Why do my fees vary even though the cost of my product is the same?

[ukulelecraig]

I sell sheet music for $2.50 each and sometimes Paypal will charge me $.37 and other times, $.40.  Why the difference?

[sandypurins · Accepted solution]

The higher 40 cent fee is for a cross-border payment... the buyer has a non-US PayPal account.  The standard PayPal fee is 2.9% plus 30 cents...  the standard cross-border PayPal fee is 3.9% plus 30 cents.

[ukulelecraig]

Thanks much for the speedy reply!

[Sellingnow1982]

You might want to sign up for a micro payments account for small transactions they charge a 5% plus 5 cent fee so they would charge you 18 cents for your $2.50 cent transacion.  The bad news is if you accept a payment for a large amount they still charge you 5% plus 5 cents so if you accepted a payment of a $100 it would cost you $5.05 if you had a micropayment account and $3.20 with a regular account.