If I sell an item, and the buyer asks to pay with PayPal, can I add the PayPal fee to the invoice?

[myfriendlu]

I'm about to sign up to use Paymate as the Safer Payment Method for my future listings. I've just had enough of PayPal and their fees, and exchange rates. My question is, if I list an item for sale, but have Paymate as the payment option (not PayPal), if a buyer requests to pay using PayPal, can I send them an invoice and add the PayPal fee?

I'm guessing most buyers just expect most, if not every buyer has PayPal as a payment option. Although I'm sure there will be a few buyers asking if they can pay using Paypal. But, if I don't offer PayPal as a payment option on that particular listing, am I breaking any eBay policy by requesting the buyer pay the PayPal fee as well?

[bigbrickshop]

---

@myfriendlu wrote:

I'm about to sign up to use Paymate as the Safer Payment Method for my future listings. I've just had enough of PayPal and their fees, and exchange rates. My question is, if I list an item for sale, but have Paymate as the payment option (not PayPal), if a buyer requests to pay using PayPal, can I send them an invoice and add the PayPal fee?

I'm guessing most buyers just expect most, if not every buyer has PayPal as a payment option. Although I'm sure there will be a few buyers asking if they can pay using Paypal. But, if I don't offer PayPal as a payment option on that particular listing, am I breaking any eBay policy by requesting the buyer pay the PayPal fee as well?

---

It is against eBay policy to add any extra fees once an item is sold. You need to build the fees into your selling price.

Have you looked at Paymate fees as they changed recently and I think you'll find they are no cheaper than PayPal. We used to offer both PayPal and Paymate and have only ever had one buyer opt to use Paymate.

[harley_babes_hoard]

oh and check out the dispute process while you are looking into their fees.

[2011.narelle]

Yes you are breaking the rules.

Selling Account & payments & fees says that buyers are not to pay sellers fees.

You want a neg from some unhappy shopper paying your seller fees?

Do you have handling fees? Good lord i hate to think what those are if you are considering what you said.

Do you have a profit margin above cost  worked out? I bet you do.

Do you work for feeBay?

Just don't do it.

[phorum_junkie*]

Good luck with Paymate, it is slightly more expensive than Paypal and you have no seller protection against bank chargebacks no matter how much proof of delivery you have.

I haven't used Paymate for years but their currency exchange rate was never as good as Paypal's back then.

The vast majority of buyers have never heard of Paymate so will probably not even notice that you don't accept Paypal and will be a pain in the proverbials or they will notice and hit the back button.

[character_parties_aus]

I often wonder how much time money and effort was wasted by the ACCC  forcing eBay to offer a second channel to paypal when the second channel is used by nobody is more expensive and is basically a waste of everyones time. It would have been more productive just to never force the issue. Another waste of tax payers money!

[myfriendlu]

Thank you everyone, this helps. My theory was that next to no one would actually use Paymate to pay for an item, and they would be forced to use a bank deposit, send a cheque or pay cash. I usually sell items in the $200-300 range (on another eBay id). I've compared the Paymate-PayPal rates, Paymate works out at $2 cheaper on a $300 item. That's with the Everyday Seller rate 2.475%+$0.55, & a signup fee that I'm not sure what that is yet.

[myfriendlu]

The flip side of that is that I may end up with a few unpaid items, once they realise that PayPal isn't available. I sell everything starting at 0.99c, and postage is exactly at cost, to the dollar. No packaging or handling fees, and even then I've had complaints. I think the reason the eBay-PayPal saga was taken to the ACCC was because it was seen as a conflict of interest (and rightly so), and as an excuse PayPal said that all they were trying to do was provide a safe trading platform. The result of that was the use of merchant credit cards, Paymate, etc. I wasn't aware of Paymates dispute process, I don't know anything about it.

[2106greencat]

---

@myfriendlu wrote:

Thank you everyone, this helps. My theory was that next to no one would actually use Paymate to pay for an item, and they would be forced to use a bank deposit, send a cheque or pay cash. I usually sell items in the $200-300 range (on another eBay id). I've compared the Paymate-PayPal rates, Paymate works out at $2 cheaper on a $300 item. That's with the Everyday Seller rate 2.475%+$0.55, & a signup fee that I'm not sure what that is yet.

---

or decide to hit thw back button and not buy at all......

[myfriendlu]

True, but if they really want it, they'll bid. I usually sell items that are typically very rare. Early motorcycle and car parts that haven't been listed before, or haven't been listed for a long time, in fact years. The buyer either wants it, or not. They don't have a lot of options of getting the same thing again.