The power of paypal
jetpro
Posts: 126
Just noticed that a MS69 Buffalo closed at $820 last night. All this while another closed with no bids at $727.97 that did NOT take paypal. Either the winner didn't notice or was too damn lazy to get a money order or cashier's check. And the seller didn't want to pay 3% so now gets nothing. Brilliant.
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Comments
-- Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows
My Ebay Auctions
<< <i>Hartman....if I was a seller I would only take paypal. >>
I've sold sometimes, and that's how I do it. It's just more convenient all around. It's a bit more expensive, to be sue, but you have to take the good with the bad.
-- Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows
My Ebay Auctions
The name is LEE!
As a buyer, I try to avoid using Paypal. I would rather go to the USPS and buy a money order. I think Paypal has seen better days. I usually pass on any auction that demands Paypal payment only.
KJ
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
You may decide to skip the convenience to avoid the potential trouble.
If a seller demands payment by paypal only, I pass them by.
As a seller, I take cash, checks and money orders.
Ray
<< <i>As a seller, I take cash, checks and money orders. >>
Google up problems for those then, too.
"Cash" is technically not permitted for eBay auctions. I used to advertise that I would accept "well-concealed cash" -- mostly as a gag. But then I had a slew of auctions shut down for illegal payment types. So, gag over.
"Checks" -- of course, no one has ever received a bad check, right?
"Money Orders" -- one of the many great services k6az provided to this forum before he was banninated was providing a list of MO serial numbers that were bogus.
Yes, you can find any number of people who have had trouble with PayPal. Keep in mind that behind each of those troubled transactions are literally thousands and possibly millions of transactions that went off without a hitch.
Unless you've got something that I just gotta have, I won't even bother with a check or money order only auction. It's just not worth my time to even place a bid, no less complete the transaction.
When I sell, I'll take pretty much whatever you got. Most of my buyers (ghod love 'em) use PayPal, which is fine. BidPay appears to be back in business, so I'll include that in my next go 'round. I'll also accept cash (but don't tell eBay) in pretty much any convertible currency -- when I was dealing in Magic the Gathering cards, I did a bunch of cash transactions with Europe, and it was just a lot easier for them to send me francs, marks, sterling, or whatever (this was way back in the 1990s, pre-PayPal days) -- I just adjusted their prices to account for the conversion, and used the currency on my next trip over. I'm signed up for Google Checkout, which is also prohibited by eBay, but if someone wanted to use it, I'd find a way.
I'm a big believer of the Platinum Rule when it comes to selling and customer service: "Treat others the way they wish to be treated." It's my opinion that in the longer term this is a more profitable philosophy than taking a narrow view and making life hard for the customer.
The thing is, as a seller, you want as many people
as possible to bid on your auction
Which means you want to make it as easy as
possible for someone to bid.
When you start limiting options for potential
bidders, such as NOT taking PayPal, or ONLY
taking PayPal, all you are doing is limiting the
number of bidders you will have to participate
in your auction.
Fewer Bidders = Less Money For You
~
"America suffers today from too much pluribus and not enough unum.".....Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
<< <i>Anyone wanting to use Paypal ought to do a Google search "Paypal problems".
You may decide to skip the convenience to avoid the potential trouble.
If a seller demands payment by paypal only, I pass them by.
As a seller, I take cash, checks and money orders.
Ray >>
As a buyer, I don't do money orders. I'll do checks, mostly because electronic payment is easier now in the online banking age. But that's only in a situation where I feel a strong compulsion to buy an item. Only accepting checks or money orders is normally (in my experience, and with no disrespect intended to any forum members) a sign of a problematic transaction in the making. The one thing about PayPal I find essential (as I said, most of the time) is they basically force the seller to document everything.
-- Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows
My Ebay Auctions
Ankur
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
<< <i>Fewer Bidders = Less Money For You >>
Very true.
There's another major aspect of PayPal that many sellers don't appreciate -- the speed of the money.
With PayPal, you get the money now. Money Orders will take at least a week to arrive, and checks another week or so after that to clear. Faster money means faster inventory turnover, more transactions, and (hopefully) more profit. A PayPal accepting seller can turn around four or five times as much inventory as a check-only seller.
I think anyone who wants to do a lot of selling on eBay would want to accept as many forms as payment as is practical. I prefer checks or MOs but find PayPal is a must.
<< <i>
<< <i>Fewer Bidders = Less Money For You >>
Very true.
There's another major aspect of PayPal that many sellers don't appreciate -- the speed of the money.
With PayPal, you get the money now. Money Orders will take at least a week to arrive, and checks another week or so after that to clear. Faster money means faster inventory turnover, more transactions, and (hopefully) more profit. A PayPal accepting seller can turn around four or five times as much inventory as a check-only seller. >>
While PayPal is fast, it's exactly now. Sure, the money gets to your PayPal account immediately, but it takes a few days for the money to make it to your bank account once you withdraw it.
-- Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows
My Ebay Auctions
not mine, I have a paypal debit card and once its in my paypal account I can have access to it right away
I have even offered Free shipping if payment was made via check or money order and no one took me up on the offer.
Most buyers like Paypal as I do and if I have a choice I bid on Paypal auctionsfirst.
There is one piece of good advice I have heard on this forum and many horror stories.
The best advice I heard was to open a checking account, most banks only require $25 and usually no fees especially at credit unions.
Then use this account ONLY for paypal. Transfer all Pay pal funds immediately to the checing account and then withdraw the money right away and put in your regular bank account.
This I will do this week now that my current auctions are paid for.
Rookie Joe
<< <i>not mine, I have a paypal debit card and once its in my paypal account I can have access to it right away >>
Me too, I believe you can withdraw up to $3000 a week at a POS terminal with the debit card. $400 at an ATM.
Rookie Joe
RegistryCoin wrote, in part:
> "I very, very rarely bid on coins unless the seller offers paypal as an option."
------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm the same way.
Look, right now there are over 10,000 PCGS graded
coins for sale on eBay.
That's 10,000 just in PCGS holders!!
If I want to make life as easy as possible for myself,
which I do, and you don't want to take PayPal, then
fine, I just move on to the next auction.
I cull by feedback, non-acceptance of PayPal, bad pics,
no return policy, non-PCGS holders, stupid shipping
prices, rudeness in descriptions, and a few other
things, and still there are thousands of coins to pick
from.
And I know I'm not unique among eBay shoppers, so
that's why I continue to say, make buying as easy
and painless as possible, and you will get more bidders
and stronger prices for your ebay auctions.
~
"America suffers today from too much pluribus and not enough unum.".....Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
<< <i>My new policy it to accept PayPal, but prefer other means of payment. We'll see how that goes. I'll even spring for the postal M.O. fee for purchases over $100, but I don't dare mention that in my auctions, lest it be deemed Forbidden Text™. >>
I have started offering a free gift for money orders instead of paypal. It seems to draw a few away from Paypal.