Can I add to surcharge to sales when PayPal is chosen, to cover PayPal fees?

markscarts
Contributor
Contributor

I have noticed some sites add a surcharge to sales when PayPal is chosen, in order to compensate the shop owner for PayPal fees. Is this acceptable according to PayPal usage terms? If not, can someone provide the reference in PayPal terms and conditions?

 

Thanks!

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3 REPLIES 3

snowshoe
Frequent Advisor
Frequent Advisor

Not permitted - Ref the User Agreement

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=ua/UserAgreement_full&locale.x=en_...

 

4.2 Use of PayPal on eBay. Sellers who offer PayPal as a payment method in their eBay listings must follow these requirements:
a.
Accept PayPal if the eBay listing includes PayPal as a payment method.

b.
Accept all PayPal Payment Methods from a buyer, including but not limited to eCheck and credit cards.

c.Accept international PayPal transactions if the eBay listing offers shipping outside the U.S.
d.
Sellers may not charge a surcharge for accepting PayPal as a payment method.


4.3 Payment Review. Payment Review is a process by which PayPal reviews certain potentially high-risk transactions. If a payment is subject to Payment Review, PayPal will place a hold on the payment and provide notice to the Seller to delay shipping of the item. PayPal will conduct a review and either clear or cancel the payment. If the payment is cleared, PayPal will provide notice to the Seller to ship the item. Otherwise, PayPal will cancel the payment and the funds will be returned to the buyer. All payments that clear Payment Review will be eligible for PayPal Seller protection coverage if they meet the PayPal Seller protection requirements. PayPal will provide notices to you by email and in the History subtab of your Account.

4.4 Risk of Reversals, Chargebacks and Claims. When you receive a payment, you are liable to PayPal for the full amount of the payment sent to you plus any Fees if the payment is later invalidated for any reason. This means that, in addition to any other liability, you will be responsible for the amount of the payment sent by the sender, plus the applicable Fees listed in Section 8 (Fees) of this Agreement if you lose a Claim or a Chargeback or if there is a Reversal of the payment. You agree to allow PayPal to recover any amounts due to PayPal by debiting your Balance. If there are insufficient funds in your Balance to cover your liability, you agree to reimburse PayPal through other means. If a sender of a payment files a Chargeback, the credit card issuer, not PayPal, will determine who wins the Chargeback.

4.5 Refund and Reversal Currencies. All refunds and reversals will be made in the same currency as the original transaction. If your transaction must be refunded or reversed and you do not have the correct currency available in your Balance, a currency conversion will be performed.

4.6 No 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.

 

Having said all of that, you can charge a "handling" fee using the handling variable.  Note, you should have a clear policy on your web page explaining your extra fees.  To learn more about the various item code variables, check out this guide:

https://www.paypalobjects.com/webstatic/en_US/developer/docs/pdf/pp_websitepaymentsstandard_integrat...

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markscarts
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks, paragraph 4.6 of the Users Agreement is what I was looking for.

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snowshoe
Frequent Advisor
Frequent Advisor

Smiley Happy

 

Surcharges are actually legal in many states now however, if you use PayPal, it's not permitted regardless of where you live.

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