• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Accepting/Using PayPal - the 3%

hhmoore

hhmoore

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A number of years ago, there was a spate of sellers trying to charge customers an additional 3% (or more) for using PayPal. It was pointed out over and over (and over) again that doing so is a violation of the PayPal User Agreement. It is also unprofessional; and is considered by many to be a deal breaker. The seller benefits just as much from PayPal payments as the buyer - perhaps more, when one considers the sales that would be lost by not accepting credit cards or waiting for money orders that never arrive. The fee (2.9% + $0.30) is a cost of doing business; and if the small amount of money involved makes that much difference, the sellers should reconsider & adjust their pricing. Eventually, the practice of trying to charge the fee essentially disappeared from this site...but, for whatever reason, there has been a resurgence recently.

Hopefully all buyers (new and experienced) have the sense to turn away from sellers adding more money because of the method of payment.
 
I agree harald. That fee is part of business and some credit card charges are more that 3% last time i checked. Cost of doing business. Call it a convient fee for using a simple and easy service to get paid.
 
The newest thing is trying to get you to pay as a gift which gives you no recourse if the seller stiffs you. Unscrupulous people will try anything to make a buck.
 
Yeah, that's making a resurgence, too.
Just as much of a deal breaker, IMO, but it seems some people don't know any better...either that, or they are so desperate for the deal that they don't care that they're SOL.
No legitimate seller should ask for payment in the form of "Gift" (or tell you to add the fee if you use PayPal)
 
Reptile Frenzy said:
Yeah only time i send money as a "gift" is to a friend that i fully trust so i can save him from the 3% fee
Click to expand...
If the friend is selling something to you, I feel that is unethical to deprive Paypal of their 3%. If the service is used it should be paid for.
I think the exception Paypal allows is for real gifts to friends and relatives.
 
Now that you put it that way it makes sense! Yeah your right paypal is offering a service to use and it should be paid for. Good point!
 
Reptile Frenzy said:
Yeah only time i send money as a "gift" is to a friend that i fully trust so i can save him from the 3% fee
Click to expand...

You also put your friend's account in jeopardy when you do that. Gifts are flagged on accounts and if you get too many of them, the account will be locked and PayPal will be calling asking for an explanation for the number of gifts. This happened to me when I was transferring funds between two of my paypal accounts (business and personal) and the personal option was the one that made the most sense.
 
Lucille said:
If the friend is selling something to you, I feel that is unethical to deprive Paypal of their 3%. If the service is used it should be paid for.
I think the exception Paypal allows is for real gifts to friends and relatives.
Click to expand...

Ethics are subjective and fluid. Some people claim they would never take advantage of a family operation if given the wrong change back but wouldn't think twice about not telling the walmart checker that they gave them change for a 20 when all they gave them was a 10. You can't have it both ways IMO.

I agree with you. I think it is unethical as well but you are going to get a lot of argument especially when you mention "depriving paypal of its 3%." Paypal is a huge corporation that deserves to be ripped off in some people's minds.

I just had a deal on another site where I paid the 3% because I had committed to the deal before reading the guys full TOS. I was on my 3rd page down and was still reading them and that alone usually turns me off but I just skipped to the stuff for sale and missed the 3% thing. I would have hit the back button then and there had I seen it. I also had a big issue with his refund policy That I had to take advantage of but again it was spelled out in the TOS that I didn't read so I was stuck. The deal wasn't horrible just not as good as it initially sounded. I just bit the bullet and put him on my ignore list.
 
hhmoore said:
Yeah, that's making a resurgence, too.
Just as much of a deal breaker, IMO, but it seems some people don't know any better...either that, or they are so desperate for the deal that they don't care that they're SOL.
No legitimate seller should ask for payment in the form of "Gift" (or tell you to add the fee if you use PayPal)
Click to expand...

I agree with you about the gift thing but not quite so much on the 3%. It is an expense and sellers always try to recoup their expenses in some way. They could raise their prices by 3% or charge it up front. I would never do it and would probably not knowingly buy from sellers who asked it but I wouldn't go so far as to say they are not legitimate.

As far as the gift thing goes. If you are paying with a CC you will pay the 3% if you use the gift feature. A 100 dollar sale will cost you 103 bucks so the seller gets his full 100. If a CC is used the CC company will get its cut and Paypal won't pay the CC fees for anyone. If you are paying using PP balance or bank account then no one pays any fees.
 
Actually, if you use the gift option via credit card; I think you get the (higher) cash advance interest rate....but, last I heard, the sender decided who paid the fee.

I wouldn't go so far as to say they are not legitimate.
Click to expand...
How about "no legitimate business" should tell you to add the fee? (I don't mean to imply that either gift or +3% is acceptable from any seller, though.)

The reality is that, yes, if we're taking PayPal, we consider the fees when setting the price (or negotiating). One thing I used to do - years ago - when a seller added that +3% line, was to lower my offer another 5% below what I planned.
 
sschind said:
I agree with you about the gift thing but not quite so much on the 3%. It is an expense and sellers always try to recoup their expenses in some way. They could raise their prices by 3% or charge it up front. I would never do it and would probably not knowingly buy from sellers who asked it but I wouldn't go so far as to say they are not legitimate.

As far as the gift thing goes. If you are paying with a CC you will pay the 3% if you use the gift feature. A 100 dollar sale will cost you 103 bucks so the seller gets his full 100. If a CC is used the CC company will get its cut and Paypal won't pay the CC fees for anyone. If you are paying using PP balance or bank account then no one pays any fees.
Click to expand...

2 cents:
I think it appears more professional to work it into the price of the animal/product ahead of time and not try to add it later when the customer wants to use PP. Allows for some negotiating room too.
 
I just recently came across a post where the seller mentioned that they wanted the buyer to pay PayPal's 3%. I agree that it does look rather tacky and unprofessional: working the 3% fee into the price would be a much better way of going about this.
 
As soon as I see that in a post I close it...I don't even care if it's something I really want.

If you can't handle paying the 3% for the convenience of using paypal, then don't use it.

Also, I think about this every time I see it...paypal takes 3% out of the TOTAL you pay. This means that they also take 3% out of the 3% extra that you paid to cover the charges. Does this mean that you have to pay an additional 3% to cover the 3% of the 3%...and then 3% of that 3%? Lol
 
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