Sellers adding for PayPal use is plainly BS

What a silly notion. Adam Smith (if he were inclined to read Audiogon forum posts) would turn in his grave.

If you subtract any consideration of what the buyer gets in exchange for payment of ANY fee (which, as rational maximizers, is an analysis all buyers perform before parting with their money), then EVERY payment becomes merely a seller's convenience and (under this rationale) morally objectionable.

Since the premise of EVERY purchase is that the buyer will have possession and use of the item for sale, and it's the seller's obligation to make sure the buyer gets possession, why not object on the same principle to buyers paying shipping charges? After all they just finance the seller's convenience by making the buyer pay to relieve the seller of the obligation to deliver the item personally.

By the way, I have read all the posts, and I have to agree with Sean.

If you don't want to pay the fees then send a money order. If as a seller I had to pay the fees then I simply wouldn't offer it as an option.

Eldragon, I am confused as to why you are so offended by this and your comparison to sitffing a waitress on a tip makes no sense to me.

I am certainly not going to spend hundreds of dollars on paypal fees for someone who is to impatient or financially unable to send a check.

So I agree that in the context of the classified and auction sales iit is an added cost much like shipping.

..... and really aren't there truly DISGUSTING things that you could better spend your time spouting off about. All this fuss about 3% on toys.........

I guess I'm not impatient because I always pass on the 3% extra charge on something I buy, not because I find it morally objectionable or am worried about the legalities, but because keeping the cost down is a good thing. Even if you are getting a $5K amp for $2K, saving $60 is worth saving. If I'm really looking to streamline the process, I can even send the seller a personal check and tell them to wait until it clears - no time, no extra $$$ sending the payment.

I've always viewed the use of PayPal as being something that's extremely beneficial to the seller. It's also indisputable that the number of times (in 2002) that you pull out a cc and get charged more for using it is near zero - standard practice is that whatever the price is, you can pay however you like. Now it's true that on a large purchase you can try to negotiate a better cash price, but outside of PayPal, I can't remember the last time I was told there would be a surcharge for paying with plastic. So, again, not because it's unethical, immoral or illegal, but just because protocol exists that says payment form shouldn't alter the price, I have never absorbed the PayPal charges.

Now, if somebody posts a Wadia 861 CD player that I've been searching for and lists a price of $2K and says the only way they'll sell is if Payment is by PayPal with buyer absorbing the cost, I'll pay it in a heartbeat because it's still a great deal. In essence, though, all that's saying is that the negotiating is pre-made - there's no sense in trying to negotiate down because the price is already so good, completely on the seller's terms, that you either hit the offer or move on.

I always find it interesting which threads grow to be the longest - I don't think I could predict which ones will catch fire with any accuracy. -Kirk

Very good, Chelillingworth. This is dumb & soooo boring.

I find this thread very interesting and any feedback that will help me sell my gear better is good feedback. I am very suprised to see that paypal fees bother some people but its good to know.

As far as the legality goes I wonder what state law would take presetant. The state in that the product is comeing from or the state that the server is located in.