I think I'll be asleep then....

PayPal is in the process of facilitating a data center move to a new facility with improved hardware infrastructure. As a result, some merchants will be unable to process live transactions for approximately one hour, beginning March 18th at 2:00 am PDT (4am Central time). PayPal has notified affected merchants via email and through alerts when they log in to their Manager accounts.

What does eBay cost?

My students last week asked how much it costs to sell on eBay.  Here is a simple list of the fees you may be charged when selling on eBay:

• Insertion Fee – A nonrefundable fee may be charged to your account when you list your item on eBay.  Sometimes eBay offers "specials" when you may list your item without any Insertion Fee and pay only if it sells. If your listing ends without a winning buyer you may qualify for a credit by relisting the item.

• Listing upgrades – Additional fees that are only charged if you choose optional selling features such as Subtitle, Bold, Listing Designer, etc.

• Final Value Fee – This is based upon the final sale price of your item and only if your item sells. Right now for most items it is 9% of the final selling price.

• PayPal Fees – When you use Paypal to collect payment you will be charged another percent that is a sliding fee (check on Paypal for a complete fee chart).  Also, there are no monthly fees to have a Paypal account. The only fees are when you receive money when your item sells.

Paypal Fees

Paypal fees are inevitable—they are just part of the cost of doing business on eBay.  There are advantages and disadvantages, but since we are stuck with it, it’s a good idea to be totally aware of how Paypal fees work. 

Paypal fees are based on the volume of money that comes into your Paypal account each month.  If you receive $3,000 or less each month you will be charged 30¢ plus 2.9% of each transaction.  Keep in mind that your shipping charges will be included in the Paypal fees, too.  For example, if you sell an item for $10 (and they pay $2 SH) Paypal fees are based on the $12 your customer sends, not just the $10 for the item. 

This is why many sellers will not sell anything for under $10—after deducting eBay fees and Paypal fees, they are left with approximately 80% (depending on their eBay fees), so it is hardly worth their time (time is money!) to list the smaller items.  Remember: it takes the same amount of time to list a high priced item as a low priced one!

I found a free online Paypal fee calculator.  Keep a link on your desktop to remind yourself to be more aware of the Paypal fees. 

Sending money through Paypal

Here's a trick I used just this week when I needed to send money to private person thru Paypal (as opposed to paying for an item on eBay, etc.):

After you log into your account page, find the Send Money tab at the top.  That takes you to another page where you fill in the person’s email (Paypal ID) and the amount to send.  Under that you’ll see a box with 2 tabs: Purchase or Personal.  Choose the one marked Personal, which will give you more choices (gift, payment owed, etc.).  I usually choose Payment Owed.  Hit Send.  The person you are sending money to will not pay any fees to receive the money.

Be Careful!

A few notes of caution:



• Be cautious of email that claims to come from eBay. Any messages from eBay OR PayPal will also be available on the sites themselves.


• eBay involves money and making smart financial choices. You are responsible for making sure you understand these transactions before you participate in them. If you have questions, please ask!


• DO NOT EVER give your login, password or any banking information in response to an email or to a site that you did not go to on your own.