Protest - Why does Paypal keep 20p on refunded payments?

[zamiocalculus]

I have been selling on eBay for some years now, and it was only recently that I realised Paypal keep back 20p of the seller fee when a seller fully refunds a buyer.

Why is this?  Please don't refer me to terms and conditions - I'd like a real answer.

Since eBay encourages buyers to pay quickly, an increasing number now pay for things individually, rather than wait for a combined invoice.

I have always been kind to my buyers and refunded the individual payments completely so that we can start fresh with a simple single combined invoice, rather than do partial refunds.

How does Paypal justify this scandalous clawback that penalises sellers?  It's just greed in my opinion.

It is difficult enough for small business sellers to turn a profit without these semi-hidden penalties.  I call on ALL sellers to protest this fee retention.

After all, the more we can sell, the more you get from us, Paypal.

[kernowlass]

When a buyer pays you are charged 3.4% + 20p processing fee.

When you refund you are refunded the 3.4% but not the 20p processing fee.

You are not charged for the refund, you just don't get the processing fee back again when you refund. 

[casualcomforts]

Most of the time, buyers purchase a wrong item and then request sellers to cancel transaction. A seller has to spend some time on cancellation process and has to pay 20p back from his own pocket. Why can't paypal charge 20p from the payment refunded to the buyer. Like if abuyer paid £6.00, he will get a refund £5.80.

I contact paypal on this issue and they didn't even bother to reply. It's really disappointing.

[kernowlass]

sounds like a good idea, but would it work?

say a seller is out of stock or has to refund from a mistake made by himself........they why would the buyer has to pay 20p towards the refund?

[HISAT]

I agree with the original poster - I've never had to do a refund because I "don't have the item in stock" - I can't sell what I don't have - I had an instant yesterday/today where a client ordered and paid for the same thing twice and then asked for a refund because of his mistake - ebay did nothing when I wrote saying he had cancelled the order and so after 24 hours I went to paypal and did the refund and got hit with the 20p

the reason this charge is wrong is clear - all you're doing is initiating a computer reversal - no difference in cost to paypal than the tiniest fraction of a penny for the energy it takes - I do all the work - they are taking this 20p because they can and it's wrong

both times it's happened to me I complained and paypal gave me back far more than the 20p than they took
but why not just not do it in the first place!

this should be about fairness - most buyers do this inocently most sellers want to do the best for their buyers - Paypal and ebay both make big chunks of money for the service they provide when a legitimate sale is made and they don't need to upset good sellers with this well lets call it "shady" practice

[SONEKANH]

I agree with HISAT. There is no reason for a seller to incur the 20p fee for refunds other than for the profits of paypal. If a customer buys & then pays through paypal for an item by mistake - for a seller to be penalised a fee for doing the right thing & refunding them in full is totally wrong & proves that ebay & paypal do not take into consideration what is fair but what they can get away with.

Paypal (& ebay) - you'll always be looking at angles to make more profit & this is a perfect example. You should be ashamed of yourselves, but you won't be so long as the money keep rolling in...

[SONEKANH]

The 20p fee is the point. As a seller we shouldn't have to pay that if a buyer buys & pays through paypal by mistake and we refund them. It's a fee from paypal for doing nothing but being greedy.

[20pencetaxavoid]

I understand the 20p processing fee.  But it needs to be on a seperate line.  it just gives you a combined fee in the details.  no breakdown.  This is a way of dodging tax, and is completly unaccepatble.

[Haras16]

Didn't realise I'd be charged 20p for a refund after a day.  I just called paypal to check this, I think the lady was getting annoyed with me for repeating it... but I hadn't realised there would be a charge.  This charge is ridiculous.  It was a fee for 20p for having the money in my account for less than 24 hours... I refunded after I realised my item had minor damage. It costs me 20p for mentioning a problem to a buyer, I could have just ignored it, and let them receive a damaged item and disputed any fault.  Save me 20p. Pftt

[kernowlass]

@Haras16

Paypal ''processed'' a refund for you, so they charge you a few pence for the service.