Reconciling my OCD with this month's payment :)

[Elizabeth Ann West]

Okay, first I just want to say I am thrilled at the fact our new management pays right on the first of the month :)

However, this month when I plugged in my Paypal fee the numbers didn't add up. Yes, I have an Excel spreadsheet where I break down the C-C cut, Paypal cut, what I need to set aside for taxes, and figure out what I make hourly.

If any of you are also trying to figure out why the fee is higher this month here is what I figured out: I have a Premier account and I am based in the United States. Since the new constant has taken over, the account is now not in the U.S. (they are based in Canada I believe :) ) so the lovely people of Paypal are now charging an extra 1% because of the border. So the new formula for American writers to figure out how much you make is:

Amount you make for the article = (Price you set it at X .65) - [0.039(Price you set it at X .65) + $.30]

To calculate the price you want to set it at, because the amount you want to make is known the formula is:

[(The price you want to make) + $.30 ] / .62465 = the price you should set the article to.

So, say I want to make $100 for full rights, I need to price it at $160.57.

$160.57 times 65% equals $104.37. Then, Paypal takes 3.9% of $104.37 or $4.07 plus an additional $0.30 or $4.37. Thus leaving me with my $100.

[melissan]

Maybe you should consider a dual career in Accounting and Writing?

Your formula is helpful and makes me think twice about what I price articles at. My formula is more like...."how long did this one take? How many words is it again? Will it sell? Why? Would I pay for it? (make some coffee) Paypal who? (fold the clothes) oh yeah, pricing. How long did this one take me? I can't remember. It was fun to write. I should write more articles like this one. It was easy to write. I'll price it at $20. Submit. (take a nap). Write another article. Check my email, sold the article in a few hours. $20? Why did I price an article for $20? What am I crazy? I just made $12 for writing for 2 hours and the Paypal fee hasn't been deducted."

A writer with my head too high up in the clouds sometimes....