Paypal SUCKS!!!

[bailewen]

With eBay sales, it doesn't matter.

This is the second thread on this topic related to these same sales. As I said before, ever since Paypal merged with eBay, eBay has made is a company policy to place the burden of proof on sellers rather than buyers. Their corporate "plan" AFAIK, is to market eBay its self as the seller. Their only interest is in making a safe environment for buyers. They don't give a fuck about individual sellers here and there. It's all about reinforcing their image as a safe place to make online purchases. eBay's return policy trumps sellers return policies. They will use Paypal to issue returns regardless of your own decisions. in the case of a big ticket item, that can mean selling an item for several thousand dollars, having the Paypal payment removed from your account without your permission even while the buyer still has your merchandise in their possession. Then it is up to you to get your merchandise back from the buyer even though they have already received their money back.

It's extremely dangerous for sellers to accept Paypal as payment on anything expensive on eBay.

[cerebus]

That really is the case. I am simply going to change my policy to accepting only postal money orders. That should circumvent any Paypal/ eBay control...

[neijia_boxer]

you cant call the guy and get the books back?

[cerebus]

you cant call the guy and get the books back?

Well, he claims that 2 of the books never arrived and that one was badly damaged, but he won't (and apparently doesn't even have to) show any proof of this. So either he's just an asshole or he's trying (successfully) to scam me. Either way, no I don't think he'll send the books back...

[JAB]

Do not use the USPS, as they are the ones who suck! Never had so many problems!

[cerebus]

Do not use the USPS, as they are the ones who suck! Never had so many problems!

Yeah, but they're the least expensive and people will often look elsewhere if your postage fees on listings are higher than a few dollars...

[Michael]

IME, US Postal Service money orders are excellent and AFAIK, one of the only recognizable money orders out there in the US. I agree that USPS kind of sucks, so what I used to do was use FedEx for shipping (tracking and $100 insurance included, more insurance was cheap back in 2004 and earlier) and do everything to keep the shipping cost low. For books under $20, this may not be feasible, but for larger purchases, if the seller pays FedEx (or UPS) $8 for shipping, insurance, and tracking, and charges the customer $5, it may be attractive to both parties and solves the problem of tracking and insurance. I also used to discount the cost of the money order from the final auction bid amount, so that to the buyer the USPS money order was free. Considering Paypal's fees, this was better for me as the seller overall.

So, USPS money orders, discount the cost of the money order (IIRC $1-2), UPS or FedEx shipping that includes tracking and insurance, discount it to an acceptable price point according to the auction's likely final bid (over $50 no need to discount shipping IME), and now you have excluded PayPal and scammers as much as possible.

Voila!

[cerebus]

Thanks Michael! Excellent suggestions.

[Michael]

It was feasible for me because I only had about 200 auctions in two years, but I used to put up a lot of descriptions and photos of the stuff I sold, which was usually camping gear and mountaineering jackets. Don't really know, but I think it scared away sketchy people because in that whole time, I only had one bidder fail to pay and never a hassle with an actual buyer. Certainly, if a buyer wanted to claim damage, they could make an insurance claim with the courier, but when I had already posted 5-15 pics of a jacket from every angle, they got the impression that I knew the details of the purchase. Of course back then, it was an even playing field. From what bailewen says, the rules encourage sketchy buyers and discourage small sellers.

[saltydog]

This is an excerpt from and article I wrote this summer:

When a customer disagrees with a charge on their credit card, they can request their money back. This is known as a chargeback, or reversal. Buyers have the right to request a chargeback on several grounds, the most common of witch are Duplicate Prossesing, Unauthorized Payment, and not as Described/Defective.
This is the beginning. The other thing that happens when a chargeback occurs is that paypay Debits the seller the transaction amount total, plus a fee. Say, for example, you sell an item for $50 and the customer is dissatisfied and requests a chargeback. You, as the seller, would absorb all the costs involved. Here it would have been the $50 plus any fees that PayPal incurred as a result of the fund reversal. PayPal also reserves the right to limit your access to your account, if determined necessary.

It could cost you a lot of money if you do not protect yourself.

The most basic way to protect yourself is to understand how you qualify for the seller protection policy. First of all, protection does not apply to intangible purchases(like ebooks for example), items delivered in person, and claims for items significantly not as described.But it does apply to Unauthorized payments and item not received.
Read the rest at http://reviewteammagazine.blogspot.com/ ... chive.html. Didn't want to take up too much space...
Maybe it should be called PitPal because of all the damn pitfalls!

[cerebus]

Thanks for the link!

[Darth Rock&Roll]

Kill paypal.

do it now.