AMEX is NOT treating coin and bullion as cash advances...are coin dealers unaware of this?!?

So last year AMEX announced that it would be treating purchases of coins and bullion as cash advances...they then changed their minds about this, "Effective October 1, 2021 (aka now), “precious metal coins or bullion and digital precious metals products” are no longer considered as a cash advance, so those purchases should earn points, miles, and cash back."

So why is pretty much EVERY coin dealer on ebay no longer accepting AMEX?! EVERY seller I've purchased from during the last couple years it seems no longer accepts AMEX.

Did ebay forget to announce this in seller forums?...do sellers not know AMEX is fine? What gives?!?
I get more rewards on my AMEX than any of my other cards...I want to use my AMEX for coins again!!!

 

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Total conjecture on this one. Many retailers don't accept Amex because their fees are higher than the other major CC issuers.

We have a Kentucky Fried Chicken on either end of our city. One accepts Amex, the other doesn't.

 

Because AMEX charges sellers a fortune compared to other cards.

 

AMEX restored the benefits you get, but as @masterswimmer and @messydesk pointed out, they're still more expensive for the seller.

The first table on this page sums it up, but the page also indicates that AMEX is more expensive for other things as well, like handling returns. I don't know the details about that, but given eBay's push for ever more liberal return policies, it may well be relevant. (Yeah, I know eBay exempts PM sales from their return requirements, but a SNAD claim is still all-powerful.)

 

AmEx is the only card attached to my ebay account and I've never had a problem with it. It's been a while since I purchased from ebay though, and never bullion.

 

AMEX is 3.5% on ebay...PayPal is also 3.5% and the coin/bullion sellers I'm seeing all accept PayPal... so I don't think that really explains why...

 

???

Amex directly charges the seller/merchant/vendor a fee that's higher than the other CC's fees. Not sure what you mean by 3.5% on eBay.

 

What am I misunderstanding?...PayPal takes a cut as well.
From Nov 25th 2021...
Depending on your store level, eBay's final value fee is 1.5-12%. PayPal takes 3.4% + $0.49 for domestic sales

 

I don't sell and VERY RARELY buy on eBay. So this is my interpretation of your quote above.
That's what PP takes over and above what the credit card companies charge as their fee to the merchant.

 

Not when I've sold -- the PayPal fee is the PayPal fee. They did at one point have different fees depending on whether the payment came from a CC or a PayPal balance, but I think they got rid of that distinction many years ago.

 

You can always just use the Amex through your paypal which makes little sense to not accept it if you accept other cards or paypal.

Now not every seller has a set up to directly accept cards and just uses paypal or the ebay processing which would be a different story.

 

You don't get hit three times. You either pay the fees to ebay + ebay payment, ebay + paypal, or ebay + direct credit card. You can use any card on the payment services so if you take cards directly it doesn't make that much sense. I guess they're hoping people will use a different card though the fees really arent that much higher after AMEX lowered them a couple years ago. If someone really wants to use it though all they have to do is do it through the processors and just not directly