Recieving Payments

[andrew1963]

I have a holiday cottage that I rent out through a website.

I am happy to receive payment via PayPal, however i do not want to incur any additional costs. How can I ensure that if people pay me via PayPal they, and not me, will pay the PayPal fee?

[PayPal_john]

It wouldn't be possible without breaking the terms of the user agreement. You are, however, allowed surcharge if in the UK and not selling on eBay and as long as you make it clear that you are doing it

I'll quote the bit in the user agreement about this to save you trawling though it

4.5 Non discouragement. In representations to your customers or in public communications, you agree not to mischaracterise or disparage PayPal as a payment method. You agree that you will only surcharge for the use of PayPal in compliance with any law applicable to you. You further agree that if you do charge a buyer any form of surcharge that you, and not PayPal, will inform the buyer of the requested charge

[DeeEmmSee]

I find this answer very confusing.  You say that a charging a surcharge "wouldn't be possible without breaking the terms of the user agreement" but the quote from the agreement says, "You further agree that if you do charge a buyer any form of surcharge that you, and not PayPal, will inform the buyer of the requested charge."

So which is it?  A surcharge is allowable if allowed by law, or a surcharge is against the terms of the user agreement?

I ask because a small bed and breakfast in The Netherlands wants to charge me a 4% surcharge for using PayPal and, yes, they "and not PayPal" informed me of the requested charge.

[mixial]

Hi DeeEmmSee,

The key point is You agree that you will only surcharge for the use of PayPal in compliance with any law applicable to you. so it is country dependent. The facts are many sellers subsidize their online transaction fees by over charging on shipping or handling fee's. The only thing you can really do is register a complaint with the seller about their behavior in regards to online payments. 

~Tim

[PayPal_barry]

Hey all, the bottom line is that you as a seller or merchant need to price your item or service according to your own guidelines. If you have a site for example, there is nothing prohibiting you listing your product/service as XXGBP or XXGBP+4% for PayPal. We would though encourage all merchants to work with their buyers in issues like this. We must remember that when a merchant surcharges, they do so as they have a business to run. Buyers on the other hand are looking for the best deal and may feel penalised because they use PayPal, which is the securest payment processor on-line. If anybody else has views on this or would just like to comment, please post here.