PayPal as a Gift

[eddie]

I'm not talking about selling to someone who knows me. I thought we were talking about ebay or some other impersonal method of selling. In that context most people buy on the basis of price when it comes down to two identical or essentially identical items.

they do not have to "know" me. people on ebay "know" me. all they have to do is google me and it comes up. i believe that is how most people find me either way.

your example was for a lens.

on e bay, i sell lenses. all that info i posted above is easily found in my "impersonal" e bay ad.

everything i stated above can be deemed from my e bay ads.....here they are again:

the one with the better description.

the better lens.

the better return policy.

the one with better pictures.

the seller that is more trustworthy....or the buyers perception of such.

etc etc. i can sell items for higher prices at time cause the buyers know they get EXACTLY what i say, no surprises, no gimmicks. no hassles. i accept returns no problem.

my ads have better descriptions. they have a better return policy. they are better lenses (generally). i have better photos. i am more trustworthy than most sellers. so yes, this will work on ebay and for impersonal ads.

[BrianShaw]

I tend to assess sellers using the criteria eddie mentions. Generally it works and often I'm willing to pay just a bit more for that assurance. On occasion it doesn't work... like a situation I'm in right now with a national retailer.

But Brian makes a good point -- sometimes the seller who is willing to lower their profit margin will make the sale faster than one who insists on maximizing their profit. Watchwords for me are "net to me", "paypal as gift", and "shipping, insurance, and paypal fees to be payed by the buyer".

[eddie]

IWatchwords for me are "net to me", "paypal as gift", and "shipping, insurance, and paypal fees to be payed by the buyer".

for me it is "no return". i just figure that that means it is broken and s/he knows it.

[BrianShaw]

Actually, eddie, I intentionally left that one off of my list of redflag words. I have bought lots with "no return" and had very good luck. I suppose there are others that could be mentioned, like: "I'm not a photographer and don't know how this stuff works", and "I buy from government auctions and move such a large quantity of goods that I can't possibly check it to see if it works or not so take your chances and hope for the best but you can believe me I'm trustworthy and can be trusted but since I'm so busy making money and can't be bothered with customer service please remember that I have a no return policy and enforce it".

[BrianShaw]

Oh yes...a nd my favorite of all times, "I'm not responsible once I hand the box over to the shipper."

[scm]

I've done a bit (OK, more than a bit) of selling on eBay, mostly cameras, computers and guitars, with some motorcycle stuff thrown in, and have a no return policy. I wish I could add "without a good reason" to the "no returns", as that's what it actually means to me. I've accepted returns well after the 45-day "buyer dispute" period and even refunded money without requiring the return of the merchandise if the situation warranted. I'm always willing to listen.

Even with a "no return" policy, PayPal will side with the buyer 90%+ of the time in a "not as described" dispute situation, I've only run in to that as a seller a couple of times in a couple of thousand transactions and it's always been because they didn't talk to me first. I've filed plenty of them as a buyer, though.

I'm not at all interested in selling merchandise that isn't as described or selling someone something they don't need or want, what I'm trying to avoid is returns because of buyers remorse or because they didn't do their homework and understand what they were buying.

But that's just me.

[domaz]

... but you're right, in the end someone else is going to have ALL of our money and we might have very little to show for it.

Well don't forget about the scammers. A big reason Paypal fees are high is because of scammers. If you don't believe me how many times has your credit card been hacked? I'm guessing at least once. In fact it's happened to everyone in my office at least once. And guess how many times they get away with it? Basically every time. It's a big drag on all financial transactions.

[mikebarger]

I saw an interesting one in an ad earlier this month. Seller stated s/he would not mark any forms as gift or indicate the sold price was lower than actual selling price.

Then goes on to ask the buyer to mark their the payment as a gift?

Mike

[eddie]

I've done a bit (OK, more than a bit) of selling on eBay, mostly cameras, computers and guitars, with some motorcycle stuff thrown in, and have a no return policy. I wish I could add "without a good reason" to the "no returns", as that's what it actually means to me. I've accepted returns well after the 45-day "buyer dispute" period and even refunded money without requiring the return of the merchandise if the situation warranted. I'm always willing to listen.

what I'm trying to avoid is returns because of buyers remorse or because they didn't do their homework and understand what they were buying.

But that's just me.

why? why bother if 90% of teh time e bay and paypal make you accept a return anyway? who cares if they have buyers remorse? especially with 1000s of sales. easy to absorb it. i can see if you sold 3 items a month and two get returned it would be bad. make the buyers remorse pay for the shipping. cancel the the transaction and get your fees back.

it just sounds bad to say "no returns" IMO.

I saw an interesting one in an ad earlier this month. Seller stated s/he would not mark any forms as gift or indicate the sold price was lower than actual selling price.

Then goes on to ask the buyer to mark their the payment as a gift?

Mike

har har har!

[Pete Roody]

Well don't forget about the scammers. A big reason Paypal fees are high is because of scammers. If you don't believe me how many times has your credit card been hacked? I'm guessing at least once. In fact it's happened to everyone in my office at least once. And guess how many times they get away with it? Basically every time. It's a big drag on all financial transactions.

Credit Card companies do pay for scammers! They typically pick up the tab for malicious charges. But Paypal typically doesn't. Paypal for a long time made the seller responsible if the buyer used a stolen credit card for instance. I don't know if this is still true but it wouldn't surprise me if they still do this.