Ebay/paypal

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

Ok chaps and chapesses i need some advice, I have a couple of items to sell and Ebay seems to be the best place to do it.

I don't have a paypal account and i have heard horror stories about them, is this just internet exaggeration or something i should worry about?

I have looked at the paypal site and it seems quite simple or is it too good to be true?

Any advice would be most welcome.

[Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO]

paypal is fine for payment of items sold on Ebay. Ebay own Paypal or vice versa. Some dodgy folk persuade people to use paypal to transfer money as a gift and hence you've not got the same protection if you use it for purchases or sales on ebay.

[Nemesis]

I use PayPal for buying and selling on eBay and payments to and from members of this forum.

 

eBay take a commission as you would expect, so depending on the value of the item hang onto it until they send you a £1 max selling fee offer email, click activate and then list your items, some things are excluded like whole cars/bikes and some job lots, a quick read of the T's & C's will clarify, but I've save a shed load of money by being patient.

 

Now as for PayPal they too take a fee on payments into your account for goods and services, they don't however charge a fee if the sender marks the payment for friends or family. They don't charge the sender any fees.  On a recent £13.40 transaction they charged me 69 pence, so around 5 and a bit % and there is a cap, can't remember what is is but easily researched.

 

In the early days you might have to wait for all of your money for up to 2 ish weeks or so, there's a threshold that I've only just reached as a seller that allows my instant access to all of my PayPal funds, so if you're not in a hurry to get your mitts on the money it's not too much of a ball ache..... it's a away of deterring the casual fraudster apparently !

 

Also PayPal is handy for making payments in other currencies (I've done several in euros for scuba diving trips in Madeira), they give a fairly comparable rate to the high street and don't charge a transaction fee like your bank would.

 

Now onto the downsides,  just a couple in my experience, don't give them a mobile number, I made a withdrawal recently and noticed a charge on my mobile phone bill, they sent me a text to tell me I'd withdrawn funds, and it came from a  premium rate number so cost me 10p.

 

Always use tracked and signed for postage, it's the easiest way to stay protected with eBay's buyer/seller protection program.

 

Finally if you're selling multiple items don't under and circumstances issue a partial refund against a complaint that some of them were damaged, send the buyer return postage and get the lot back, the reason for this is that some fly gits buy stuff to sell on, claim some of it was damaged, you issue a partial refund to appease them, but if you're not aware of the small print you get stung, you won't get the "damaged" item back as they are not obliged to return it, they just merrily go on to sell it for pure profit, I had this with printer toner cartridges, I got the whole lot back and there was nothing wrong with them, just a crooked dealer trying it on.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Nem.......... 

 

 

 

 

[Jim RS]

I've used ebay for many years buying and selling for my work/pleasure. Ebay do try to make you use Paypal for their transactions and the protection you get from them is pretty comprehensive. However, you can use your own credit card or other electronic services, I use Barclaycard which I find covers most of the requirements needed and is considerably cheaper especially as I use the credit card for many purchases including buisiness and have built up a good understanding with them. Recent Chinese transactions with them resulted in an exchange rate over 10% better than others and even with a transaction fee was better than I could get anywhere else.

If you are doing only a small amount of trading on Ebay the difference will be minimal and Paypal may be easier and more secure.

[Andrew O Byrne White - Ireland AO]

Not sure if it's still relevant, but the old trick that caught people out before was accepting payment via PayPal for an item that someone wanted to collect in person. The buyer would then claim they never received it and PayPal would issue a refund out of the seller's account.

 

So basically as Nem said, if using PayPal, insist on tracked postage (hand signed receipts were often not accepted by PayPal as evidence of collection). If someone wants to collect in person, go cash/bank transfer etc. 

 

As with anything online, if someone contacts you asking to go down a payment/collection route that sounds like it might be a scam, assume it is until you can prove otherwise. 

[pistonbroke]

No problems using paypal for yonks now , both buying and selling .

although I haven't used them for some time,  I usually have advertised stuff with 99p starting price and let the sale find its own value , that way ebay dont charge any insertion fees 

 

Paypal is also my prefered method of payment for all goods bought online outside of ebay .

 

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

Thanks Chaps i'll get signed up  👍