Any comments on using ebay and paypal. I am thinking about a return to selling on ebay (pre & decimal coins), I have previously sold items up to 2008 but work and the introduction of Paypal and its fees put me off. Back then it seemed simple - List Item - Someone wins - They DD (cheque or f2f) - I send item. (coupla days). Now I know I need to open an account with Paypal, but it seems to have added a level of complication and delay (and of course fees). I have read a few horror stories on the net particularly for sellers, but I realise this is a drop in the ocean compared to the total number of transactions. Am I being overly concerned. Does Paypal add time to a completed transaction. Should I open the Paypal a/c and just get on with it. Should I consider quicksales. Any input would be welcome. Regards Edmond.D
I would consider PP very carefully beforehand. Biggest problem is when dishonest members decide to charge-back after receiving the item. It is then up to a PP employee to decide who is right. PP normally decides in favor of buyers (unless they can't get money back from sellers). In my opinion it would be better to have a separate (empty) bank account linked to PP. Withdraw funds immediately after each sale, then transfer out of that bank account. Then at least you'd have some standing when/if charge-backs happen.
Unless PP were providing credit to the seller, I don't think they'd be legally able to put an entry on the seller's credit file. You can also have credit file entries removed if the complainant didn't actually provide credit. I've found debt collectors are easy to deal with. In almost every case they are not party to the contract and therefore have no legal standing. They are third party interlopers, and most of them know it. I agree PP would be my last choice. Unfortunately when dealing on 3bay it means more sales.
Read ebay and paypals fees before proceeding. Ebay fees are way up on what they were in 2008. Also if you sell overseas you must pay the fees applicable to whichever site it sells through (ie. USA) and fees can be higher than Aus.
I have sold quite a few things (including coins) on ebay and most people prefer to pay with Paypal. I haven't had any problems. I would rather have them pay on Paypal and post the items than reveal my address to people who want to pick up and pay COD.
Suspended my Paypal Account (only because you can't delete it) I now Bypass any online vendor that requires PayPal.
Unless PP were providing credit to the seller, I don't think they'd be legally able to put an entry on the seller's credit file. You can also have credit file entries removed if the complainant didn't actually provide credit. I've found debt collectors are easy to deal with. In almost every case they are not party to the contract and therefore have no legal standing. They are third party interlopers, and most of them know it. I agree PP would be my last choice. Unfortunately when dealing on 3bay it means more sales.[/quote] Thankyou for all the reponses, I have to say that I am still concerned. Compared to any other option Ebay would provide the largest audience, but to lose funds in just one instance could negate this benefit. Still pondering ...... Thanks again Edmond.D
Just used "Google Wallet" to pay an invoice by a vendor. No Problems...quick and easy. They got my digi-dollars...they other guys didn't. nuff said.
If you're only selling locally you shouldn't experience too much strife by using Paypal (other than the high fees), selling internationally can be a nightmare (if they do a chargeback you have next to 0% chance of getting anything back). This type of scam is especially common if you're selling bullion coins.
have you considered paymate? its a merchant account, but no contract so that you may use it as you would use paypal. Takes up to 3 days to clear into your bank account, but they let you know as soon as its approved, so you dont have to wait. paypal may seem quicker, but they take up to 5 days to clear. Also has the advantage of making people pay by bank transfers, cause they dont know what it is, thus saving fees. personally, i have been ripped off big time by paypal, as have a lot of others, if you do a google search you will see this.
