I listed an auction for DH and when it closed the guy sent paypal- it was a cc to my non cc acct. I simply denied payment and sent him an email asking him to resend the payment to my other pp addy which is set up for cc payments- and asked if he would mind paying the .91 paypal fee- obviously I didn't expect him to- but thought it wouldn't hurt to ask-

This is what he replied:
If you wanted paypal fees you should have listed it as such. I paid for your item and requested shipping but I will not pay for your incured paypal fees. In the future you might list this on your auctions. I will repay you through the listed name on the auction but that is it. If you refuse I will send copy of your e-mail to ebay and let them work it out. It sounds like you are running some kind of scam, our you can elect to refuse sale and we will forget about the whole thing.

I am cool about the no paypal fees thing- as it is only .91 and who cares- and he is right- it SHOULD have been in the auction- but why is he unwilling to resend to the other account and how could it be a scam? I don't get it.

I would e-mail him back and say I am sorry, I was wrong to ask you to pay any fees. The account you are trying to send to is a non cc account and you may pay to it as long as you dont use a cc. If you would like to use cc, please pay to ........ I am sorry to have confused you. I hate it when people are so rude :(

PLease don't put it in any future auctions!!!! It is illeagl to charge fees fo paying with a credit card. You either have to charge everyone(reguardless of form of payment) a handleing fee but you can not carge extra for using a credit card.

I know you didn't know this or you wouldn't have asked him to pay the fees. I do think he is making a huge stretch to see it as a scam. I'm soryy he upset you.

I just did. I feel bad- but don't understand how it is a big deal to send the same payment to a different addy :confused:

Originally posted by TurtleMa
PLease don't put it in any future auctions!!!! It is illeagl to charge fees fo paying with a credit card. You either have to charge everyone(reguardless of form of payment) a handleing fee but you can not carge extra for using a credit card.


:eek: Thanks for letting me know! Yikes!

Wow, overreact there much buddy? Sheesh. I hope he pays you and doesn't try to turn in into some big drama. What an odd-ball.

He's rude in his reply.
But try not to take it personally. He's probably just a very crabby person in general. That's what I try to remember when people are rude to me.
Wrap up the transaction and be done with him.

Yes, you can't ask for someone to pay fees charged by paypal.

Anyway, if he refuses to pay to the correct paypal addy then make sure you follow through with a non-paying bidder rules so you can get your listing money back.

He's just being hormonal if he won't pay to the paypal addy you gave him. Paypal allows you 2 accounts so you are not in the wrong with choosing which account the seller should pay too.

I agree with everyone else. Also, in the future I would make sure the paypal address you have listed in your auctions is your credit card one, then you won't run into problems like this. Sorry he was so rude. :(

Not to butt in here, but how can it be illegal to charge extra for using a credit card for payment? I can list at least 4 places here locally who charge a flat fee on top of your bill/payment to use your credit card/debit card! I guess I just dont see how that is illegal and why it should be?

It's illegal because when a merchant signs an agreement for their merchant account (or when you sign up for paypal and agree to their very looooong terms of use agreement) you agree not to charge anyone a fee to use their credit card.

Yes, some business DO charge a fee. But guess what - if anyone calls and reports them, they will be threatened and if they don't stop charging that fee, they WILL lose their merchant account.

It might not make sense, but the credit card companies set it up that way, and the merchants agreed to it. So, to break that agreement... makes it illegal, kwim?

At least that's the way I understand it. HTH.

Edited to add: the fee is ONLY illegal if it is solely for credit card use. As was stated above, you can add a "handling" fee or something else if you want, but it has to be for *everyone* and not only those using a credit card to pay, kwim?

Not to hijack this thread~so you are saying if I call whom ever on these local establishments they will have there right to take credit card/debit cards taken away?
Who would I call? I hate the fact that several of our local resturants charge an extra percentage or flat fee to use it!
again sorry for hijacking this thread!

Depends on who their merchant account is through.

http://www.mastercardmerchant.com/docs/accept_mastercard/merchant_rules.pdf

Here is what MasterCard has published on their website about fees for transactions:

9.12.2 Charges to Cardholders
A merchant must not directly or indirectly require any MasterCard cardholder to pay a surcharge or any part of any merchant discount or any contemporaneous finance charge in connection with a MasterCard card transaction. A merchant may provide a discount to its customers for cash payments. A merchant is permitted to charge a fee (such as a bona fide commission, postage, expedited service or convenience fees, and the like) if
the fee is imposed on all like transactions regardless of the form of payment used.
• A surcharge is any fee charged in connection with a MasterCard transaction that is not charged if another payment method is used.
• The merchant discount fee is the fee the merchant pays to its acquirer to acquire transactions.

And about minimum purchase amounts:

9.12.3 Minimum/Maximum Transaction Amount Prohibited
A merchant must not require, or post signs indicating that it requires, a minimum or maximum transaction amount to accept a valid MasterCard card.

Whatever bank issued the vendors merchant account is probably who needs to know, but I'm not sure. I've never actually reported anyone for this, though I have mentioned a few places that they might want to reconsider, as it is illegal. You could probably just call MasterCard, Visa or whatever card you tried to use and were either charged a fee or a minimum was required.

My guess of what would happen is that they'd recieve a warning and have to quit or risk losing their merchant account - but I have no personal experience there, so I guess you'd have to call and see what happens. ;)

HTH.

Well I generally use my Bank Debit CArd so should I call the credit union?
Thanks so much for all this info!

Hey outside,
generally if you just mention to the business that they're violating their merchant agreement they relent. I went to a garage for an oil change ($19.99 or close) and they had a "$25 minimum for credit cards" (also a merchant agreement violation: they can't set a minimum - so you can use your CC to pay for a 25c pack of gum). I mentioned it was a violation, and that if they were going to stick with it, I'd have to take my business elsewhere as I didn't carry cash or my checkbook. He gave me some line about fees and I told him simply "that's YOUR cost of doing business. if you have to raise costs, so be it. but tell me now, BEFORE you work on my car." He let me use my credit card.

Now, I'd be less likely to use my credit card for small purchases at a small independant business (much like I ask WAHMs if they have 2 paypal addresses to save them on fees), but I've charged under $5 at chain businesses with no guilt. Nor received any complaints.

~amey

:cool: Does this mean that if my local gas station has a sign stating that you can't use your debit card or get cashaback unless your purchase it is over $5 is illegal?

**forgot to add they also state that if it is under that amount they will charge you .50:confused:

At least with MasterCard it is... I don't understand why merchants/vendors/businesses don't READ their merchant agreements when they sign up to accept credit cards - or if they DO read them, why they insist on doing something they know is wrong. :shake: I'm pretty sure Visa has the same policy, but couldn't find it in a quick websearch, but I'd guess they do. As well as the other cc companies.

I understand the fees are an expense for the businesses, but that's exactly it! It's a *business expense* and if they can't deal with it/afford it then they need to change prices, policies, something, kwim? :rolleyes:

Anyway, to the OP - that was really rude of the guy. I have no advice. :( But (((hugs))) and hope it works out.

He got over himself. LOL.

I wrote him this:
I am not sure what you mean about running a scam. I listed an auction you paid. I have 2 paypal accounts- one for cc one for not. I have the NON cc one listed on ebay- so that I do not get charged the pp fees for every transaction. It is only .91 I am not worried about it. Please send payment and I will ship these items on Monday. I will of course still leave you excellent feedback as it IS my fault for not mentioning the pp fees in the auction. I just didn't think of it. Thanks for mentioning that I do that.
Sorry for the inconvenience of having to resend.

Then this:

So you will not paypal thru the paypal address I sent you? I can not switch the paypal account listed in the auction to accept credit card payments- which is why I have 2 accounts. If I switched my account listed thru paypal over to a premier account to accept credit cards I would then get charged fees for ALL incoming payments- regardless of whether they are cc or not. Is it that you feel uncomfortorable thinking that I am directing you to pay to an account that isn't associated with the auction? Meaning do you think that I hijacked someones account? If it makes you feel more comfortorable- I can paypal you .01 from each account to show you that both accounts have the same address. I just don't know what to do- I feel stuck. I feel like either I switch to premier or get stuck w/ neg. feedback.


He wrote back this:

I'll send you the paypal through the account you want and I will split the paypal fees with you, I'm sorry I might have come off wrong but just concerned with the way some people do business on ebay. $6.50 for auction, $14.39 and $.46 for paypal, total $21.35 if this is acceptable and everyone is happy please respond and I will get it to you today through paypal