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K, so some business posted an ad in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
goblinmarkets and in the bit where they talked about what payments they accepted, they specified that they charge 5% + $1 extra for people using Paypal. This happens to be against Paypal's terms of use and I said so.
This is the exact quote from the terms of use:
"No Surcharges. Under Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express regulations and the laws of several states, including California, merchants may not charge a fee to the buyer for accepting credit card payments (often called a "surcharge"). You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as payment. [emphasis mine] This restriction does not prevent you from imposing a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge (in other words, the handling fee for transactions paid through PayPal may not be higher than the handling fee for transactions paid through other payment methods)."
It then goes on to describe the circumstances under which there is an exception in the UK: both buyer and seller in UK, website operating from the UK, sale transacted in pounds sterling. It seems to me that unless you specifically fulfill that set of criteria, this rule applies: you cannot charge a surcharge to a buyer using Paypal. Whatever local laws may say about charging surcharges on different forms of payment, this is something Paypal is prohibiting as a condition of using their service, which they have every right to do.
So they answer
"for your info, we're not from the UK, and its our practice in Singapore. So you may want to check out the Singapore law or something instead. We've been in business for so long, and never have any problems with anybody. Please get your facts right before commenting. Thank you."
Right, you're not in the UK - so, as far as I can tell, the rule applies, dumbass. And "we've been doing it for so long and never have problems" doesn't mean it's not a violation - it just means no one's tried to turn you in to PayPal, or they decided it wasn't worth their while to do anything about it. Oh, and on top of that, they afterwards deleted the post. (wtf? why not just delete the comment thread?)
I've half a mind to write an email to Paypal and see if they do anything. For fuck's sake. :P
goblinmarkets and in the bit where they talked about what payments they accepted, they specified that they charge 5% + $1 extra for people using Paypal. This happens to be against Paypal's terms of use and I said so. This is the exact quote from the terms of use:
"No Surcharges. Under Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express regulations and the laws of several states, including California, merchants may not charge a fee to the buyer for accepting credit card payments (often called a "surcharge"). You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as payment. [emphasis mine] This restriction does not prevent you from imposing a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge (in other words, the handling fee for transactions paid through PayPal may not be higher than the handling fee for transactions paid through other payment methods)."
It then goes on to describe the circumstances under which there is an exception in the UK: both buyer and seller in UK, website operating from the UK, sale transacted in pounds sterling. It seems to me that unless you specifically fulfill that set of criteria, this rule applies: you cannot charge a surcharge to a buyer using Paypal. Whatever local laws may say about charging surcharges on different forms of payment, this is something Paypal is prohibiting as a condition of using their service, which they have every right to do.
So they answer
"for your info, we're not from the UK, and its our practice in Singapore. So you may want to check out the Singapore law or something instead. We've been in business for so long, and never have any problems with anybody. Please get your facts right before commenting. Thank you."
Right, you're not in the UK - so, as far as I can tell, the rule applies, dumbass. And "we've been doing it for so long and never have problems" doesn't mean it's not a violation - it just means no one's tried to turn you in to PayPal, or they decided it wasn't worth their while to do anything about it. Oh, and on top of that, they afterwards deleted the post. (wtf? why not just delete the comment thread?)
I've half a mind to write an email to Paypal and see if they do anything. For fuck's sake. :P
no subject
Date: Oct. 20th, 2004 10:44 pm (UTC)From:Do it! At worst, nothing happens; at best, a jackass gets his comeuppance! :)
no subject
Date: Oct. 21st, 2004 12:22 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Oct. 21st, 2004 02:20 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Oct. 21st, 2004 09:29 am (UTC)From: