[fwlr]

The risk a payment processor (credit card, PayPal, etc) takes on when handling your transaction is proportional to the size of the transaction. Basically, if you draw out the complete state transition diagram, there are some terminating states where PayPal is left holding the bag. So to cover that risk you have to charge a percentage - of course, the percentage gets bumped up (perhaps dramatically so) to make a profit, but you’ll never escape percentage charges with payment processors.

How do banks, crypto, etc. operate without charging percentages? I don’t know if it’s a completely sensible distinction to make but I think of them as processing transfers rather than processing payments. A payment is money in exchange for something, there’s customer rights involved, if the something isn’t provided the money can be clawed back (e.g. chargebacks). A transfer is just a raw “moving money” operation, there’s fewer customer rights involved, if you transfer to the wrong account you just lose the money. Basically, draw out the state transition diagram for a raw transfer and there’s fewer end states where the institution ends up on the hook - few enough that it’s safe to offer flat or no fees.

[kazinator]

If you use PayPal, there is a risk to you that you will be left out to dry (as numerous anecdotes attest) with a locked account and funds frozen. Can you charge a fee to these fucking assholes as an insurance against that?