Sellers - What Type of Payment Do You Accept?

chiefbob

I am ready to list my 1996 PR70DC ASE on eBay and will start the auction at $1,000 (per recommendations by some of you). Because I've never listed anything that might go for this much (or hopefully much higher!), now I'm unsure as to what type of payment to accept from the buyer. I'm not a dealer and I can't process credit cards. I do have a personal PayPal account, but I don't want to upgrade and pay any fees to them.

Would you recommend bank drafts or certified checks? Do they clear immediately or should I wait for clearance?

Basic questions, but I've only sold items on eBay for mostly under $100.

TIA,

Bob

gmarguli

I'd probably list the auction starting at 1¢ since it will likely reach $1000 by itself. I'd also pay the extra $14.95 to make it a featured auction so you are more assured of getting lots of bids. Or at the very least pay for bold or highlighted.

You should sign up for PayPal if you are not already. Sure they take 3%, but many bidders look for it. Same for C2it, but they are free. Offer free shipping if they pay using C2it. It'll save both of you money.

If your feedback isn't high, then I would suggest having another member list it for you. Low feedback for this coin is a no-no.

I accept PayPal, C2it, checks, and money orders. A few times people have sent cash. One it was a few hundred dollars. Make sure the check clears if the buyer doesn't have a lot off good feedback.

airplanenut

I would say:

Checks until cleared
Money Orders

I assume you will ship registered for such a high-value item?

Jeremy

PS- for something of this value, PayPal WOULD be a stupid choice... I wouldn't accept it.

my3cents

I would use every possible funding/payment solution:

Bidpay, Paypal, Billpoint, (these allow credit cards), Cashiers checks,Money Orders, Personal Checks, etc., etc. The more you offer, the more bids you are going to get.

TWQG

<< <i>PS- for something of this value, PayPal WOULD be a stupid choice... I wouldn't accept it. >>



I would. $30 to $60 in fees is nothing compared to the loss of bidding activity if you don't. Also, people sometimes like to use their credit cards for large paypal purchases.

I would spare no cost in listing this considering how much of it is going to be gravy.

gmarguli

Checks until cleared
Money Orders

You do know that a money order is no better than a check? You can stop payment on them just like a check.



PS- for something of this value, PayPal WOULD be a stupid choice... I wouldn't accept it.

And many people wouldn't bid without the protection of a credit card.

Placid

I prefer to use a credit card on higher dollar items as it offers some protection incase the item never arrives.

Do you feel comfortable sending a personal check or money order for over $1,000 to someone you know nothing about other than some eBay feedback?

Collector

if ebay still offers the use....escrow services work well..I used it for a 1500 dollar deal the buyer paid the escrow fee...buyer charges it to a credit card...escrow service notifies you when they have the $ you send the coin...the buyer receives and notifies escrow he has the coinand they release the funds to you...if buyer wants to return the item..must notify escrow service who holds the money until y ou recieve the coin back and ok it..all done via email......worked well for me a year ago

Bulldog

CASH< Credit Card, PayPal, Personal check, Money order, International money Order, and occassionally chocolate bars or Absolute Vodka .

Bulldog

Spooly

If you have the "basic" paypal account..... you can take "checking account transfers" or cash that is in the account. But the Basic paypal account you can NOT take credit card transfers.


I have a basic account to, I just state in the auction:

I take paypal payments, but NOT from credit cards. (I only have the free basic paypal account)

Dog97

I don't even know how to get a bank draft or a certified check. I don't think you can do that at the drive up and it probably costs me $$ and standing in line 20 minutes to do it, IF I can get there before the bank closes in the afternoon. I do know my bank charges $5 for a money order so they probably charge $55 for a draft.
PayPal or personal check suits me fine.
gmarguli says you can stop payment on a MO and you can but if I go by the PO to cash it and find it's got a stop payment on it then I simply won't mail the coins.

flaminio

The thing to keep in mind is that the more payment options you offer, the larger the pool of bidders will be available to you.

Some have said Check (cleared)/MO only -- personally, I would not bid on an item with such terms. Ba-da-bing, lost a bidder. Still, these are the standard old-tech payment methods, and should always be included.

Some are grousing about PayPal fees -- well, if the fee turns out to be $50, but by providing PayPal you've increased the final bid by $100, how bad is that?

I would like to use C2it, but they still won't recognize my credit card. Something about an interfacing problem. Work it out, fellas! There is also a second amendment issue with C2it that I don't want to go into here, but if stuff like that bugs you, you'd best investigate it.

Slapping a BidPay icon on your auction is a no-brainer -- costs you nothing, and delivers a MO to you. For many bidders, this is an option (although the fees to the buyer can get somewhat big).

eBay Payments (BillPoint) is good for another few weeks -- when I run a series of auctions, I usually get two or three payments through there.

One thing to make sure -- be sure to be completely familiar, technically, with any online service you offer. You don't want to have a bidder pay with XYZCash or whatever, and then spend hours hunting around trying to find your money. Know the sites, know your logins and passwords, know how to get your money and how long it takes.

agentjim007

MONEY
no beads or wampum.
no rolex watches off the arm of a guy that has more than 3 on that arm.
no work for coins.

agfox

Like others said the more paying options you give the larger your bidder pool will be. Suck up the fees to generate a higher bidder pool is a no brainer.

DCAMFranklin

Bob- Congratulations! I'm really happy to see you "taking the plunge"! Take checks, money orders, paypal and C2it. Greg is right about C2it. No fees. Like Spooly said, you can accept balance transfers with paypal's personal account and without limit and no fees. Be sure to take his advice and make it VERY clear that you will not accept paypal credit card payments.

If Greg's statement about money orders concerns you, then specify postal money orders only. They are guaranteed!

Bob, I wish you all the luck (though I don't think you are going to need any with that beauty) and I hope you will let us know when the coin is placed at auction.

Dog97

You can put a stop payment on a postal money order too, they are really no better than a personal check other than you can cash them easier.

supercoin

Ditto what's been said... pay for as much exposure as you can, start it at 1 cent, take every form of payment imaginable, and most importantly... sell that puppy quick.

Good luck!

michael

if i was selling a coin like that at auction to get as much exposure as i could i would basically have many forms of payment available to buyers to pay with


BUT WHATEVER PAYMENT YOU GET MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CLEARED GOOD FUNDS IN YOUR HANDS FOR SURE before sending the coin out

i mean personal checks are great just make sure you get good funds cleared first before sending out the coin

sincerely michael

relayer

Accept either US Postal Money Orders or Bank Cashiers Checks only.

And if you are extra paranoid, call the bank to verify before shipping.

gmarguli

gmarguli says you can stop payment on a MO and you can but if I go by the PO to cash it and find it's got a stop payment on it then I simply won't mail the coins.

Like Dog97 pointed out in a latter message, Postal Money orders can be stopped also. The BIG difference is that you can take a Postal MO to a post office and cash it before you ship. You can also ask them to run the MO and make sure payment hasn't been stopped.

A regular MO you cannot do this to unless it is drawn on a bank and you can go to one of their branches.

I my auctions I indicate that non-Postal MOs are held just like checks.

thankyou

American dollars!

hehe