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Thread: E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

  1. #1
    Drew Bedo's Avatar
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    E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

    I am looking at selling off some of my stuff. some is photo gear some is other stuff. This will not be an ongoing business with any serious volume, just personnel stuff.

    I have put a few things on the For Sale forum here. Looks like e-bay is the venue for most of it. Seems like PayPal is the pay method of coice there.

    What should I know about e-Bay and PayPal?
    Drew Bedo
    www.quietlightphoto.com
    http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo




    There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!

  2. #2

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    Re: E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

    They charge fees. Fees might be okay as the cost-of-doing-business but for small items might make it all not worth your while.

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    Re: E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Bedo View Post
    I am looking at selling off some of my stuff. some is photo gear some is other stuff. This will not be an ongoing business with any serious volume, just personnel stuff.

    I have put a few things on the For Sale forum here. Looks like e-bay is the venue for most of it. Seems like PayPal is the pay method of coice there.

    What should I know about e-Bay and PayPal?
    Lots of things:

    1) Use the Fixed Price format, with the "Immediate payment required" option, to avoid non-payers and scammers.
    2) If a buyer says they're having trouble paying, and asks for your PayPal email address, they're trying to scam you.
    3) Use signature confirmation on any sale where price+shipping is $750 or more.
    4) Insurance is your option; the buyer doesn't need it, although you can charge them for it if you build it into the shipping charge.
    5) If the buyer claims the item is "not as described", eBay will force you to take it back, pay for return shipping, and refund the buyer's full payment.
    6) PayPal's fee, which is taken as soon as the payment is received, is 2.9% plus 30 cents.
    7) eBay's fee, which you are billed for once a month, is 10% of the buyer's total payment, including the shipping charge.
    8) Don't sell anything on eBay that you can't afford to lose.

  4. #4

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    Re: E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

    Ebay charges fees on the sale price of the item AND the shipping cost, so figure that into your cost.
    They also collect sales tax automatically, and remit it so you don't have to...avoids a big headache for small-time sellers.
    My thinking is that if it's not a $10 item or more, it's not really worth listing.
    It can be fun making stuff go away, and watching your PayPal account grow, so you can get stuff you want/need.
    The post previous to mine makes some good points.

  5. #5

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    Re: E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

    How does “2)” work? Recently I bought a BIN and couldn’t pay because eBay wouldn’t link to PayPal. This persisted for 2 days with multiple attempts per day. I contacted seller and explained and offered to direct PayPal it to him. He preferred I call and he manually processed the credit card. How could direct paying via PayPal be used fraudulently. I’m rather naive about fraud practices and always amazed at the diversity of options.

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    Re: E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

    Back to selling on ebay. If you want to prevent "not as described" claims, I started putting "AS IS - For Parts - not guaranteed to work" for cameras. Sometimes I'd say "it was working fine when I listed it, but it's a 50 year old used piece of equipment, I cannot guarantee that after shipping it will still work the same.

    For lenses, "AS IS - may have scratches, dust inside, handling marks on the body, stiff focus, oil on iris blades that I did not notice. The pictures will show the condition as well as my description" Or such.

    Yes, you will get less people bidding, and less of a sale price. But when ebay buyers started hitting me for partial refund and "try after you buy - return" scams for 75% of my sales, I gave up on that. You will find out very quickly how many of the current generation and global buyers think they can get 90 day free return like for a mass produced item at a Walmart, from a small time individual selling 75 year old cameras. You will spend time dealing with that, getting your money sucked out of your bank by eBay to give to fraudulent scammers in Outer Mongolia, having to accept returns on YOUR dollar that shipping costs more than the item is worth, and more. Stand by for a wild ride in frustration. But it's the only show in town that will realistically get most of your things sold.

  7. #7

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    Re: E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

    Be aware PayPal can come back and take the money directly from the Bank Account you use for a long time after a sale. No warning and no questions - they hear from the buyer with some kind of complaint and can jerk the money out - months after you thought all was fine and before you have any knowledge there may be a problem with the buyer.
    ” Never attribute to inspiration that which can be adequately explained by delusion”.

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    Re: E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

    Exactly. If you sell a $600 Summicron Leica lens, 3 months later you see a $600 deduction. Log into eBay and find the buyer has initiated a "not as described" claim. They have a LOOOOONNNNG time to do that these days. Used to be a 2 week inspection period. Then a month, then 90 days. It think it's like 6 months now. So Fred Hipster buys your Summicron, leaves it out in the rain or drops it, and get's his money back months after you forgot about it. You may or may not get the rusted hulk back in the mail. Ebay doesn't care.

  9. #9

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    Re: E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

    Prefer to sell in USA only... Delivery can be confirmed, national shipping anywhere should take much less than 2 weeks, no customs hold-ups, and better chance of clear language communication...

    I seem to remember loosing about 30% after all fees are added up... And epay lowballs your shipping cost, so you end up eating the fees, insurance, and packing materials...

    I wish there was another marketplace to post stuff, as a seller doing thing right, you are at a disadvantage (and the bottom of the pile, while handling the greatest risk...

    Sorry for the sour grapes...

    Steve K

  10. #10

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    Re: E-Bay and PayPal: What should I know?

    Quote Originally Posted by BrianShaw View Post
    How does “2)” work? Recently I bought a BIN and couldn’t pay because eBay wouldn’t link to PayPal. This persisted for 2 days with multiple attempts per day. I contacted seller and explained and offered to direct PayPal it to him. He preferred I call and he manually processed the credit card. How could direct paying via PayPal be used fraudulently. I’m rather naive about fraud practices and always amazed at the diversity of options.
    Buyer gets your PayPal email address, then sends a fake "PayPal" email telling you that you've been paid, but the funds are being held until you provide a tracking number. PayPal DOES hold payments to new/infrequent sellers, but the transaction can still be seen in your PayPal account. People ship without checking, and they're hosed.


    Quote Originally Posted by goamules View Post
    Back to selling on ebay. If you want to prevent "not as described" claims, I started putting "AS IS - For Parts - not guaranteed to work" for cameras.
    You're selecting "For parts/repair" in the "Condition" field, right? As long as you don't say anything in the description contradicting that, you get some degree of protection.


    Quote Originally Posted by goamules View Post
    Exactly. If you sell a $600 Summicron Leica lens, 3 months later you see a $600 deduction. Log into eBay and find the buyer has initiated a "not as described" claim. They have a LOOOOONNNNG time to do that these days. Used to be a 2 week inspection period. Then a month, then 90 days. It think it's like 6 months now. So Fred Hipster buys your Summicron, leaves it out in the rain or drops it, and get's his money back months after you forgot about it. You may or may not get the rusted hulk back in the mail. Ebay doesn't care.
    eBay allows 30 days after delivery. PayPal allows 180 days.

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