How Dodgy is paypal+ebay?

Guru

Guru

Guru

Soldato
Joined
8 Jun 2005
Posts
5,275
From a sellers point of view is it a bad idea to use paypal on ebay these days?

I keep hearing all these bad things about how the buyer is favoured in any disputes and people have lost out on goods and money from it.

Basically I am putting my Wii in this thread on ebay as I've not had enough interest here :

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17832405

I need to get the money asap to buy some furniture for my boys bed room and I don't want to go any lower on the price cause we've barely touched it.

Obviously this is a very expensive item, and I'm wondering if it is currently not a good idea to offer paypal as a method of payment?

I defo can't afford to get scammed on this one, is it likely? or am I just worrying for nothing?

I'm not sure I've ever sold anything on ebay, but I've bought a few bits. Just wondering if there is anything that you guys can suggest to lessen my chances of being scammed?

Also I was gonna ask, I remember seeing a while ago about a courrier to use instead of royal mail, a link was posted here some time ago now. Does anyone know if they would insure something of this value and how much it may cost to post? Was thinking about listing my ebay thing with £15 postage cost to the buyer and paying any extra if it works out more.

and finally.... are there any tips to composing a good listing, like ways to get more people to see it etc etc?

I was gonna put a reserve of like £425 and a buy it now of say £450, not fussed about getting more than that, but if I go too close to £400 It's cost me £100 just to use a Wii a handful of times. I figured putting pics up is a good idea so I've taken some but I don't have webspace any more. Can I use image shack with ebay? How long do images stay on the shack? Would be crap if my pictures weren't up for the whole length of the auction lol

Cheers and sorry for so many questions and generally being an ebay noob,

G

/edit would I have to pay fees for using paypal? If so is it the done thing to expect the buyer to cover them?

/edit 2 I've noticed people on ebay are calling Wii Sports 5 games and Wii Play 9 games....this would mean I have 26 instead of 14 games lol Can I put that in my auction or are these guys just taking the p
 
Last edited:
If you're worried, do not use it, personally I have lost out on money. Class it as 14 games :p... bank transfers can never be reversed, so probs the safest.
Paypal make sellers cover fees....

Hope all goes well
 
you could also offer cash on collection to save on paypal fees.
If you do have to post it make sure you send it by trackable means (royal mail spec del etc) and to a confirmed address.

If you do use paypal just make sure you state in the listing that the goods will be sent after payment clears into your bank (wait at least 5 working days)
 
The photos I'm uploading are pretty big will ebay make them fit the screen properly or do I have to resize them first? (would like it so people can click to make them big so they can see everything real well)

G
 
There is an option to supersize the pics for an extra 60p when you get to the upload part of your listing
There is also an option to crop the pics too if you want.
 
Guru said:
The photos I'm uploading are pretty big will ebay make them fit the screen properly or do I have to resize them first? (would like it so people can click to make them big so they can see everything real well)

G
Click to expand...

Then insert thumbnails to larger images on an image hosting site.
 
hm with things that are more expensive you have to be more careful, if using paypal dont sell to unverified bidders, im not sure if paypal could take the money back off you if the bidder was infact verified. Think some payments need a time span to clear.
Cant expect loads of interest for a wii for that much really, fair dos it has got a lot of games, but a lot of people dont want loads of games, nevermind the games you have =/

Good luck anyway!
 
I've bought and sold many times on E-bay and every transaction was completed with Paypal, I've never had any issues.

Most expensive thing I bought was a Razor back when they went for £300+

Don't ship out of the country, don't except Western Union, and deffo don't sell to Nigerians lol

Edit - As UK buyers can now be verified, state you want verified paypal accounts only.
 
I've been using Paypal & EBay for many years and I've only ever once ended up being out of pocket on a deal.
However it was my own fault - I posted to an unverified address and thankfully it wasn't a very expensive deal.

Don't believe all those people who will tell you that the whole Paypal system is "rubbish".
They deal with many hundreds of thousands of transactions a day - the 99.99% of people who don't have any problems don't come along and post into a forum, the small percentage of people who do have an issue will.

Also don't believe all this "always in favour of buyer" or "always in favour of seller" thing - Paypal do look at any complaint before making any decision.
As a seller the number one important thing to do is:

1. Give the postage option of Royal Mail Special Delivery of similar.
When I say similar, make sure you use a trackable delivery system and make sure the package will be insured for the full amount.

2. Once you have a buyer make sure you only post the item to a verified address.

3. For a lot more safety, only accept bids from people based in the UK.

If you get a seller, send the item as above and there is then a dispute raised, so long as you can provide that tracking information to Paypal when requested the chances are they will rule in favour of you.
However the chances are you'll be fine, there won't be any problems and the sale will go through without a hitch.
 
Been using ebay+paypal for nearly 5 years and never had a problem. The only time I've been burned was with a cheque and that was only for a few bucks. As long as you're sensible and cautious you shouldn't have a problem, although (as with anything in life...) things can go wrong.
 
just dont use DHL for delivery. otherwise that could cause problems as they sometimes leave packages outside of houses and forge a signiture, which could result in a buying not getting his stuff, and causing lots of hassle
 
what's the best/cheapest insured courrier to use? I am guessing it isn't royal mail as I have seen how they treat packages :/
 
i lost £200 on a phone i sold as the account used to buy was hacked
i had to pay the money back

paypal were quick to send the matter to a debt collection agency
and paypal themselves were a ######### to get in contact with

got my account verified then the same thing happened when i sold my 8800gts but because i was verified i kept the money - had to provide proof of postage but that was it

in short
paypal is great - just make sure you get your account verified so you are never liable to cover costs when these spineless sods try to screw you out of your money
 
No offence, but you don't sound like you're too clued up on ebay so I wouldn't recommend selling a ~£400 item on there until you understand how it works properly.

If I was you I'd just split it on here and sell everything using bank transfer. It'll be more effort but a lot safer for you.
 
i never sell anything worth £100 or more using paypal, just isnt worth the risk

cheque/postal order/cash on collection/bank transfer is the only thing i use, and i have to say the finishing bid doesnt seem to be any lower then others which do have paypal
 
Doesn't look like I have a choice!

You cannot submit your listing due to the following problems


Dear Seller

Thank you for choosing eBay.

Due to the level of disputed transactions in the category in which you are choosing to list, eBay is taking strong measures to protect both buyers and sellers on eBay.

To sell your item in this category you must offer PayPal as the only payment method. Please sign up for a PayPal account if you do not already have one.

*

Sign up for a PayPal account.

*

Learn more about how PayPal protects buyers and sellers

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Click to expand...

/edit my Paypal status is UK - Verified
 
Last edited:
Also how to I put buy it now?

I can't see the option anywhere! :( Wanted to put a buy it now or nearest offer thing on there :)

Cheers,

G
 
You can't use buy it now unless you have a feedback rating of 10+

Also, I'd recommend you split the items you're selling and put them in seperate listings, you'll almost certainly make more money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom