Semi-OT - Approaching eBay & Paypal with Caution

[dennis]

I have been a member of ebay for about 7 years but haven't really sold anything for the past 3 years or so. My parents are moving into an assisted living facility, so I'll be selling some of their things on ebay. However, I've heard that ebay and Paypal treat sellers with tremendous disdain nowadays. Is there some info source, perhaps a message board, that deals with these issues and could help me avoid abuse at the hands of ebay and PP? Thanks.

[Henry]

I've always paid for my uBuy purchases with a USPS money order. Sellers always seem quite agreeable to this, even those who list PayPal as the method of payment. I've even paid with a personal check in a couple of instances. I always ask first, and have never had a refusal. Don't know what the "official" policy of the site is. (N.B. I've never sold, or tried to sell, anything on uBuy.) IOW, if you can avoid going through PayPal altogether, your problem may be solved.

[John Svensson]

Agree with Henry....for small scale purchases I always offer to pay in "well disguised cash" so that the Seller can avoid the paypal fee. I've never had a problem, most folks don't want to destroy their Epay reputation in order to steal $20 or $25 off someone. For larger amounts a money order is as good as cash to the recipient. Sure, Epay tries to force paypal down everyone's throats because they own paypal and get a cut of every transaction. If I recall, a couple of years back they had tried to make it the mandatory means of payment in Australia/New Zealand, but hints at court challenges forced them to alter course. Some small bit about trying to outlaw a country's 'legal tender' as a means of conducting commerce. I have also heard that they instituted a shipping surcharge on Sellers recently. I can't confirm because I haven't sold on there in about 2 years or so. The fact is that they are about tapped out for growth, so increased revenue has to come from somewhere....... Of course, they could try charging Sellers for phony auctions...but that's the subject of another rant. John S.

[Phonofreak]

When I want to bid or do buy-it-now on ebay, I ask the seller's permission to use a cashier's check. I get them for free from my bank. If they accept, I bid or buy. If not then I don't. I got burned pretty bad from pay pal and I won't use it. Most sellers prefer a cashier's check, because it is like cash, and avoids pay pal fess for the seller. We both win.
Harvey Kravitz

[FloridaClay]

It is a bit of a conundrum. eBay has gone so far over into protecting its buyers that sellers do get shortchanged to some extent. You really can’t give negative feedback for a buyer anymore, no matter how rotten they are, and I have heard some horror stories about Pay Pal reimbursing sellers for claimed non-delivery even when a buyer has solid proof of delivery of the sold item. There is also what I think was a very anti-seller change not long ago making eBay fees payable on the cost of shipping as well as on the sales price of the item. Can really kill you if you are selling a large, heavy item unless you really jack up your handling fee to cover it, and then buyers complain about that.

On the other hand, with respect to Pay Pal, a lot of buyers prefer using Pay Pal for the protection it affords and to keep from having their credit card numbers out there in too many places. This effectively broadens the pool of potential bidders. And if you pay somebody with a cashier’s check or such before you get the item it is a major risk. I would never do it except for something bought for a small amount that I could afford to loose, or where I pick up the item personally at the time funds change hands.

Knock on wood I have never yet had a problem with Pay Pal either as a buyer or a seller and have a few thousand in transactions every year through Pay Pal.

Clay