Originally Posted by peripatetic
I agree with you about eBay's charges; they're kind of ridiculous. One time, I actually mailed a personal check and waited for it to go through, because I won a mechanical typewriter for about 9 bucks with shipping. I didn't want the seller to lose any more money on PayPal. The economy is ruled by the Middle-Man.
I don't have an issue with your decision, and at many levels applaud it. I am just using it to discuss the more generic issue of excessive PayPal fees.
On a $9 purchase PayPal fee is $0.56 (it is true that the fees are proportionally larger for small purchases because of the up front $0.30)
With the Postage you paid, and the envelope it cost you at least $0.40. It is possible that $0.16 was spent on mileage to process the check by the buyer or seller. Why would we think that a seller likes dragging a check to the ATM to deposit it, checking to see if it cleared, and holding the item for an extra week, all to save $0.56?
When viewed from a convenience perspective the fees for PayPal can be esily eaten up with the hidden costs of doing it a different way.
Don't get me wrong, I have done things to assist a seller... and I do think the Postal Service provides a valuable service. Delivering a letter from you to anyone in the country for under $0.40 is an amazing deal...
In fact, I sent extra money once through PayPal in order to help with a new seller's shipping cost (the total of my bid and shipping was less than their actual shipping cost) If you feel bad on these small purchases, send the $0.30 fixed fee per item, and you decide whether to let them pay the 2.9%, or offer that too.
Bottom line, if a seller objects to the excessive fees, they don't need to accept PayPal. And if they find it is a convenient option, why should we decrease their convenience to save a few cents?