Ethics and Paypal

[Steve Smith]

You live in the UK and have no idea about standing in line for up to an hour......

But we invented patiently waiting in line!


Steve.

[Rick A]

But we invented patiently waiting in line!


Steve.

I guess we Yanks
were born with angst

or so it seems when we are on a mission.

[jnanian]

i like postal money orders, you don't have to go to the bank to cash them
and international ones from canada too --- no fee to cash ...
people in the 4 or 5 local post offices, near me are nice, know me
from shipping things +picking things up. they are anything but dimwits.

i like using paypal too for the convenience factor, but i don't like people
that want me to lie and cheat ...

[Steve Smith]

UK postal orders used to be fixed amounts and any in between amounts were made up by sticking stamps on them. Now they are printed out and look just like cheques. The advantage to me as a buyer is that as soon as the seller receives it, he knows it will be cashed and doesn't have to wait for it to clear like he would with a personal cheque. A postal order issued by The Post Office isn't going to bounce.

I also like walking down to the post office during my lunch break.


Steve.

[moose10101]

eBay doesn't allow charging extra for PayPal fees, and in any case, by accepting PayPal, which is now required on eBay (you can accept other forms of payment, but you can't advertise it), you attract more bidders, so you get a higher price, which is usually greater than the fee.

Accepting PayPal is not required on eBay. You must accept at least one eBay-approved electronic payment service; PayPal is one, but there are several others, including MoneyBookers and ProPay. There is a complete list in eBay's Help pages.

I also think it's unethical to cheat PayPal out of its fees. For a private transaction (e.g. an APUG sale), I'll gladly pay the extra 3% on top of the selling price.

[John Koehrer]

Me again,
I prefer to, and do use PP for most of my dealings on line and always just inflate the price enough to cover the fees. Actually since it comes out with a weird number I just round it up a bit to a more appealing number.

In the pre-interweb days if a major CC company caught a merchant either charging a penalty for using a card or discounting for cash they would lose the ability to take that card. It was a binding contract and enforceable. There was no problem unless a "disgruntled" customer or competitor let the CC company know.
I personally haven't seen any merchants on Ebait adding on a penalty for using PP, I doubt very much if PP really cares as long as they get their 30 pcs of silver.

[Andrew K]

Being in Australia I find PP very convenient to use - both as a buyer and seller....

As a seller I am happy to cover the PP fee - it's part of the cost of selling on the net..

As I buyer I object to paying someone else's fees - if I can live with them, then other sellers should - so I don't buy from them.

WHAT I really object to is exorbitant postage and handling fees.

I know it takes time to pack a item, but live with it - it's part of the process of selling on the net.....

I recycle packaging and boxes when I can, but if I can't recycle I buy them - again a cost of doing business. Same goes for having to drive to the post office - it's 3-4 km from work, so I go on the way to lunch.....most time I've had to wait at the post office is 15 minutes - and that was a week before Christmas when everyone was sending last minuet presents...generally I'm in and out within a few minutes..fill in the customs forms at home (takes about 2 minutes), postage rates come off the Aus Post webpage.....