Can a Seller Charge Buyers a Paypal Fee

Frogguy
New Community Member

What is the exact section of the user agreement that states a seller can not do this. This is a growing trend in sellers of pets online.

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3 REPLIES 3

skier
Advisor
Advisor

You cannot charge a "surcharge" however, you can charge a "handling fee". For example many online Ticket Sales sites charge a processing fee.
The "surcharge" scenario is explained in the User Agreement.
Go to the link below and do a search on "surcharge".
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/UserAgreement/ua/USUA-outside

It's about semantics, as the term surcharge in the credit card world means you charging a fee to recoup the credit card fees you pay. Whereas charging a "handling fee" can be for additional processing costs not related to credit card fees. Basically, one cannot say or advertise that any additional fees for covering your credit card fees.

Tip: You should have a clear policy on your web page or site stating that a "handling fee" is included in your charges. You need to explain this for a couple of reasons. For example, you have additional costs due to packaging or processing applications, etc. Also note, the fee will be displayed as Shipping and Handling even if you don't have any shipping fees. It's important to understand that your customers may not be aware of how the PayPal Screens display a "handling fee" and they will have questions.

For Buy Now item buttons, use the "handling" variable.
For Add to Cart item buttons, use the "handling_cart" variable.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

skier

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Frogguy
New Community Member

Thank you. I know it was there, just did not know the section.

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skier
Advisor
Advisor

Nice.

 

Regards,

 

 

skier

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