Ebay and Pay Pal?

[Anonymous]

Austinsdad, Yes, the items mentioned for sale at my Ebay auction on my first post have sold and the auction is over. I have other HO items for sale now. The item number is 5934165826 and again it is three Athearn box cars. This time they are 40 footers, and there is an N.P., G.N. and MKT AAR cars, built in 1937.

However, it seems like a lot of extra work to find something to post, so I can advertise my auctions on this forum. Honestly, Athearn products do not garner much extra scratch, for as much work and as nice as my cars are, so this seems pretty senseless as a method of promoting my auctions. Maybe they don't sell well, because I haven't offered Pay Pal as a method of payment. Also, making my opinions public on what I think of Pay Pal might not be helping, either!

[Anonymous]

Most answered the question on setting up a PAYPAL account. The seller pays the fees and some good points about PAYPAL is that it is a fast convienent way to make purchases. The fee is about the same of processing a credit card through any other type business. I have used it as a buyer and a seller and like it.

EBay. There's always some great deals available on EBay. Even when the LHS is selling with a buy it now, it's normally below retail. Just five years ago you would be lucky to see 5000 HO items. Today, it's well over 22,000 items at any given moment. Bid wisely, protect your EBay and Pay Pal account information. Also, I notice your selling something. I suppose this forum is also a great way to advertise your item. Good luck.....

[Anonymous]

Mark,

Funny how on this forum sometimes the most complicated sounding questions get a one sentence answer and a simple question gets paragraph after paragraph! lol

Well, at least you didn't ask the following questions:
What DCC system is best?
Why are things made in China?
Is Kato better than Atlas?
Steam or diesel?

Then you'd see some sparks fly!

Seriously. I think the posts on this thread were interesting in the respect that it gives you a feel what people (your market) think. Some hate paypal. Some like paypal, but only non credit card transactions etc etc. Someday someone should do their PhD thesis on ebayers - what makes them tick. Would be fascinating!!

[Allen Jenkins]

I have Paypal logged into my bank account, and buy as such,
Paypal, is cool.
What's about E-Bay?
Sell only to folks you know!

[Anonymous]

How can a person who is concerned about many more folks (Pay Pal) having more and more opportunities to loose my money, rip me off, etc. be from the old school? Come on guys, we're all on the computer and know how to use electronics! We all appear to grasp and embrace this electronic age to our own comfort level! If you think your "All that" because you use Pay Pal, and you is an up to the minute guy, get over yourself!

Just because something is new and fast doesn't mean that it is automatically better!

You know what, maybe I am old school. I don't just follow the crowd because you up and comers feel it's the way to go. There is a lot of bad stuff happening out in the real world and so excuse me for watching how my money is spent!

I started this thread by simply asking whom pays the fees for Pay Pal. As appears to be the norm nowadays the discussion has deteriorated and become as polarized as the last election! It's Pay Pal is the best, man, or Pay Pal SUCKS!

This is not the case with all of you and I don't mean to offend anyone. I asked a simple question and I got a complicated answer.

[Anonymous]

I have been buying and selling on E-Bay using PayPal. As a buyer and seller I much prefer to use PayPal. When I buy something, I like to receive it as soon as possible-I usually do with PayPal. As a seller, I prefer PayPal because if someone pays with a money order, usually they will forget to inform me, and by the time I do receive their payment, I have forgotten the details of the sale. Any time a retailer accepts credit cards; they pay for that use. If it didn't more than pay for itself in increased business; they would only take cash--check with your local hobby shop sometime.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dimastep

Did you read the link I mentioned ?
These problems have nothing to do with technology. PayPal uses the same technology as regular banks do. It is their policies and increasing number of complaints from people. There has been a class-action lawsuit and PayPal lost it.

The lawsuit was 2 years ago. Check the last time that web page was updated. I've been doing business with Ebay and Paypal for 5 years and have never experinced any trouble. Yes you do pay a fee as the seller, but hey, nothing in this world is free. How do you expect them to stay in business? I see the fee as a small price to pay to sell my items. I buy quite a bit so I figure it evens out. You pay sellers fees on ebay so whay should Paypal be different. Also of note, if you choose not to receive credit card payments you can do so. This allows you to collect funds from some ones checking account with no charge to you!

I know there are a lot of old schoolers out there, but come on people its 2004! We should be over the paper money issue by now.

