Do you charge an extra fee when Customers pay you via PayPal?

Envato Authors Author Hangout
1

I was just made aware of this:

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

4.d Sellers may not charge a surcharge for accepting PayPal as a payment method.

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.

Does that mean if we invoice our customers (eg: for website work) we are not allowed to charge the extra “paypal fee” ontop of our invoice amount?

How many people charge their customers the extra paypal fee (only if paypal is used)? And, I guess… is doing this really allowed?

(let’s keep this on the topic of invoicing our own customers - not what’s discussed in the other thread)

2

Never charged a surcharge with PayPal.

Seems strange because we deal with amex visa and mastercard, and Amex we do pass on the surcharge levied to us. I dont trust Paypal enough to handle any payments to and or from us over $100.00 so its negligible.

However, you could LEGALLY tell users that by paying via “other means” they could save say $2.50 over and above PayPal payment ( then just adjust your prices with a 2 tier system )

Which is basically how Envato circumvent the system. Which causes all manor of ructions for paypal paying users

3

I do but my payments from PP are rare (2 in the last year), I tell anyone who wants to pay me via PP needs to pay the PP fees (which PP lets you do if you do a manual payment).

4

I do add the paypal fee on top of the Invoice, and I usually get at least 1 invoice per month. I need to find a better solution to handle my payments…

5

The section you mentioned above related only to eBay sellers.

6
dtbaker said

How many people charge their customers the extra paypal fee (only if paypal is used)?

I never charge them that extra-fee. And I consider that amount an investment :slight_smile: instead of a fee. I think requesting it shows a bit of a lack of professionalism.

7
sniperatic said

The section you mentioned above related only to eBay sellers.

4.d is eBay only but 4.6 applies globally I believe

Dave, I’d just build the cost into your normal rates rather than charging it separately. It is a dumb policy, however.

8

I prefer a price that already includes the transaction fee. It’s also easier for the customer to accept that.

9

You usually know the payment method they are going to be using before giving them a final number. So why not add that 3.x% to the overall cost?

10
sevenspark said
sniperatic said

The section you mentioned above related only to eBay sellers.

4.d is eBay only but 4.6 applies globally I believe

Dave, I’d just build the cost into your normal rates rather than charging it separately. It is a dumb policy, however.

Ah good point.

11

Have never included a surcharge. Personally I just consider it another business expense.

It seems Paypal has changed the way they handle the fees in the past year. There used to be an option where the payee could choose to eat the surcharge, and sometimes clients would pay it which was always cool. But that option doesn’t seem to exist anymore, which is kind of strange. Because sometimes you want to make sure the “seller” gets the full amount (like when I send my landlord money).