Update: The Bench Policies regarding Paypal Gift Payments

slavlite · Feb 21, 2012

We have updated our policy regarding Paypal Gift Payments, the FAQ has been updated to reflect this:

http://www.thebenchtrading.com/thebench/faq.php?faq=bench_policies#faq_paypal_gift

FAQ said:
PayPal Gift funds is not an acceptable form of payment for purchases on The Bench. Any seller offering to take PayPal payments must be willing to absorb costs associated with that service. Normal protections of the TGB team will not be fully realized for anyone circumventing the rules and sellers insisting upon this may be subject to rules sanctions as well.

If you are a seller who generally asks for Paypal Gift as payment option you should start addding your fees directly into your selling prices, here is a link to a paypal fee calculator: http://ppcalc.com/ OR go for Money order, or check sales as an alternative.

Thank You,
The Mod Team

tim815 · Feb 21, 2012

bravo

redbird4 · Feb 21, 2012

Ditto.

JGerutfan9 · Feb 21, 2012

Thanks for this. It was needed to be put into the rules.

Way to go mods!!

Eric

criollos · Feb 21, 2012

¡awesome!

metsman1986 · Feb 21, 2012

Great news!

The Quarter Box · Feb 21, 2012

I might have to change my sig now.

---Frank

cmcjr99 · Feb 21, 2012

love it......a long overdue move in my opinion.....

sberry · Feb 21, 2012

Ditto to all

mrmopar · Feb 21, 2012

Where does the bench stand on advertising up front that you want a $xx.xx fee for any PP payments. I believe Ebay forbids it, but I don't see any reason why it would not be allowed if it is stated up front.

For example, I don't sell much, but on occasion have sometimes stated that smaller PP payments would incur a fee, but I typically absorb the fee on larger payments. My thought here is that on very small $ sales, I am already not making much and offering the PP option is a convenient way for a buyer to avoid the cost of mailing a payment (you save 45 cents right off the bat) and some cases the cost of a MO, checks being the obsolete bound payment system that they are becoming. However, that fee I incur for allowing PP cuts into an already small profit margin. On the other hand, higher sales generate higher fees, but they are more easily absorbed in the larger amounts received.

Personally I don't care either way, but this may be a huge issue with other higher volume sellers. Fee avoidance is quite common these days. Nobody wants to pay to play!!

slavlite · Feb 21, 2012

IF you want to state what your fees are to the seller that is fine with me. We are not ebay and dont own paypal so i don't see any thing wrong with:

1997 Joe Schmo for sale, sale Price 10 dollars + .65 cents for paypal fees. Or simply saying 10.65 is my sell price.

I know exactly what you are saying about the smaller sales fees adding up.

This is strictly us changing the official wording of our past Paypal gift policy to reiterate the issues with TGB's, Paypal gift is for gifting someone money and personal use, its not meant for "Transfer of service or goods"

mrmopar · Feb 21, 2012

Understood. Just thought it might be good to clarify. I like the idea of stating fees up front rather than building them in, in case someone did want to pay with cash/MO, etc.

slavlite said:
IF you want to state what your fees are to the seller that is fine with me. We are not ebay and dont own paypal so i don't see any thing wrong with:

1997 Joe Schmo for sale, sale Price 10 dollars + .65 cents for paypal fees. Or simply saying 10.65 is my sell price.

I know exactly what you are saying about the smaller sales fees adding up.

This is strictly us changing the official wording of our past Paypal gift policy to reiterate the issues with TGB's, Paypal gift is for gifting someone money and personal use, its not meant for "Transfer of service or goods"

cmcjr99 · Feb 21, 2012

unless they've changed something , pay pal used to have a rule that forbade adding a surcharge....i know it's all in semantics really , but by the strict interpretation of their terms of use a total price of 10.65 would be ok while a price of $10 with an additional charge of $.65 added for using pay pal (as opposed to any other method) is not acceptable.....on the other hand , pay pal has no rule about offering a discount for those paying with cash/MO,check etc...

i guess you could compare it to buying gas : a station may give a discount for buyers using cash , but may not raise the price those paying with a credit card....

Motown G · Feb 21, 2012

Thanks again to the mods!!

JamesNevans · Feb 21, 2012

Actually, I think I have to disagree with the wording if not the sentiment of slavlite in post #11, you cannot state $10 plus $0.65 PayPal fees. Because of the wording in the FAQs you have to know going in that if you accept PayPal as a convienence payment you need to price that item at $10.65 to net the $10. The calculator is simply to allow sellers to know what the expenses of selling are up front and not pass it on as a tacked on cost to the buyer. If you don't want to pay the fee then insist upon checks or money orders, don't charge the buyer and don't encourage the skipping of the fee through what was PayPal gift or we get right back to the same old potential for TGB problems.

Note to mrmopar, I know on the small stuff I have something on my own site saying that I have to have sales exceeding $10 to absorb the fee, but if I were to do something on here where there would be a danger of selling from a sales list under that I would just note that individual prices may be higher for smaller sales.

metsman1986 · Feb 22, 2012

I don't think this thing is that complicated..................Just don't do the gifted PayPal and everyone will satisfied................

shortstopsport · Feb 22, 2012

I agree with metsman1986. We are reading too much into this.

metsman1986 said:
I don't think this thing is that complicated..................Just don't do the gifted PayPal and everyone will satisfied................

JamesNevans · Feb 22, 2012

metsman1986 said:
I don't think this thing is that complicated..................Just don't do the gifted PayPal and everyone will satisfied................

Agreed, not complicated as the language is clear. The people that won't be satisfied are the ones that try to skimp on the fees and they could care less about the protections the buyer has to give up. Sellers will have to adjust and the calculator can give them an idea BEFORE they price their items what the cost of BUSINESS is before trying to place the onus on the buyer and the potential clean-up for TGBs on the moderator team.

opcfan · Feb 22, 2012

Great news.

mrmopar · Feb 22, 2012

This is why I asked. Like I said, I do very little selling and it won't affect me much, if at all.

I would have to read the FAQs again to see if it is clear that adding a fee to a transaction is allowed or not, but accepting PP is as much a convenience to the buyer as it is to the seller on a site like this with small volume sellers. A seller could just as soon ask for cash, like some sellers do. It's risky (for both parties as it is easily stolen w/o a trace) and a pain (sending cash has to be round numbers or deal with change and even having cash these days is odd for some), but they must have their reasons. MOs are often not free, so another reason to conveniently use PP as a buyer. Not to mention once more the saved postage cost of sending a payment.

In the end, I think a seller should be able to build in any part of their cost if they chose to do so. It might hurt their sales or it may now. Discount for cash/MO or a fee for CC/PP. I don't see a difference, especially on a private site as long as the owner is cool with it.

It should be clear though, either way.

JamesNevans said:
Actually, I think I have to disagree with the wording if not the sentiment of slavlite in post #11, you cannot state $10 plus $0.65 PayPal fees. Because of the wording in the FAQs you have to know going in that if you accept PayPal as a convienence payment you need to price that item at $10.65 to net the $10. The calculator is simply to allow sellers to know what the expenses of selling are up front and not pass it on as a tacked on cost to the buyer. If you don't want to pay the fee then insist upon checks or money orders, don't charge the buyer and don't encourage the skipping of the fee through what was PayPal gift or we get right back to the same old potential for TGB problems.

Note to mrmopar, I know on the small stuff I have something on my own site saying that I have to have sales exceeding $10 to absorb the fee, but if I were to do something on here where there would be a danger of selling from a sales list under that I would just note that individual prices may be higher for smaller sales.

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