[Anonymous]

No Pay Pal, no sale. If I can't use my CC with it's buyer protection capabilities, I won't buy the item. I use my CC's for nearly everything I purchase everywhere for that protection. As stated earlier, Pay Pal rates aren't high, and most retailers prices reflect all of their costs for doing business. If rent goes up, prices go up. Payroll increase? Raise prices. Credit Card fees are just a part of doing business. I can understand the casual seller not wanting to bother with CC's, but some of these guys have endless listings. If I can't get worry free buying, I will go elsewhere.

[johncolley]

Another neat thing with PayPal: You can set up a "subscription" and pay smaller payments for a few months...a good way to get that high ticket loco or DCC package...the flip side is you don't get the item until it is paid off. The points are taken on the seller's end so in the long run they may up prices to cover the "bite". As with any other way, spend wisely!

[Anonymous]

Rails5,
In my case the ratio has been about 3 in 100 are bad apples! This is about what I see in real life, about three folks in 100 don't deserve their share of the oxigen on this planet!

[Anonymous]

FundyNorthern,

Forgot to mention in my previous post - its not quite accurate that "those who win more than once can only post one positive." Anyone can post feedback after any transaction, its just that your SCORE reflects only the feedback from unique members. However, in the feedback forum E-Bay also indicates the gross number of feedback posts, and all of those posts are listed.

[Anonymous]

Deschane,

The E-Bay feedback system is great! I wi***here were something like it for general-market mail order and retail firms. Amazon, BOrders and Barns & Noble have shamelessly copied it and their sites are much better for it. Nobody who does a lot of E-Baying will have a perfect feedback and most regular E-Bayers realize that. Its just the law of numbers and human nature; in fact, I'm amazed that there isn't more unjustified flaming - conventional retailers expect about 1% bad apples / impossible-to-please, E-Bay at least for model stuff is well below that. There is no realistic way for a service like E-Bay to police let alone make judgments on all the feedback. Instead, E-Bay allows responses. The responses along with the ability to check the feedback on those who left negative feedback, IMO make it pretty easy to separate the wheat from the chaff.

[Anonymous]

I feel for the folks that have unjustly gotten negative feedback (I've gotten one from a seller). But whenever I look over a seller I don't expect to see 100%. I then usually go through and lookover the negatives. I check the listing and lo and behold, the buyer that griped about shipping charges obviously didn't read the entire listing as the shipping charge is clearly mentioned. I've also seen negative feedback posted for slow shipping two days after the listing closed! When I see these things next to dozens, or hundreds of positives, I feel pretty good about the seller. Retalitory feedback? Those are pretty obvious. And again, when you see a bunch of positives and a couple of isolated negatives, it's pretty obvious that the ebayer is an OK person.

Also. Somefolks have questioned high shipping/handling charges. Whenever I bid, I take the s/h charge into account as the total price (just as I would sales tax at the store). I believe one reason that sellers sometimes have what appears to be high s/h charges is that ebay's fee is based on a percentage of the sales price, not including s/h. I maybe wrong, but that's how I understood what I read.

[Anonymous]

I have a premier account! I admit they do Tax me[B)], but it is the price I pay to get immediate payments, soI can spendit faster[:D]! I however do a lot of selling. I suggest if you are only going to do a small amount of selling accept checks or money orders!

[stokesda]

I've never sold anything on eBay, but I only buy stuff using Paypal. I think it's a great service, and would be more hesitant to buy from someone who only offered MO's as a payment option (unless I really wanted the item). Is there a risk involved with the bank account and identity theft and whatnot? Sure. But there's also a risk that my MO will get "lost" in the mail, too. It's a tradeoff.

About the claim that it's unfair to charge only the seller - I suspect that a lot of sellers pass the charge along to the buyers via inflated shipping rates. Even if you consider the cost of packaging, I still can't believe the price some of these folks are asking to cover S&H.

Cheers,

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by deschane


A yes, the myth of Ebay's Feedback Forum! The reality; if you give bad feedback you will receive bad feed back:

It's unfortunate that eBay can't do something about retaliatory feedback. My only two negatives came this way.

Item number one was when a dipstick won two of my auctions, but I never heard one word from him re payment, and never answered my e-mails. I posted negatives for the two items on his ID after waiting 30 days. He retaliated by saying my shipping charge was too high, which he never mentioned to me. The item in question was a piece of photo gear housed in its own plastic attache type case, and was large and heavy. My shipping charge of $10.00 wa the actual amount that I had been quoted by the post office. Anyway later this bozo was no longer on eBay, they must have given him the boot. But the negatives he placed are still on my ID.

I did come out on top with these items, as I later auctioned them off for three times the amount he had won them for. There is justice some times!

