[Russ Ellis]

I did not know this (and fortunately did not find out the hard way) that paypal takes a dim view of someone charging an extra fee for paypal's services. I can't count the number of times that I've seen someone tacking on an extra 3-4% to a sale here if someone uses paypal to make the payment. It turns out that this may get your paypal account frozen if the deal goes bad and the buyer complains. At least that's how I read it:

[Todd M. Sullivan]

[Michael Edelson]

The solution is simple. Figure out what you want to charge. Say 1000 dollars. Now add 3%, making it 1030 dollars.

Now sell your product for 1030 dollars, with no mention of a paypal fee. If someone wants to haggle and says, "How about 900 dollars?" And that sounds good to you but you don't want to eat the paypal fee, say, "Well, how about 927 dollars? No need to pay 3% for paypal!"

[Craig Shackleton]

I agree with Michael. I'm always somewhat bemused by people who ask for the 3%, especially those who prefer or only take paypal. Just work it into the price in the first place, and then if you get a non-paypal payment, think of it as a bonus!

I also suspect though that Paypal only really cares if you try and charge the extra on ebay transactions. Just my speculation, don't quote me on that.

[Gregory J. Liebau]

Seconded what's mentioned above. I'm decent at sneaking the amount into my S/H charges figured roughly on the value of the item I'm selling, be it through forum advertisement or on Ebay. There are many ways to make this problem go away and keep your money for yourself, even if someone else is paying a bit more for the product!

-Gregory

[J.T. Aliaga]

You're not charging a fee for using Paypal; It's a discount for not paying with Paypal.

I see this all the time at gun shows. The vendors always have a 3-5% discount if you pay with cash or check.

[Lin Robinson]