paypal becoming more and more of a rip off

To me ebay has always charged fees over the top but after they got a hold of paypal it seems to have become worse. Now they just started to impose holds on everything and require powersellers to keep a 15% (of all transactions over the last 6 months) ballance in their account. In my mind this is taking it a step wayyyy to far. The only reason that the fees made any sense to me is because of the assumed risk that pay pal took.... I sell an 08 buffalo, jimmy bob pays me and I never ship it and take the money out of the paypal account and run. That fee was to cover that risk! now paypal is holding the money till jimmy bob gets his coin soooo what is the risk for them? not to mention they are having a field day investing that money in the short term and making money off my money for a week or two before I get positive feedback and the money clears. This is a fraud and a scam and they can only get away with it because people are now so used to paypal they wont use anything else. Basically they have gone from a buyer and seller protection service to an escrow service.... yet most escrow services charge less than 1% and paypal charges over 3%!!!!! Anyone else feeling this way or am I alone on this?

 

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with current interest rates, they aren't making that much on investing the money as they hold it, but with the amount of money they hold, it's definitely not insignificant. guess I'm glad my powerseller status wasn't renewed recently and if these new rules are as you describe them, I won't be signing back up as a powerseller next time i'm invited to do so. I withdraw the $ as soon as it gets into my paypal by having them send me a check since I don't even have my account linked with an active bank account.

 

I am almost offended by the hold on my account... ive got 100% perfect feedback and have never had a dispute. This is selling stuff like buffalos, rolex watches, and computers too... this is not like 20$ sales... seems stupid to me but I guess they know it wont hurt their business and just add protection for them.

 

Well, you could simply stop doing business on Ebay and use traditional markets and have to pay even higher fees in the form of taxes. Looking at it that way, how can you possibly complain?
Guy~

 

Actually Guy, technically speaking you're legally required to report online purchases and pay taxes on them, so assuming your a law abiding person thats even more of a reason not to use ebay. Frankly if I lived in a bigger city I would love to only deal locally, but in the place I live it would be quite hard to sell coins only locally. Also.... I would be A LOT more likely to not report taxes from a local sale than I would online. Online theres a reccord to screw you with, locally unless im selling to an IRS agent im in the clear. Still my point was that Ebay is taking advantage of the situation, everyones used to ebay now so hardly anyone even checks locally anymore... they have a monopoly and they are abusing it.

 

Can't trust anything anymore. ebay scam, Fake coin scam....what next?

I am glad I dealt my last on ebay.

 

It's the sellers obligation to apply taxes to items sold, not the buyers. And I was implying the taxes due when making income. I do agree Paypal is a joke, but it beats the alternative.
Guy~

 

Could be different in your state, but legally in my state you are required to report anything you buy online and pay sales tax on it. I think about .0001% of people do it.... but seems any way you do it someone is screwing you over.

 

Must be a state thing. I wonder why they're doing that to power sellers. I assume power sellers are those who have a somewhat reputable history there. If anything, they should just do that with sellers with less than reputable histories.
Guy~

 

I have never used Paypal. If I want to buy, I ask the seller to accept a USPS money order. If they say no, then they don't get my business.

 

I also do the same thing, I then keep their reply in a folder, incase I have a problem

if I am not happy with the seller I delete it from my folder. I have 5 coin e-sellers that I am very pleased with, also 9 other e-sellers that I deal with, with postal money orders.

 

Are you sure ? I've been all over, and everywhere I've been it was the seller's responsibility to collect the tax from the buyer, because only the seller will deal with the state later on (i.e. cut a check periodically).

 

eBay's fees are high, and they are what they are. Some of us honest sellers pay state taxes based on where we live and who is buying and where they live, whether we are selling on eBay, on our own websites or at shows. That has nothing at all to do with eBay fees.

 

In CA if you buy things from out of state retailers who don't collect sales tax, the buyer is responsible for paying CA use taxes. Here's a quick summary:

http://www.boe.ca.gov/ads/news06.htm

 

Basically true in many states but has been well ignored since it takes a lot of money and manpower to prove you purchased something that is taxable.
Not being a smoker I thought it was funny when a neighbor of mine bragged about purchasing cigaretts from another state on line and avoided the massive local taxes. He then got a Federal statement in the mail about avoiding Federal taxes of some kind.
I don't think there is a sales tax on coins anywhere though is there? For sure not around me.
I do not use PayPal and never will.

 

CA and NV do have sales tax on coins. I'm sure there are others.

That Use Tax is for businesses buying goods from out of state, not for individuals. The average person doesn't register to be a consumer and/or storer of goods and products for use and sell, so I believe that does not apply.
Guy~

 

I no longer use the services of PayPal. You all stated the reasons why. If I buy, and the seller doesen't want to accept U.S. Postal M/O......than I'm done with it. They will get my payment quicker than PayPal will release it to them.

 

In my state we are required to pay sales tax on anything bought over the internet. My CPA ask for a figure every year at tax time. Most don't report it but I do. I could pass an audit but don't wish to be audited over something so small.

 

Are you sure about that???

In CA it most certainly applies to individuals:

http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/usetax.shtml

But compliance is very very very low, but audits concerning the reporting of the use tax have increased significantly in the past few years as CA has run out of money.

 

Well, not 100% sure, but then again, those requirements read like stereo instructions. Guess I'll have to ask my CPA at tax time to be sure.
Guy~