My second occasion was somewhat similar, I never heard from the winner at all and posted this info after 30 days. He came back to me saying he had not received anything from me, and that I had not answered his e-mails. Funny posting the negative resulted in me getting that message!

I'm pleased with my 303 postive feedbacks from 350 buyers - those who win more than once can only post one postiive. There are many more who don't bother to post any feedback, so my numbers should actually be higher.

Love eBay! I've gotten rid of all kinds of stuff, both model railroad and others that I would not have been able to do anything in the limited local market. I even sold 4-500 old horn hook couplers for $11.00!

Bob Boudreau

[Anonymous]

SP4449,

Ah yes, the myth of Ebay's Feedback Forum! The reality; if you give bad feedback you will receive bad feed back:
Case #1
You win something on Ebay, send M.O. and the item never comes. You attempt cordial communication with the seller in attempts to remedy the situation to no avail! They lost your payment, payment sent registered mail, so the P.O. did not loose your payment, they have your payment but decide to rip you off. I gave bad feed back and they did the same!
Case # 2
Buyer wins auction. Auction did not offer escrow option. Buyer never sends payment because he wanted escrow option. I refused and was given bad feed back!
Case #3
Sold item to buyer whom did not follow directions and sent personal check. I waited until I was sure check cleared. Too slow for buyer whom burned me with bad feedback!

I have received bad feed back three times, they are the examples listed above!

The feedback forum is in my opinion, is worthless!!!! The above proves that what ever the circumstances, you should only give positive feedback! Don't tell me there is recourse, As I know better! In the future, when bad feed back is warranted, I will give it and I expect I will then get bad feed back in return! Although I still do, don't tell me to look over the buyer or seller's feedback record, given that the examples above are a demonstration in how worthless feedback really is! "Caveat Emptor"

[Anonymous]

I usually won't buy from a seller who only accepts money orders. First, I have to take the time to go to the store, post office, or bank, and then pay 50-75 cents or more for the MO, and another 37 cents to mail it, not including the envelope.

Add to that the fact that MOs are almost impossible to trace, and I've had a couple of sellers over the years just ca***hem and then claim "they never arrived"... They know it makes no sense for me to pay an 8 to 12 dollar tracing fee when it's like only a 7 dollar item that I won.

PayPal just makes it so much easier and faster, IMO.

[Anonymous]

An earlier reply mentioned that you can "instantly" transfer PayPal funds to your bank account.

It is, in actuality, 3-4 business days (as they state). You receive payment for your eBay item on Monday morning... request the transfer... and if all goes well... it's in your account by Wednesday.

[SP4449]

There is one thing not mentioned in the posts so far, that is the scoring system. Buyers and sellers are scored by how they handle the transactions. If a person is serious in their dealings, they will try to keep that score unblemished. I work with a couple of guys that trade pretty heavely on ebay using paypal and I overhear their conversations about deals they recently closed. They mention the score of the seller/buyer in every discussion and they do all they can to protect their own scores, much like their credit ratings. If you deal with high score'rs, you will probably come off the deals in good to great shape.

[Anonymous]

Again, I sell only a few items a year. Been doing ebay for 2 1/2 years now. I'm on my 99th feed back. I'm not a business. Most manufacturers kinda shut the door on whole sale selling to non store front businesses. As it was hurting their long time relationships with real hobby shops!

Another thing, I don't find it difficult to get to my grocery store to buy a M.O. Also, I'm not shooting through the sky at 500 MPH, with my hair on fire. I'm a patient person and waiting a week or two for an item is a part of slowing the world down that I feel good about! The world can go what ever way it wants, I could give a rat's ---! If I decide to use Pay Pal, so be it!!!

[Anonymous]

Credit cards, internet purchases, PayPal.... It's the way things are moving. It's the marketplace dictating what works best for all involved.

The way I see it money is money whether it comes in the form of a check, money order, credit card charge, PayPal.... I just want my strain stuff to arrive at my house.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bpickering
Anyone who wants to increase their sales, rather by accepting PayPal or credit cards, can do so by accepting the fact that the SELLER will pay the fee. They then need to consider which of the following ways (I'm sure there are more, but these are off the top of my pointy little head...)

• Increase price of all items, in effect penalizing those who pay cash (but raising your profit margin on cash, heh heh heh)
• Offer a discount off the stated price for cash purchases
• State explicitly that there is a surcharge for credit-card/paypal purchases

You can see all of these in effect just by going to a variety of gas stations. :-)

Almost all businesses except gas stations do the first item. That includes retail, entertainment, grocery stores, you name it. As consumers, we tend to only care to get that 3 or 4 cent per gallon savings for gas. Why do we price shop to an extreme when it comes to gas? How far are you willing to drive using gas to save 2 cents of gas per gallon?

