Question:
Is your PP charge less than 1 %? I dont use PP myself so I guess I dont stay current on the charges. I thought the actual charge was 3% plus a fixed 30 cents per item. If your volume gives you some kind of discount, than the 1.5% they credit you would actually make you a small profit by using the card. But other posters seemed to indicate they were not getting any reduction from the 3% commission.
I’d guess that many, many people in this newsgroup get the standard discount. If you sell regularly, it’s hard not to qualify. I pay 2.2%+30 cents, less 1.5% rebate, so my actual cost to use PayPal is roughly .7%+30 cents per transaction. I’m also interested in how you know you would lose "thousands of dollars" by not using PP. I see no real way to prove or disprove this. Its kind of like the people who insist that prayer has improved their lives. Absent the ability to run the same auction twice, once with and once without PP the need to accept PP is pretty much a hunch.
I try not to make business decisions solely on the basis of a hunch. I do run the exact same auctions over and over, nearly all for BIN items. More than 70% of these auctions are bid on. When I’ve run the same auction without the PayPal logo due to an error, I’ve gotten one-quarter to one-tenth as many bids. Given the fact that 95% of my winners pay with PayPal, and the fact that I’m selling against competitors who have similar items for up to 70 percent less than what I charge, I think it’s safe to assume that a large percentage of my sales come from people who use BIN and PayPal to get the item immediately. I have this crazy idea that if you make it easy for people to give you money, they will do so. If you make it difficult, many fewer people will be willing to jump through the hoops. Huge numbers of people have stated here and elsewhere that they won’t bother to bid on an auction if the seller doesn’t accept PayPal. I’m not willing to exclude such large numbers of bidders from my auctions. All my foreign buyers use PayPal as well, and I’d rather not exclude them, as well. I can say that I dont use it and have only recd a couple emails from potential buyers saying they would bid except I dont take PP.
That’s the point. Of course you won’t hear from people who reject your auctions because you don’t take PayPal. You won’t hear from them at all. They won’t bid. They won’t bother with your auctions. They’ll move on without giving you a second thought. Just because not one single woman has told me that she wouldn’t go out with me because I’m ugly and have a terrible personality doesn’t mean that isn’t the case. Maybe they all *do* just have a headache.
Response:
As for emailing users, they aren’t required to do anything of the kind. You are required to check their announcements page and watch for changes, just like you do with eBay. It’s why it’s so important to check those pages regularly.
Since they give you a banking "Visa" debit card, they may be required to snail-mail you any changes to the conditions of use for the card. If they changed the rules and didn’t snail-mail you, I’d complain to Visa. jc
Response:
What if you put a link that said "click here for payment options" that took you to an off ebay html that had the payment links? I know they allow it for extended descriptions and photos (and even links to off ebay sales sites can be put in pages along with these extended descriptions and photos ).
Response:
What if you put a link that said "click here for payment options" that took you to an off ebay html that had the payment links? I know they allow it for extended descriptions and photos
Not in the way you describe it. http://pages.ebay.com/help/index_popup.html?policies=listing-links-de… "You may provide one link to further outline the terms and conditions of your listing. This page may not include any links off of eBay. However, you must include the relevant portions of the terms and conditions on the listing page itself and not just on a page that you link to. Those include: Shipping information (you may link to a shipping calculator ) Payment types accepted Terms of payment – when payment is expected Handling charges Any taxes that may apply You have to remember one big thing: if it’s not on the View Item Page, it’s NOT part of the auction and the buyer is under no obligation to view or comply. http://pages.ebay.com/help/index_popup.html?policies=listing-links-fa… "Section 5.1 of the User Agreement, stipulates that the item description must be contained in the View Item Page." "What is the links policy? Our User Agreement policy (section 5.1) only allows listings to contain "…text descriptions, graphics, pictures and other content relevant to the sale of that item." This policy prohibits links to Web sites, Home pages or any page that has items for sale outside of eBay. Such links may be allowed on the About Me page." (and even links to off ebay sales sites can be put in pages along with these extended descriptions and photos ).
