Has Paypal Changed Their Fee Structure

I had a tiny add-on sale after the initial sale and the buyer paid the added $2 by PP. We are both in the US. I was expecting to get hit with a fee of 30c plus 2.9% (6c) for a total of 36c. Instead they charged me 50c!

Paypal jacked their fees a couple of months ago. Now, 49 cents base fee plus 2.99%. So on a percentage basis for small transactions we are talking about what they used to call back in the old days...usury... or from their perspective... your cost of doing business. The added benefit of seller/buyer "protection".

Bob

There is no interest involved in the fee transaction, nor is such set at an illegal amount.

It is fine to ask the seller to pay an additional 50 cents (49 actually) to cover the additional expense. Or as good customer service just absorb the cost this one time.

Interest? Fee? Nice mincing of words. 25% is biblical in size regardless of the way you want to figure it.

Bob

PayPal was down yesterday what 25%? Today they are down, what 7% . I think they will raise all pricing shortly. Never did like them.
Cheers mark

The word, "usury" which is the word you chose and used, applies to interest on the principal of a loan.

The PayPal transaction does not involve a loan nor interest. Additionally, I do not know where you reside, but in the USA credit card companies are lawfully allowed to charge up to 29% annual interest on the loans they are carrying for the customer without it being usury.

PayPal does have competition, Apple-pay, Google-pay, not to mention hand to hand cash or bank checks. Now if one must mail a check there is a 58 cent fee called postage plus the cost of the check. But that is a fee paid by the buyer not the seller.

If you go the gas station and use your debit or credit card to buy something for $2, does Visa or Mastercard charge a merchant a 25% processing fee? Umm... No.

And of course I know what usury means. I know all about the dictionary, US business practices and the English language.

This is a 25% charge for the use of an electronic transaction. Interest... fee... word mincing at best. Regardless, it is a big number on a percentage basis. Justified in your view. Agreed to but perhaps not understood by the OP. Sure. I was just trying to explain why that happened in a non usurious 29% world.

Bob

"It is fine to ask the seller to pay an additional 50 cents (49 actually) to cover the additional expense. Or as good customer service just absorb the cost this one time."

I have no intention after the transaction was agreed to to ask the buyer to pay 50c, but in the future I may ask for it up front.

The 49c still isn't making sense unless they lowered the 2.9% part down to 0.5% as the total fee was 50c.

"Agreed to but perhaps not understood by the OP. "

What I did not ubderstand was that they changed the fee structure to more than I was expecting.