Paypal fees?

[korsetkoat.livejournal.com]

This has already been been discussed in this community before- who should pay the fee, the commissioner or the artist? The general agreement seems to be, factor paypal fees into your initial commission price to cover it, because it is the artist who should pay the fees and not the commissioner, as by PayPal's TOS. However, there are many artists I've met who do not seem to have read/know PayPal's TOS and their prices are not factored for the fees.

What should a commissioner/artist do in a situation where, a commissioner sends money thinking an artist has factored in fees, but in fact hasn't payed what the artist was wanting (i.e., an artist wants 4.00$, they only get 3.58$)? It seems like one of those situations that could get ugly if not treated with care. Which is why so far I, as a commissioner, have been paying fees most of the time when buying a commission.

Would the artist have the right to withhold artwork until the full fee has been paid? Or does the commissioner have the right to the commission because it is the artist's own hindsight and ignorance that got them out of some money? I haven't had this situation myself yet but I feel as though this kind of thing will happen at one point or another. Is it a courtesy for the commissioner to send more money despite the TOS or should the artist, well, just suck it up because it is due to their own ignorance of the TOS?

Edit; I suppose the easiest solution for an artist who will not give you art until you pay more money is to open a dispute.

However, let's say you told them all this but they ignore your warning about the TOS. Should you report someone for breaking the TOS by making your customers pay the fees? Is there even a way to do so?

Comments

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Er, honestly I wouldn't haggle over a few dollars or cents XD
If I were commissioning someone and for some reason they decided I needed to pay paypal fees too, I would do so, but attempt to politely point out that that's against paypal's TOS.

Unfortunately some people are super sensitive to any criticism and may get upset no matter how polite you are. So maybe it'd be best to wait for the commission to be done and delivered, then I might say something like "thanks for this commission, I love it! I just wanted to give a word of feedback, though, technically it's against paypal's TOS to charge for fees. I don't mind paying it, but you might want to raise your prices to include the fees instead of charging separately. Anyway, thanks for the lovely art"

or something to that effect.

[korsetkoat.livejournal.com]

A few cents either way does not harm me either, but the fees would become steeper the higher the price of the commission. I only used the small amounts because that was all I could do of math off the top of my head. xD

That sounds like a good idea, to wait until after it is finished.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Ah, gotcha.
Well if it was a really big commission that we're talking more than just a few dollars of fees, enough that it made one rethink the commission, then it'd be best to bring it up before paying anything or agreeing.
Also, I'd personally never pay via the personal/"gift" option if someone asked me to, just politely say "I'm sorry, I'm not comfortable with that, I really would like to stick with the merchant options." or whatever :P

Only 3%

[neondragon.livejournal.com]

Paypal's fees really aren't that bad though. 3% + 30 cents. If you're talking a commission that's a HUGE, $2000 fursuit or something, then that adds up to $60... Even then, if I were the artist in question, I'd still accept that loss because of the large nature of the item; the profit margin is equally large.

I would hazard most artists have the fees figured out and have a rounded amount added to the commission at the start to cover these costs. Hidden padding to cover costs. :-) Not a surprise to the commissioner, because they already know what they're paying up front and it's not tacked on after the fact. When you use supplies and services, you should have those factored in to the amount you charge for your commission. :-)

Re: Only 3%

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

That's only the price if you're American though. Offhand they charge me a lot more simply because I'm in the UK and that is without conversion.