DO NOT use PayPal Friends & Family payment option. It is NOT meant to a to pay a Seller for goods/items purchased. If the Buyer uses Friends & Family to pay a Seller for stuff, there is NO recourse, if said Seller doesn't send the Buyer anything. The Buyer cannot file a dispute with PayPal, as the Friends & Family is only supposed to be used to send money to a relative or acquaintance, and that's all. No goods or services are to be exchanged. Also the idea of a Seller asking for "Adding 4% to a PayPal transaction" is NOT legal. PayPal is not happy with Sellers wanting this, and intends to do something about the practice shortly.
I'm not questioning your ascertain that it isn't legal because I have no idea, but it doesn't seem any different than gas stations charging less for cash and more for credit card purchases. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk
I have experienced this as well but, many sellers insist on using it. And others can use the personal information that they have. You also must have the obligatory Smart Butt Phone. Welcome to the NEW WORLD! Also I have never paid more for my gas using a credit or debit card. The same as cash.
The seller asking for more is not illegal, but violates the terms of use of Paypal, so they can kick these sellers off as they did not follow the contract guidelines. For the rest Porkypine is correct, the fees charged to the seller by paypal cover their expenses, profit, and the money they give back to you when something happens and you do not get the merchandise. Just like the credit card companies do.
You do have a good point on the dispute part. Not sure there is much PP can do when folks say add 4% and not sure why they have a problem with it because if say a price for something is $10 and PP charges 4%, then PP gets 40 cents, if you add that 40 cents and send it to the seller, now PP gets 40.4 cents so they actually make more money that way. That may sound like chump change but when you add that tiny bit up across every transaction that has 4% added to the asking price, that will run into big money over the course of a year. While it's usually the exception and not the norm, it happens with the use of credit cards. I have seen stations that have the Cash vs Credit prices. I have seen stores that add a percentage for use of credit cards and it is common practice (at least in the Atlanta area) with businesses that do home improvement type work. The reason you don't see more of that is because most businesses just build that cost into their selling price. If for some reason, PP is able to put something in place about that 4%, then we all know what will happen, sellers will just raise their price to cover the fee. When I sell stuff, I'm usually trying to go as low as I can but I do take that into account when I come up with a price. Just my 2 cents worth.
It only seems to be without cost. What they might have charged for such use is merely moved from Point A to Point B. The banks simply pay you less in any interest you might have earned for your savings account, etc. They build it into any fees for your checking account, annual charges for debit and credit cards, other services, etc. In the end, using your card is not free, the public just doesn't overtly see how they move money around.