On Thread Topic:
I started using eBay as a buyer. I would only do business with people who offered PayPal. Why? Because I wanted the simplicity of using my credit card. I did not and do not like having a PayPal account or any other account. I do want 'instant" purchases to occur. I'm to impatient. As a seller, I did use PayPal. I was always very nervous with my banking information though. It just did not seem right. I used an alternate bank account that I have. When I finished with my selling spree, I closed my PayPal account very quickly.

[bpickering]

QUOTE: Originally posted by deschane

QUOTE: Originally posted by DSchmitt

QUOTE: Originally posted by deschane

Maybe if I was a business doing business everyday selling on ebay it would be fooli***o not offer Pay Pal. However, I don't care for the fact that the buyer is the one using Pay Pal and the seller is the one paying for it! This seems back- wards to me. Also, If the buyer decides he doesn't want to pay for the item, he can put a stop payment on the transaction! Yes, there is expensive legal recourse and there are actions the seller can take through Pay Pal, however, I would guess they are similar to the actions you can take with Ebay's Feed-back Forum, which is a joke, to say the least!

Businesses that accept credit cards do pay fees. The card companies do not do business with them for free.

Was this something you thought I didn't know and what does this have to do with the price of tea in China?

The pertinent part of the original post is "However, I don't care for the fact that the buyer is the one using Pay Pal and the seller is the one paying for it! "

Anyone who wants to increase their sales, rather by accepting PayPal or credit cards, can do so by accepting the fact that the SELLER will pay the fee. They then need to consider which of the following ways (I'm sure there are more, but these are off the top of my pointy little head...)

• Increase price of all items, in effect penalizing those who pay cash (but raising your profit margin on cash, heh heh heh)
• Offer a discount off the stated price for cash purchases
• State explicitly that there is a surcharge for credit-card/paypal purchases

You can see all of these in effect just by going to a variety of gas stations. :-)

The point is, it's more convenient for the purchaser (albeit also for the cracker/identity theft jacka$$), and so (typically) increases sales. This causes the sellers to decide whether to take advantage of it. However, in the end, it's always the buyer who pays, in one form or another.

Brian Pickering

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by DSchmitt

QUOTE: Originally posted by deschane

Maybe if I was a business doing business everyday selling on ebay it would be fooli***o not offer Pay Pal. However, I don't care for the fact that the buyer is the one using Pay Pal and the seller is the one paying for it! This seems back- wards to me. Also, If the buyer decides he doesn't want to pay for the item, he can put a stop payment on the transaction! Yes, there is expensive legal recourse and there are actions the seller can take through Pay Pal, however, I would guess they are similar to the actions you can take with Ebay's Feed-back Forum, which is a joke, to say the least!

Businesses that accept credit cards do pay fees. The card companies do not do business with them for free.

Was this something you thought I didn't know and what does this have to do with the price of tea in China?

[Anonymous]

PayPal works great for me. I do, however, have one simple precaution which I use not just for PayPal but for all my on-line transactions (I prefer to pay many of my bills this way, 37 cents a pop mounts up over a year): I have a separate bank account and keep a modest balance, thus limiting the potential fraud damage should it be successfully hacked.

[Anonymous]

Mark,

Probably best to read all these posts, check out some sites and make your own decision. I'm sure there are pros and cons about paypal, phoning in credit cards, money orders and checks.

Dave

[Anonymous]

I dont use paypal. I prefer to pay by Postal Money Order. Life in a small town where there is hardly anyone at the post office except on Social Security Check days and holidays makes for fast service.

I keep all my purchases by Money Order. This is driven by deep distrust of all things financial via the internet. So far I have had no problems.

[DSchmitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by deschane

Maybe if I was a business doing business everyday selling on ebay it would be fooli***o not offer Pay Pal. However, I don't care for the fact that the buyer is the one using Pay Pal and the seller is the one paying for it! This seems back- wards to me. Also, If the buyer decides he doesn't want to pay for the item, he can put a stop payment on the transaction! Yes, there is expensive legal recourse and there are actions the seller can take through Pay Pal, however, I would guess they are similar to the actions you can take with Ebay's Feed-back Forum, which is a joke, to say the least!

Businesses that accept credit cards do pay fees. The card companies do not do business with them for free.