I think you need to do some serious research into eBay’s links policy. Kris
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am soo confused. When I first considered getting a Paypal Debit card a few months ago I read in the User Agreement that in order to receive 1.5% cash back you can only advertise Paypal as an online payment. You can mention other online payment services like Checkfree, Yahoo, and Bidpay BUT you could NOT put up links and logos for these payment services. I remember reading they would spot check listings every week for this. I was fine and dandy with that rule, seriously. Using links for Checkfree and Bidpay is the same as advertising these services whereas just mentioning Bidpay without a clickable link makes it a little harder to look up the site. BUT now I hear you can’t EVEN mention (in non-clickable text) that you accept Bidpay? Have things changed since I read the user agreement (which no longer says no hyperlinks and logos)? I love Paypal and prefer Paypal but this just isn’t fair. Some countries can’t use Paypal or have unconfirmed addresses. Should I make them take the risk and send cash in the mail or go get a check in US funds? This is preposterous! Customers and sellers should have a choice of payment services just like they have a choice of products. I HAVE TO ADVERTISE BIDPAY in my listings where international buyers can see it not in the end of auction emails. Encouraging sellers to only accept Paypal is doing the global trading community a huge disservice. -Supergirl PS I posted a similar post on Answer Center and it went untouched but got one response. So I posted it on the Paypal discussion board and it got pulled. Then I posted it again and it got pulled! I bookmarked these posts but when I clicked on the link it said thread could not be found. I am very upset about this. I see all kinds of posts on the Paypal discussion board about "accounts hijacked" and "Paypal helps theives" and they pull this??? An honest objective post?? I am in awe. Thank God for Usenet!
Who ever said life was fair? The purpose of the rule is, and has always been, to keep you from mentioning other payment services in your auction, to try to steer business to paypal. If you don’t like it, don’t sign up for the rebate. I didn’t think it made sense for my business, since I don’t like to steer customers to any particular payment method, so I didn’t sign up for it. By the way, the customers in other countries who might want to use bidpay are part of the customers paypal wants to get. By having people not mention bidpay in their auctions, they can drive business to paypal. It’s not like you’re being forced into it, they’re paying you not to mention bidpay or other online payment services. Welcome to the real world, this is how business is transacted, and always has been.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Or put another way, PP’s 3% charge + their share of the shipping cost + the per item fee LESS 1.5%. Doesnt PP COST you $40 bucks a month or more? I pay a lot more than $40 a month in PayPal fees. I also pay $100 in postage every month, roughly $150 for the items I sell, and several hundred dollars in eBay fees. They are all costs of doing business. No costs: no business. Rather than fret over the 0.7%+30 cents that I pay PayPal for each transaction, I’m more concerned over the thousands of dollars I’d lose by *not* accepting PayPal. I’d be delighted to give PayPal twice as much money every month at the rate I’m paying.
Is your PP charge less than 1 %? I dont use PP myself so I guess I dont stay current on the charges. I thought the actual charge was 3% plus a fixed 30 cents per item. If your volume gives you some kind of discount, than the 1.5% they credit you would actually make you a small profit by using the card. But other posters seemed to indicate they were not getting any reduction from the 3% commission. I’m also interested in how you know you would lose "thousands of dollars" by not using PP. I see no real way to prove or disprove this. Its kind of like the people who insist that prayer has improved their lives. Absent the ability to run the same auction twice, once with and once without PP the need to accept PP is pretty much a hunch. However, I can say that I dont use it and have only recd a couple emails from potential buyers saying they would bid except I dont take PP. Now how many felt that way and remained silent I dont know, maybe lots, maybe none. But I can tell you I’ve never had my account "frozen" and I’ve never had a chargeback either. You pays your money and you takes your chances, eh?