The thing with Ebay and paypal is: the Fees. You are basically hand over roughly about 13% of the final price to them. This is a pretty good site for pre-cal of fees: http://salecalc.com/ So plug in the numbers and see if it worth your effort or not to sell the item on Ebay. Frankly, as much as I hate Ebay and Paypal fee, I still continually list my coins on there. I find it less hassle and for the most part, I know my coin will be sold at a specify time. Sure you can list your stuff on Kijiji and Craiglist for free. But the problem I find with those is, it takes forever to sell. You also have to deal with idiots and people continually low balling your offer. And when you finally found someone who willing to pay for the item, they sometime bail at the last second or do a no show. The good thing about them is that you earn every penny you sold. You can also list your coins in forum such as this. But again, I find unless you been in the forum a long time, it is hard for others to trust you enough to wire you the money and trusting that you would ship them the coins. Another thing about Ebay is, you get audiences. I live in a small town so it is hard to attract people to look at certain coin where as if I list it on Ebay, I get people all over the world looking at it. Like anything else, you have to read and make sure you closed all to loopholes in Paypal to prevents scammer. I usually only offer express shipping with tracking. If the item is over $250, I pay a bit extra for insurance and require signature. This way it is harder for them to scam. I don't sell my coin to China or countries that have a reputation of stolen package contents. As soon as I get notification that they received the item, I contact them right away so this way if there's damage and such, I can put a claim in for insurance. I also put in my ads that if they want to return, they have to do it at a specific amount of time and I consider the transaction completed if I don't hear from the client 3 days after they "received" the item.
Really? I thought 13% wasn't too bad, considering the marketing and infrastructure they offer. If you've ever rented retail space (as some here have) it costs a lot more than setting up an Ebay store. My biggest problem with PP was one charge-back could set you back a lot if you're selling tight margins. I couldn't imagine getting a charge-back for a 1oz gold coin
I do agree with the charge back with PP. Also one thing with Ebay auction, you have to becareful to bail your self out of a low auction. Sometime you ended up loosing money even though it looks like you are making money. For example, if a coin cost to acquire is $109 and you sold it for $124. It seems like you are making money but after the ebay fees and paypal fees (not counting the shipping fee and such), you barely break even. Unless I know for sure the item will sell above a certain point, I alway list my auction starting at the price that I am comfortable with. I try to avoid selling expensive stuff on ebay because the fear of charge back. Also chance of the item gaining a big margin to cover the fee is less likely than a cheaper item. for example, let say you have an item the cost you $500, using the Salecalc website, you have to sell it above $568 to break even. Where as if you have an item that cost you $0.99, you have to sell it at $1.46 to break even. Chance of you selling that $0.99 item above $1.46 is easier than the $500 item to $568.
I am not sure what you have to sell, but you could always try here first fees are pretty good at this place...
Thanks Austacker I have pondered this ........ As I said in my first post here and when I introduced myself I have a fair amount of pre decimal and decimal items to sell, hence my Ebay query. After lurking for sometime before joining, I dont think that what I have would interest the aims of most of the members here. I have a number of pre decimal silver single coins, and many silver sets accumulated and improved over a number of years. If I use a basic "average" complete florin set as an example (ex 1932 and the CF) the value of the silver is say around $525 (not factoring in the wear in the early years). I would want a premium of at least 20% on this accounting for the relative scarcity of some of the dates. The tolerence here appears to be around 10%. There is also the fact that between 1910 and 1922 some of the coins would only grade between poor and good, this is usual on ebay and from dealers, but may not be acceptable here with members used to the new and shiney, (ie probably not the right audience). Over the past couple of years I have also targeted 1968 1,2 and 20 cent decimals sending them to PCGS earlier this year with some good results MS63-65, once again probably not the right audience here. Thank you to all who have responded.
before you include your time its really tight and probebrly not worth... all it takes is one a-hole from UK etc to claim item not recieved and weeks worth of profit go out the window.. ive just quit ebay after 10 years.. after being slammed by paypal this last round i cant be f$ked anymore.. rather sell chaeaper to SS tbh. Things like taking a photo of the packaged stamped item, making rules about postage iEver $50 must be regisrerd... NONE OF THAT WORKS, ebay WILL rule in favour of the buyer and keep your money and your item. Even though listing item available overseas will get your a better final total, the risk is def not worth it.. and if you advertise as registered at $27 your total will be consderably lower.. id only bother for large ticket items .. and then the risk is higher and the reward is proberbly less. 1for1
I agree, eBay is great for buyers, not so good for sellers. The fees are quite high when you include PayPal fees so the items you sell need to make you a decent profit.
The paymate system is really good. U can.also buy a credit card Swiper for your smart phone for 19.95 and take payments wherever u have reception. Fees start at 2% and can be as low as 1.5%. If any stackers want any info pm me i have it at work and am Only to happy to help.
