credit card payments, that's when you'd want a business account.

 

[jeremy.king]

PayPal only charges a fee to use the service if the funds that are received are from a Credit or Debit card, not from a bank account (and then only charges the recipient of the money).

This is only for personal accounts. They take 2.9% of all payment types if you have a premiere account

 

[Eidorian]

If you have $300 in your PayPal buffer and you use it for a payment will the seller be charged?

I just love being able to handle credit card payments. It's much less of a hassle for me.

 

[jeremy.king]

If you have $300 in your PayPal buffer and you use it for a payment will the seller be charged?

Depends on the seller's account type. Personal accounts have no fees for payments received from other paypal balances.

Edit: just use the link WildCowboy posted to see.

 

[kgarner]

You can only receive up to $500/month with a personal account. Not very good if you do a lot of business. I just sold 8 Mac Pros like the one in my sig last month. I couldn't have even sold one with a personal account.

 

[whistler222]

OK i'm getting confused (not that i was clear to begin with)

Personal account: - Seller
FREE for bank transfer in from buyer
3% for credit card transfer in from buyer
?? am i right?

Business account - seller
2.9% of ALL receipts.


Again, why would anyone be business? As a personal account, someone can NOT use credit card to send payment??
But i also use my credit card.. even to someone who sell me old gear etc.. so that means they're all premier accounts?

 

[Eidorian]

Depends on the seller's account type. Personal accounts have no fees for payments received from other paypal balances.

Edit: just use the link WildCowboy posted to see.

I took a look at that again. It does depend on the account type. A little more information from the OP would help.

 

[utekineir]

If you have no intention on selling much a personal account is fine, and free.

If you intend on using paypal as a payment method for selling more than an occasional item you will probably want the business / premier type account.

Its really not that hard to figure out, like 8 people have explained it already.

tldr version

if you buy things - personal is fine

if you sell things - probably will need premier

 

[Eraserhead]

Again, why would anyone be business?

In the EU rules you can only accept two CC transactions a year, in the US the rate is 4.9% for CC cards vs. 2.9% on a business account.

Given that anyone sensible using Paypal pays by credit card (so you can get your money back if needed) then that'll be the majority of their transactions.

 

[danny_w]

In the EU rules you can only accept two CC transactions a year, in the US the rate is 4.9% for CC cards vs. 2.9% on a business account.

Given that anyone sensible using Paypal pays by credit card (so you can get your money back if needed) then that'll be the majority of their transactions.

They must have changed this. I know when I used to get CC payments from people on my personal account the only way that I could have accepted themw as to upgrade to a business/premiere account, but they would alow downgrading (up to 3 times I believe).

As for buying with a CC, I usually do that, but you lose your PayPal protection when you do; that's OK with me b/c IMHO the PayPal protection plan is pretty much worthless - I'd rather deal with my CC company anyway.

 

[jjahshik32]

Because that's how paypal functions to make money.

 

[miniConvert]

We charge a fee when people pay by PayPal because PayPal charge us on all inward payments. It's just like that on certain account types.

They're good with refunds though - they actually refund the fee as well, unlike, ooo, WorldPay, who steal your money at every possible opportunity.

 

[JackButler]

consider it insurance... we were recently scammed on ebay for $700. Paypal took care of it.

Some idiot from BF U.S.A sent us a laptop without checking if we bought it. The user names did not match.. the sender was out $50 shipping and got anal so we reported him and again Paypal took care of it.

 

[Eraserhead]

consider it insurance... we were recently scammed on ebay for $700. Paypal took care of it.

Some idiot from BF U.S.A sent us a laptop without checking if we bought it. The user names did not match.. the sender was out $50 shipping and got anal so we reported him and again Paypal took care of it.

Has Paypal actually become good then? Wow I didn't know they had it in them.

 

[NC MacGuy]

You can't charge extra for the fee. I instituted it for someone paying a $14,000 payment (which was 60+ days past due) he cried to them and this is what I officially received:

"In accordance with PayPal's User Agreement under 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."

So if you do charge any "service fees", bury it in a way that is unrelated to Paypal and justifiable.