Response:
Supergirl I love Paypal and prefer Paypal but this just isn’t fair. It may not be to your liking, and/or may not be a feasible solution for you, but it’s hardly unfair. "Fair" doesn’t even enter into it. — (remove CLOTHING before replying 
http;//www.mindspring.com/~mattsen/mtsearch.htm Random Thought/Quote for this Post: Those who in quarrels interpose must often wipe a bloody nose.
Response:
<snip Besides, by not telling anyone they changed their terms, they could avoid paying a lot of rebates. Just like they said, if you dont like it, dont use it. Which would probably be the smart way to go.
More like, "If people are told up front that rule changes are presented in one particular place, and they never bother to look in that particular place, then they don’t have too much room to complain." And yes, I really do read the all the terms and conditions of the services I sign up for, especially the terms and conditions of sites I have a business relationship with, like eBay and paypal. I’d consider doing anything else downright foolhardy.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Or put another way, PP’s 3% charge + their share of the shipping cost + the per item fee LESS 1.5%. Doesnt PP COST you $40 bucks a month or more? I pay a lot more than $40 a month in PayPal fees. I also pay $100 in postage every month, roughly $150 for the items I sell, and several hundred dollars in eBay fees. They are all costs of doing business. No costs: no business. Rather than fret over the 0.7%+30 cents that I pay PayPal for each transaction, I’m more concerned over the thousands of dollars I’d lose by *not* accepting PayPal. I’d be delighted to give PayPal twice as much money every month at the rate I’m paying.
Jeez dude don’t give em any ideas… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
Response:
Or put another way, PP’s 3% charge + their share of the shipping cost + the per item fee LESS 1.5%. Doesnt PP COST you $40 bucks a month or more?
I pay a lot more than $40 a month in PayPal fees. I also pay $100 in postage every month, roughly $150 for the items I sell, and several hundred dollars in eBay fees. They are all costs of doing business. No costs: no business. Rather than fret over the 0.7%+30 cents that I pay PayPal for each transaction, I’m more concerned over the thousands of dollars I’d lose by *not* accepting PayPal. I’d be delighted to give PayPal twice as much money every month at the rate I’m paying.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Who ever said life was fair? The purpose of the rule is, and has always been, to keep you from mentioning other payment services in your auction, But don’t you think, if they were changing the terms of service, that they should have sent an e-mail to their customers? Bonita It’s been a long time since I looked at the requirements, but when I did I’m almost certain that you couldn’t offer another electronic payment option at all. I’m not at all sure that they’ve changed much of anything in that regard. As for emailing users, they aren’t required to do anything of the kind. You are required to check their announcements page and watch for changes, just like you do with eBay. It’s why it’s so important to check those pages regularly. If anyone really has the inclination, Paypal has an archive of all the policy updates. Anyone who is really interested can go and see if it really did change. Since I didn’t sign up for the rebates, I’m not interested enough to fool with it.
Besides, by not telling anyone they changed their terms, they could avoid paying a lot of rebates. Just like they said, if you dont like it, dont use it. Which would probably be the smart way to go.
Response:
Considering that PayPal pays me almost $40 a month not to advertise competing services, and also considering that I get maybe one payment a month from a non-PayPal service, it’s well worth my while to accept PayPal’s co-op money. This is pretty much it, in a nutshell. Is PayPal’s 1.5% more important to you, or the extra profit from increased sales? Which will be consistently more?
Or put another way, PP’s 3% charge + their share of the shipping cost + the per item fee LESS 1.5%. Doesnt PP COST you $40 bucks a month or more?
