Wasn’t the idea to match based on payment method accepted? When I buy products, hosting etc through Paypal, I pay the fee displayed. The recipient will then get slightly less due to fees-
Wait a second, you say "...I pay the fee...", then "...the recipient [pays the fees]...". My understanding is, if the buyer pays the fees, the he must pay extra in order to cover the fees, so that the seller's account is credited with the full contracted sale amount without any further deduction. If the seller pays the fees, then the buyer pays only the total contracted sale amount, and fees are deducted from that so the seller gets less.
Is there a clear fee schedule for SEPA transfers?
I have accounts in different banks in different countries. In one, euro-zone payments are completely free. In the other, any payment pays €0.50 fee. So if I am buying something with the second account, for example, it would not be fair for me to charge this fee to a seller, as it is *my* bank that charges the fee. On the other hand, suppose my bank charged €0.50 for every *incoming* payment. It wouldn't be fair for me to charge that to the buyer either, would it? So I guess the problem is really with paypal, who don't clearly specify if they charge a fee on the buyer or the seller.
[15 minutes pass, while I do some investigating] Ahhh, scratch that. Now all my confusion is cleared up. Paypal *does* specify who is charged the fee. It is the seller:
Goods and services – Purchase payments:
There’s no fee to use PayPal to purchase goods or services. However, if you receive money for goods or services (such as from selling an item on eBay), the fee for each transaction is 2.9% plus $0.30 USD of the amount you receive.
This was the American site, in Europe it's 3.5% plus €0.35.
But, someone who pays with a credit or debit card, but through paypal to a paypal account, can choose who should pay the fee. So I guess my first sale was with this method, while the other was a direct paypal payments. Also, paypal-to-paypal payments to friends or family seem to be completely free. And there is also a charge for converting currencies.
So, I guess the seller (receiver of money) should pay the fee. I stand corrected. I will account for this in my future ask offers.
My bank handles the following criteria for the free euro transactions (these are the EC criteria):
Eh? You mean my bank is charging me fees on my euro-zone payments illegally? Bloody 'ell. Ah, wait tho', not so. [More investigation] They just can't make SEPA tranfers more expensive than domestic transfers. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area#Misconceptions
