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Are eBay transactions permissible?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Fatwa-TT.com
Question:

My question is if I list an item on the online auction site eBay and the item sells for a certain amount am I allowed to pay eBay a commission of 10% of what the buyer paid me?
Also when the sale has been completed the buyer sends the money from his PayPal account to the sellers PayPal account where then PayPal charge the reciever of the money a percentage depending on the amount of money that is being transferred

Please could you confirm whether or not the above mentioned transactions are interest related thank you

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

eBay is the world’s online marketplace; a place for buyers and sellers to come together and trade almost anything.[1]

PayPal is an online payment service that allows individuals and businesses to transfer funds electronically.[2]

The commission paid to eBay would regarded as a fee in exchange for the usage of their facilities provided.

Similarly, the percentage taken by PayPal for the transferred amount is a fee, for their services in facilitating the transferral of the money.

The above mentioned transactions are permissible.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Arshad Ali

http://fatwa-tt.com


Trinidad

Checked and Approved by,


Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

 
[1] http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/questions/about-ebay.html
How eBay works:
  • A seller lists an item on eBay, most anything from antiques to cars, books to sporting goods. The seller chooses to accept only bids for the item (an auction-type listing) or to offer the Buy It Now option, which allows buyers to purchase the item right away at a fixed price.
  • In an online auction, the bidding opens at a price the seller specifies and remains on eBay for a certain number of days. Buyers then place bids on the item. When the listing ends, the buyer with the highest bid wins.
In a Buy It Now listing, the first buyer willing to pay the seller’s price gets the item
 
[2] http://money.howstuffworks.com/paypal.htm

This answer was collected from Fatwa-tt.com, which is operated by the Darul Iftaa of Jaamia Madinatul Uloom (Trinidad and Tobago) under the advice and guidance of Mufti Ebrahim Desai (Daamat Barakaatuhum) of South Africa.

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