I've been notified today that buyers will pay the Personal Transaction fee which amounts to £1.99 and as I read it, plus 3.4% of the total price.
That's very expensive for low value items don't you think? Actually, 3.4% is a pretty high charge whatever the value.
Keeping in mind, these are fully automated systems, personnel costs would be minimal.
OK, to clarify - the charge is solely for the seller. The point I was making, is if you are selling "cheap" items, the £1.99 charge + the commission, makes it an expensive transaction. And as rickf said, you then have to factor in ebays commission.
However, as Simsy says, I think I have misinterpreted the changes and the £1.99 does indeed apply to out of country sales.
You can find the new terms here. It's about half way down the page.
Please may I apologise for misinformation.
Thanks for the clarification. Confusion is understandable.
I've never had a need to use PayPal. I've used GooglePay a couple of times but normally find that I can use a Credit Card for anything I buy.
I get the occasional dodgy email saying that my PayPal account has been suspended due to 'Unusual Activity'. Hardly likely as I don't have one.
I had an Amex (American Express) card many years back but as they kept increasing their charges to the seller, fewer and fewer outlets would accept it so I stopped using it. Surely they realise that there is strong competition for this kind of service.
I use PayPal to collect my mountain bike club's annual subs.
The pay me page is set up as a friends and family payment which incurs no fee except for a few that have a credit card listed as their source of funds. We just absorb those few as running costs to the club rather that request a greater subscription.
I thought members may like a practical example of the present costs involved for low cost items.
I sold an item recently for £2.99 + £4.00 postage - total £6.99.
The commission charge from ebay was 70p + another 44p from PayPal. It appears ebay charge you commission on postage as well as the item.
Given the actual postage cost was £3.95 + a bit of packing + going to the post office to send it to the buyer, my actual return was (at best, not factoring time and travel) £1.85p.
In other words, the direct transaction costs were 38.127%.
I won't bother again! I'd rather give it to a charity shop.
