Beware of Ebay and Paypal

[ditrina]

you really need to stop talkin about my sister that way or we're gonna have problems

The GREAT APE is your Sister??? OMG

 

[chief38]

I just recently sold an item on Ebay for $450 and the fees were around 11 - 12% for Ebay & Paypal which IMHO are a bit absurd! I never remember their fees being so high, and it will now change the pricing structure on items that are sold on their site. I suppose the reasoning for this is they are not getting the volume of business they once had, and their expenses have gone up as well as the greed factor. The one thing that REALLY ticked me off was that now you are mandated to using Paypal to get paid and then I had to wait 21 days after the customer who bought my items picked up the merchandise from my house - (in person) to get my money released, which is even MORE ABSURD than the fee! I called them and went ballistic, and finally after two days they agreed to release my money in 7 days instead of 21.

Unless I have no choice I will us e a different method of selling in the future.



Chief38

 

[Maximumbob54]

Hey, there's always Craigs List. I hear it's free and you never get burned...

 

[blujax01]

I've basically stopped selling on ebay after they stopped letting sellers post negative feedback on buyers.

This ^^^

I joined in 1999 and when it was an Internet garage sale site, we all had a ball. "Feedback" meant everything and 99% of us valued it.

Buyers now know that they can hold sellers as hostage with bad feedback, warranted or not. My last sale was over a year ago. The buyer came right out and said that if I didn't give him an after sale discount, he would "ruin my reputation." Since the dimwit put it in writing, Ebay sided with me but that was the signal I needed to knw it was time to go.

Ebay is looking to be a clearing house for retailers now. They do not value us nickle-and-dimers and have made that perfectly clear with their policies.

Okay by me. It's their game and their rules and no one is making me play. So I choose not to anymore.

It was fun while it lasted...

 

[NKJ nut]

This ^^^

I joined in 1999 and when it was an Internet garage sale site, we all had a ball. "Feedback" meant everything and 99% of us valued it.

Buyers now know that they can hold sellers as hostage with bad feedback, warranted or not. My last sale was over a year ago. The buyer came right out and said that if I didn't give him an after sale discount, he would "ruin my reputation." Since the dimwit put it in writing, Ebay sided with me but that was the signal I needed to knw it was time to go.

Ebay is looking to be a clearing house for retailers now. They do not value us nickle-and-dimers and have made that perfectly clear with their policies.

Okay by me. It's their game and their rules and no one is making me play. So I choose not to anymore.

It was fun while it lasted...

Exactly and believe it or not there are buyers that deserve negative feedback.

And no I don't plan to give 11-12 percent just for the privilege of selling. I don't make a lot anyway on stuff and before I would give that bunch 12 percent I would just give the stuff away and I do that sometimes. I gave a forum member and friend a box of Barnes X bullets for the .405 winchester that I ordered for someone 10 years ago and they never picked up and theres always a benefit auction for some needy person in my area. Sometimes I buy stuff just to give away. I don't need some blood sucking maggot like flea-bay and I'd druther accept a dollar a week payment plan than take pay-pal.

 

[Dadsnugun]

Wow...It's been such a long time since I've had (buying or selling) dealings with ebay, I had no idea that they've made it so difficult for sellers. I see no real reason to use them again, especially as a seller.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I understand there is a LARGE one available in Georgia!!

Yea but he's old, onery and ain't house broke.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

I have sold maybe 15 items on ebay and I don't think it's for me. I have bought way more than I have sold. I just bought a new spotting scope from a big dealer and got it cheaper than I could find it anywhere. If I can find the best deal on ebay I will buy from them if not I will spend my money elsewhere. Don

 

[Armyphotog]

I have bought a lot of stuff on e-bay, don't buy any now. More bogus sellers than ever before, and selling more junk than ever before. I used to use PayPal until they changed the rules and wanted unlimited access to your checking account. Only my wife has that priviledge. Haven't used PayPal in years! Miss some of the old sellers though, they were real gentlemen and ladies and a pleasure to do business with. All gone with the wind.

 

[writerinmo]

I use Paypal as a primary payment source for my business now, never a problem with them. The only access they have to my bank account is when I listed it as a backup funding source in case I want to buy something that is more than what I have in my Paypal account. As far as buying off ebay, you have to follow the same rules for purchasing off on anyplace on the Internet, and ebay has more protection than a lot of websites, especially for buyers. I agree that it lost a lot of it's appeal to me when they changed the rule about leaving negative feedback for buyers, your hands are tied in a lot of cases. I had a buyer leave negative feedback on me, saying I never shipped the item, when in actuality the idiot had moved and never updated his shipping address on his account.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

I've always been a buyer on eBay, never a seller. The majority of the time, my transactions have been without incident. However, there have been a few occasions where the seller clearly misrepresented the item, for example, a holster that was for a left-handed person, but advertised as being for a right-handed person, and I got the pleasure of paying the postage (and insurance) both ways for the seller's mistake. Yes, I received a refund, but why should I be penalized for someone else's mistake? As time goes by I frequent eBay less and less often.

Regards,

Dave

 

[GreenRiverBoy]

I have been on the fence using ebay/paypal for this very same and possible scenario.

"thedane", you just convinced me to stop using both.

Sorry about your lousy transaction.

 

[mbliss57]

My bank offers a free service to me that can electronically transfer my funds to someone else's bank account directly. I only have to provide online to my the bank the buyer's/ family member/ charities / email address and how much I want to send to that address. I see nothing else. the bank email's the buyer and asks the buyer if they want to accept the $. If they say yes they provide, via banks secure internet web site, their bank account # & routing #. The $ then goes directly to their account. I (the seller) never see any of that info. Just whether the person accepted this type of transfer and when it is transferred. I have done this many times. It doesn't matter what bank or type of bank/ credit union the buyer has. My bank takes care of all of that. Just another way... and no fees... of course greenbacks work well too!

 

[Win75]

The only time I use Ebay is when I can't find the item I want anywhere else. I email the seller to see if they will take a USPS money order before I bid. If they are PayPal only, I pass.

 

[thedane]

I thought I would update my original post. After 6 weeks and many hours spent on e-mails and phone calls to Ebay, I have accomplished getting my knife back, reimbursement of the fees from Ebay for the knife that wasn't sold and compensation for the buyer's trashing some of the original Randall shipping materials. Also, Ebay reversed their original decision and decided in my favor.

The buyer's response was to leave negative and untruthful comments. I replied and countered his comments. I made a mistake in saying that Ebay decided in my favor. This violated Ebay's rules and they deleted my response. Now I can't say anything in my defense since I had one chance to respond and they deleted it.

I had 13 years without a problem. However, now they compute feedback based upon the last 12 months data. So, if you've had hundreds or thousands of transactions, it only matters what has happened lately...

Now I'm off to PayPal to see if I can get back the $20 that they charged me receive the money that I was forced to refund.

 

[Florida Guy]

I've been a member of ebay since '97 I think.
It used to be a pleasure to buy/sell there. Not any more.
I only buy now and avoid all those high fees.