PayPal refund changes

[yanks12025]

I don’t believe anyone has posted about this but if it has, sorry.

But has anyone noticed that PayPal is changing their refund policy. if you have to refund any money, you will now have to still pay their fees.

[MikeKam]

Oooo, that's not cool.

It will most likely change how I go about refunding - I have the occasional "Can you please cancel this?" request an hour or two after purchase, so I may state that there are changes associated with wanting a cancellation without a real valid reason. It sucks, but if there is legitimate reason for a refund (item damaged, lost, etc.), then I don't mind taking that hit - just another cost to factor in.

[Yastrzemski Sports]

That’s an excellent point. It happens to me a couple times a year. For me, most of my sales are small (under $10). PayPal has never returned their transaction fee so the percent doesn’t really matter - it is usually pennies. The 30 cents is the big hit. It would definitely affect a larger sale. The problem is if you accept refunds then the buyer can tell you to ship then return it and you have to pay shipping at least one way and eat the pp fee.

Thanks to the op. I did not realize that happened.

This is an escalation in the pissing match between eBay and PayPal. PayPal reeks of desperation because they know they will be out of business within a few years. They have decided to abandon all customer service and care - and grab as much cash as they can on the way out. I still accept PayPal but this, in addition to the discussion last month about returns, makes me want to switch if I didn’t think it would cost me a ton of business. Their recent policy changes show they are bitter and don’t care about your troubles with eBay if it is going to cost them money.

Originally Posted by MikeKam

Oooo, that's not cool.

It will most likely change how I go about refunding - I have the occasional "Can you please cancel this?" request an hour or two after purchase, so I may state that there are changes associated with wanting a cancellation without a real valid reason. It sucks, but if there is legitimate reason for a refund (item damaged, lost, etc.), then I don't mind taking that hit - just another cost to factor in.

[savedfrommyspokes]

For as long as I can remember, paypal has not refunded the 30 cent transaction fee when a full refund to a buyer has been made. However, I have always received back the 2.9% fee charged by PP on the amount refunded, including an hour ago.

[yanks12025]

Originally Posted by savedfrommyspokes

For as long as I can remember, paypal has not refunded the 30 cent transaction fee when a full refund to a buyer has been made. However, I have always received back the 2.9% fee charged by PP on the amount refunded, including an hour ago.

I cut the page off, but it goes into affect next month I guess.

But this could be a huge problem. If you don’t like someone, you can just buy their item and then ask for a refund and then screw them over on the fees.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by yanks12025

I cut the page off, but it goes into affect next month I guess.

But this could be a huge problem. If you don’t like someone, you can just buy their item and then ask for a refund and then screw them over on the fees.

I see now that on May 7th that this change will go into effect. I typically complete a few refunds daily for overpayments in s/h (due to the buyer checking out multiple times instead of once). I already do not refund back the 10% ebay charges for a s/h FVF, so with this PP change I will now refund 3% less back for overpayments. 99% of my refunds are for this reason.


However, I agree that someone being spiteful could simply request a refund to cost the seller their 3% back in fees. If it is obvious that this is the reason for the refund, a trip to the BBL will follow.

Announcements like this from paypal seem to continue to drive their stock price, so probably more changes coming in the months to come. At least the change was not an increase in the existing fees though.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Yastrzemski Sports

That’s an excellent point. It happens to me a couple times a year. For me, most of my sales are small (under $10). PayPal has never returned their transaction fee so the percent doesn’t really matter - it is usually pennies. The 30 cents is the big hit. It would definitely affect a larger sale. The problem is if you accept refunds then the buyer can tell you to ship then return it and you have to pay shipping at least one way and eat the pp fee.

Thanks to the op. I did not realize that happened.

This is an escalation in the pissing match between eBay and PayPal. PayPal reeks of desperation because they know they will be out of business within a few years. They have decided to abandon all customer service and care - and grab as much cash as they can on the way out. I still accept PayPal but this, in addition to the discussion last month about returns, makes me want to switch if I didn’t think it would cost me a ton of business. Their recent policy changes show they are bitter and don’t care about your troubles with eBay if it is going to cost them money.

Paypal isn't going anywhere. They are accepted on millions of websites. I think this has more to do with people trying to circumvent fees, which has always been an issue.

Let's say you buy a card from me and pay via paypal, then one of us contacts the other (either direction, doesn't matter) to offer or ask for a better price if we do it off-site, or as F & F. I refund your payment and we re-conclude the sale, screwing paypal out of their fees.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Paypal isn't going anywhere. They are accepted on millions of websites. I think this has more to do with people trying to circumvent fees, which has always been an issue.

Let's say you buy a card from me and pay via paypal, then one of us contacts the other (either direction, doesn't matter) to offer or ask for a better price if we do it off-site, or as F & F. I refund your payment and we re-conclude the sale, screwing paypal out of their fees.

The circumventing fees nonsense is getting old from all corners of the Ebay and Paypal world. It's a tiny blip on their radar perpetrated by a very tiny group of people, that is used as an excuse to screw everybody else over.

They are and will always be doing just fine. It's a software transaction that doesn't cost them any resources to carry out and should be folded under the customer service umbrella.

Just another pound of flesh where the cost of doing business gets lifted off of their shoulders and on to all of the small sellers that made them rich to begin with.

It's a ridiculous policy, just on principle alone.

I particularly like the line where they say "there are no fees when you make the refund...........but, we're not giving you your money back".

That's LOL'able. How long until they "charge" us to refund somebody?

[Santo10Fan]

The writing on the wall is clear. Paypal's policy change is a bold middle finger to ebay sellers. It reflects the current corporate culture in the US, which has moved from concerned customer service focused on good PR straight to "sue me, oh wait, you signed that right away, see you in sealed arbitration". This move also directly contradicts the return policy Ebay initiated mid-2018. You now have two choices as a seller on ebay who accepts paypal. Forfeit "Top Rated Plus" status or leave yourself wide open to partial refund scams.

In order to receive "Top Rated Plus" fee discounts, sellers must offer 14-day free returns in Collectibles & Art categories. Re-stocking fees were banned. This leaves sellers caught directly in the middle of what is now obviously a contentious split of the ebay/Paypal partnership. If you sell a graded card for $3,000, congratulations. You now have to sweat out 2 weeks to see if you are going to have to eat $87.30 for the privilege of giving a buyer massive leverage over you via Paypal. That's in addition to footing the bill for the return shipping.

Unscrupulous buyers could simply claim damage and ask for a partial refund of $80 knowing full well you're screwed either way. Give them the money and save just a bit or give even more to Paypal-one way or another you are giving it up.