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I am soo confused. When I first considered getting a Paypal Debit card a few months ago I read in the User Agreement that in order to receive 1.5% cash back you can only advertise Paypal as an online payment. You can mention other online payment services like Checkfree, Yahoo, and Bidpay BUT you could NOT put up links and logos for these payment services. I remember reading they would spot check listings every week for this. I was fine and dandy with that rule, seriously. Using links for Checkfree and Bidpay is the same as advertising these services whereas just mentioning Bidpay without a clickable link makes it a little harder to look up the site. BUT now I hear you can’t EVEN mention (in non-clickable text) that you accept Bidpay? Have things changed since I read the user agreement (which no longer says no hyperlinks and logos)? I love Paypal and prefer Paypal but this just isn’t fair. Some countries can’t use Paypal or have unconfirmed addresses. Should I make them take the risk and send cash in the mail or go get a check in US funds? This is preposterous! Customers and sellers should have a choice of payment services just like they have a choice of products. I HAVE TO ADVERTISE BIDPAY in my listings where international buyers can see it not in the end of auction emails. Encouraging sellers to only accept Paypal is doing the global trading community a huge disservice. -Supergirl PS I posted a similar post on Answer Center and it went untouched but got one response. So I posted it on the Paypal discussion board and it got pulled. Then I posted it again and it got pulled! I bookmarked these posts but when I clicked on the link it said thread could not be found. I am very upset about this. I see all kinds of posts on the Paypal discussion board about "accounts hijacked" and "Paypal helps theives" and they pull this??? An honest objective post?? I am in awe. Thank God for Usenet!
Considering that PayPal pays me almost $40 a month not to advertise competing services, and also considering that I get maybe one payment a month from a non-PayPal service, it’s well worth my while to accept PayPal’s co-op money. I sell many, many items overseas each month, and virtually all of them are using PayPal. My auctions state that I accept practically any form of payment they care to make, and even dumb furriners are usually able to figure out that means BidPay, etc. I seriously doubt whether mentioning BidPay in my auctions would increase my sales or even the number of BidPay payments.
Response:
Who ever said life was fair? The purpose of the rule is, and has always been, to keep you from mentioning other payment services in your auction,
But don’t you think, if they were changing the terms of service, that they should have sent an e-mail to their customers? Bonita
Response:
I am soo confused. When I first considered getting a Paypal Debit card a few months ago I read in the User Agreement that in order to receive 1.5% cash back you can only advertise Paypal as an online payment. You can mention other online payment services like Checkfree, Yahoo, and Bidpay BUT you could NOT put up links and logos for these payment services. I remember reading they would spot check listings every week for this.
Has anything really changed? Other than the requirement to use "PayPal Preferred", which has been widely publicized and discussed here. Looking back on our discussions about the cashback bonus, I find this from 2001: View: Complete Thread (7 articles) Original Format Newsgroups: alt.marketing.online.ebay Here is the a copy and paste from that page. At the bottom is tells you to enter your Ebay ID and password. I figured that I’d sign up for it since I don’t have anything listed right now because of my work schedule. PayPal Preferred Rewards Secure Transaction Save over 70% of your PayPal fees by becoming PayPal Preferred! How do I become PayPal Preferred? 1. Sign up for the PayPal debit card. 2. Advertise PayPal as the only online payment option on your eBay listings. How do I save on fees? Just use your PayPal debit card. You’ll get 1.5% cashback on purchases. It’s like an instant refund of over 70% of your PayPal fees. Use the debit card to: Pay your eBay fees Pay for shipping at the post office Buy inventory and supplies Shop anywhere MasterCard is accepted! To start saving now, please complete these steps in order: 1. Instantly Activate your PayPal Debit Card 2. Enter eBay User ID and Password To Do Kimberly
Response:
155713.news.uni-berlin.de: Who ever said life was fair? The purpose of the rule is, and has always been, to keep you from mentioning other payment services in your auction, to try to steer business to paypal.
I’m fine with it. Had the debit card forever. Use it to pay college tuition with eBay "money" and get a lil kickback. If someone wants to pay another way, they can write and ask me. I’m getting to be pretty much of a hard ankle, eh? (Didn’t curse this time!) — Donna http://www.scrapstitching.com Cleaning out your sewing room, one scrap at a time.
