Ebay noob questions

snowdog · 29 Jul 2007 at 04:19

Hello, just signed up in Ebay and have a few questions:

In what ways can I pay except paypal, and how is that decided?

If I bid lets say 1.10 € on an item worth 50 €, and I win the auction, is the seller forced to sell it for that price?

How can I avoid being scammed, I know I ideally have to stick to people with 100-99% positive feedback on ''expensive'' intems and at elast 150 feedback or so, any other things?

Finally, if the seller is close-by, can I go for pickup instead to save on postage costs?

Zefan · 29 Jul 2007 at 04:21

Make sure when you sell anything you clearly state that you will ship it to the UK only, otherwise you could get some scammers.

As for selling at a price, I don't think they are legally binded to sell you it at that price, but they risk bad feedback/a bid retraction on their record so most of the time stuff can be got really cheaply!

You can accept paypal very easily through eBAY as it's their sister company. If you haven't already, obviously go and sign up there. I think it's actually all explained during the registration process.

snowdog · 29 Jul 2007 at 04:25

Zefan said:
Make sure when you sell anything you clearly state that you will ship it to the UK only, otherwise you could get some scammers.

As for selling at a price, I don't think they are legally binded to sell you it at that price, but they risk bad feedback/a bid retraction on their record so most of the time stuff can be got really cheaply!

Can I instead select west europe, or Benelux only? NL isn't that big most people use www.marktplaats.nl (owned by ebay, advert site) instead of ebay itself, since NL is a small country, most ppl just come pick up stuff from everywhere.
My own ebay defaults to germany and Netherlands, but would ideally like to add Beglium and Luxembourg and perhaps France and UK to that, not interested in any further ebaying.

Also with paypal It's a slight problem, I'm below 18, I'm 16, so it's a bit hard for me to register to paypal, I do have a solo/Maestro card though, will paypal be mad at me if I say im 18? Ideally I'd use normall manual tranfers through online banking, is that possible?

Zefan · 29 Jul 2007 at 04:28

Hmm basically it's a lot easier to scam someone from another country due to bank accounts and cheque's/paypal funds clearing.

I think just saying "No Nigerians" should be fine

I'm not really sure to be honest, sorry

:Edit: I'm sure there are alternative ways to take payments, someone else should have more of a clue than me

Anewbe4u · 29 Jul 2007 at 04:28

Racist! Nigerians get a bad rep....

Zefan · 29 Jul 2007 at 04:29

Ignore, double post :\

Anewbe4u · 29 Jul 2007 at 04:32

Bit strange. ^^^

So I'm not just trolling.

I had nothing but bad times with Ebay for the first few years I used it, I have to say though, recently I haven't been having many problems at all. Maybe its ebay cracking down or me just being more sensible I wouldn't like to say.

jmalco · 29 Jul 2007 at 05:06

anewbe4u said:
Racist! Nigerians get a bad rep....

They deserve it, i had to relist a mobile phone 3 times because they keep bidding , even though i stated : WILL NOT POST OUTSIDE U.K

Anewbe4u · 29 Jul 2007 at 05:08

The legitimate Nigerians must have a hard time using ebay though.

jmalco · 29 Jul 2007 at 05:15

anewbe4u said:
The legitimate Nigerians must have a hard time using ebay though.

There is a rumour that there is a genuine one out there .

Dave · 29 Jul 2007 at 08:15

jmalco said:
There is a rumour that there is a genuine one out there .

It's a rumour for a good reason

Hessian · 29 Jul 2007 at 10:36

I'm pretty sure if you have a Solo/Maestro card, then there shouldn't be any problem signing up to PayPal if you're under 18. I have a feeling I signed up when I was under 18.

Once an auction has ended then with the rules of Ebay they have to sell that item at the price they got. But if they're stupid enough to not put on a reasonable reserve then it's their own fault.

In England you can pay by either PayPal. Cheque, Bankers Draft or a Postal Thingy (Can't Remember Name). Ebay does not suggest people meeting in person as a choice because this could cause a problem with safety. There has been a number of cases in which someone has gone to by something and then find it's a scam and then just get mugged for their money.

Vonhelmet · 29 Jul 2007 at 13:41

snowdog said:
In what ways can I pay except paypal, and how is that decided?

People can pay using money in their Paypal account, money from their bank account, or money from a credit/debit card. It costs to receive money from bank or credit cards, but it's free to receive money from a Paypal account. It's decided by where a person's funds are, if that answers your question.

snowdog said:
If I bid lets say 1.10 € on an item worth 50 €, and I win the auction, is the seller forced to sell it for that price?

Yes, though that is unlikely.

snowdog said:
How can I avoid being scammed, I know I ideally have to stick to people with 100-99% positive feedback on ''expensive'' intems and at elast 150 feedback or so, any other things?

Always check feedback. You seem to have figured this bit out for yourself. Be extra vigilant when dealing with people abroad, especially drop-shipped items from the Far East, or with buyers in - you guessed it - Nigeria.

snowdog said:
Finally, if the seller is close-by, can I go for pickup instead to save on postage costs?

Yes, but this is at seller's discretion, and it would be best to ask before bidding as you can't take it for granted. Plenty of people like to skim a bit of extra money by charging excessive amounts for postage, and collecting in person prevents them doing that, so some people won't go for it.