[Checkout] Add Paypal fee to invoice

bpotter

Joined: 2010-06-21
Posts: 5
Posted: Sun, 2010-07-04 00:38

I'm working on setting up the PayPal module for Checkout. Paypal charges a 2.9% (plus $0.30) fee for processing an order. Is there a way to add this to the invoice that is passed to Paypal?

I know I can add this into the item / shipping price but sometimes people prefer to pay check instead of credit card. I'd like it to apply only to the paypal payments. I'm thinking there may be a way to add a calculation into the module that sends the information to Paypal from my site. I'm not very experienced as a programmer so I'm not sure where to start with that.

Thanks in advance.

-Brian

 
alecmyers

Joined: 2006-08-01
Posts: 4342
Posted: Sun, 2010-07-04 01:02

It's possible, but you'd need to improve your programming skills and get to grips with how Gallery2 is programmed before you would be able to do this.

Also I believe that it violates Paypal's terms and conditions to charge more for using Paypal than other methods of payments - they expect you to eat the charge yourself rather than pass it on to your customers.

 
bpotter

Joined: 2010-06-21
Posts: 5
Posted: Sun, 2010-07-04 01:22

I understand. So I guess what I need to do is:

Create a button that has the Paypal (and credit card) buttons
Have that button go to another page that creates a new "Final Checkout" to include:
Total of items
PayPal fees
Shipping
Sub Total

Then pass that invoice to Paypal

Then return and submit that invoice as the "Final" order to the system to be emailed / show up in the admin section.

Correct?

 
alecmyers

Joined: 2006-08-01
Posts: 4342
Posted: Sun, 2010-07-04 13:09

Checkout is designed for people who want to earn a living - a significant amount of money - with G2.

It's going to take you several tens or hundreds of hours of work to learn in enough detail how G2 and checkout works before you'd be able to make the necessary changes. Let's value your time at (only) $2.50 per hour, and let's say 100 hours of work, for simplicity. That means you need to put in $250 of labour to save 2.9%. That means you get payback only after selling nearly $9,000 of photos.

Personally - and speaking as someone who has sold a lot of photographs with G2 and checkout - you'll get a better return on your investment of time spending that hundred hours working out how to get the customers to pay you that $9k in the first place.

 
bpotter

Joined: 2010-06-21
Posts: 5
Posted: Sun, 2010-07-04 21:29

I understand what you are saying. I am aware I haven't spent the amount of time necessary to modify G2, nor am I willing to. That's why I posted a message to the forum where there are people, like you, who have developed modules for G2 by spending that time. I posted the question in the hope that someone may respond with a help, information, or possibly a solution I could implement. Not a response that cuts down and chides my question.

I spoke with Paypal before responding to your post and they assured me that any fees, shipping rates, etc I pass along to Paypal for processing does not violate their terms or conditions.

Finally, I can do the math regarding the fees. My rate an hour is not $2.50, it's $75. That's why I'm asking the question first rather than diving in myself. Perhaps you could look at these types of questions as suggestions for features (if they don't already exist and need explanation) rather than opportunities to belittle.

Thank you again for taking the time to develop a very effective and helpful module. I enjoy using checkout and look forward to new developments.

 
alecmyers

Joined: 2006-08-01
Posts: 4342
Posted: Sun, 2010-07-04 22:19

From Paypal's Terms and Conditions at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/terms-outside#user_responsibilities, para. IV/5 (my emphasis):

Quote:
No Surcharges. Under Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express regulations and the laws of several states, including California, merchants may not charge a fee to the buyer for accepting credit card payments (often called a "surcharge"). You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as payment. This restriction does not prevent you from imposing a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge (in other words, the handling fee for transactions paid through PayPal may not be higher than the handling fee for transactions paid through other payment methods).

However, that's (mostly) your concern; I was just trying to suggest that one single complaint from a customer will get you unwanted attention from Paypal, and may bring the whole Gallery2/checkout system into disrepute. Paypal have a "shoot-first, ask-questions-later" policy when it comes to merchants.

I do look at all suggestions for features; this is one that I'd prefer to see unimplemented.

 
bpotter

Joined: 2010-06-21
Posts: 5
Posted: Sun, 2010-07-04 22:47

I see now what you're talking about. Perhaps Paypal should get their customer service reps on the same page as their TOS.

Thanks for the feedback.