Response:
Who ever said life was fair? The purpose of the rule is, and has always been, to keep you from mentioning other payment services in your auction, But don’t you think, if they were changing the terms of service, that they should have sent an e-mail to their customers? Bonita
It’s been a long time since I looked at the requirements, but when I did I’m almost certain that you couldn’t offer another electronic payment option at all. I’m not at all sure that they’ve changed much of anything in that regard. As for emailing users, they aren’t required to do anything of the kind. You are required to check their announcements page and watch for changes, just like you do with eBay. It’s why it’s so important to check those pages regularly. If anyone really has the inclination, Paypal has an archive of all the policy updates. Anyone who is really interested can go and see if it really did change. Since I didn’t sign up for the rebates, I’m not interested enough to fool with it.
Response:
Considering that PayPal pays me almost $40 a month not to advertise competing services, and also considering that I get maybe one payment a month from a non-PayPal service, it’s well worth my while to accept PayPal’s co-op money.
This is pretty much it, in a nutshell. Is PayPal’s 1.5% more important to you, or the extra profit from increased sales? Which will be consistently more?
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I am soo confused. When I first considered getting a Paypal Debit card a few months ago I read in the User Agreement that in order to receive 1.5% cash back you can only advertise Paypal as an online payment. You can mention other online payment services like Checkfree, Yahoo, and Bidpay BUT you could NOT put up links and logos for these payment services. I remember reading they would spot check listings every week for this. I was fine and dandy with that rule, seriously. Using links for Checkfree and Bidpay is the same as advertising these services whereas just mentioning Bidpay without a clickable link makes it a little harder to look up the site. BUT now I hear you can’t EVEN mention (in non-clickable text) that you accept Bidpay? Have things changed since I read the user agreement (which no longer says no hyperlinks and logos)? I love Paypal and prefer Paypal but this just isn’t fair. Some countries can’t use Paypal or have unconfirmed addresses. Should I make them take the risk and send cash in the mail or go get a check in US funds? This is preposterous! Customers and sellers should have a choice of payment services just like they have a choice of products. I HAVE TO ADVERTISE BIDPAY in my listings where international buyers can see it not in the end of auction emails. Encouraging sellers to only accept Paypal is doing the global trading community a huge disservice. -Supergirl PS I posted a similar post on Answer Center and it went untouched but got one response. So I posted it on the Paypal discussion board and it got pulled. Then I posted it again and it got pulled! I bookmarked these posts but when I clicked on the link it said thread could not be found. I am very upset about this. I see all kinds of posts on the Paypal discussion board about "accounts hijacked" and "Paypal helps theives" and they pull this??? An honest objective post?? I am in awe. Thank God for Usenet!
And you still "love" paypal? What does it take?
Response:
I am soo confused. When I first considered getting a Paypal Debit card a few months ago I read in the User Agreement that in order to receive 1.5% cash back you can only advertise Paypal as an online payment. You can mention other online payment services like Checkfree, Yahoo, and Bidpay BUT you could NOT put up links and logos for these payment services. I remember reading they would spot check listings every week for this. I was fine and dandy with that rule, seriously. Using links for Checkfree and Bidpay is the same as advertising these services whereas just mentioning Bidpay without a clickable link makes it a little harder to look up the site. BUT now I hear you can’t EVEN mention (in non-clickable text) that you accept Bidpay? Have things changed since I read the user agreement (which no longer says no hyperlinks and logos)? I love Paypal and prefer Paypal but this just isn’t fair. Some countries can’t use Paypal or have unconfirmed addresses. Should I make them take the risk and send cash in the mail or go get a check in US funds? This is preposterous! Customers and sellers should have a choice of payment services just like they have a choice of products. I HAVE TO ADVERTISE BIDPAY in my listings where international buyers can see it not in the end of auction emails. Encouraging sellers to only accept Paypal is doing the global trading community a huge disservice. -Supergirl PS I posted a similar post on Answer Center and it went untouched but got one response. So I posted it on the Paypal discussion board and it got pulled. Then I posted it again and it got pulled! I bookmarked these posts but when I clicked on the link it said thread could not be found. I am very upset about this. I see all kinds of posts on the Paypal discussion board about "accounts hijacked" and "Paypal helps theives" and they pull this??? An honest objective post?? I am in awe. Thank God for Usenet!
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