eBay / Paypal - the final straw

[asiamiles]

As a seller I've just about had it with eBay and Paypal. I recently sold a cheap but heavy item item to someone. They paid via Paypal, and chose surface mail, which even though it still cost around $100 and I advised would take 2~3 months was the best option in the circumstances. A week after they paid they filed a dipute with Paypal complaining they hadn't received the item. Of course, I was able to counter this with tracking number, thus thinking I had little to worry about. However, they buyer then escalated this dispute to a claim and Paypal refunded them all their money, even though the item is still currently on its way to them. This defies all belief and I will now obviously have to make serious changes if I am to sell on eBay again...and note that eBay are just one step away from making Paypal the ONLY allowable means of papyment. Sellers beware!

 

[jacketimp]

worst case scenario...........let the swines close your ebay and paypal account and not pay up to reimburse paypal? assuming you transferred funds form paypal to you bank account before you deliver!

 

[Weasel_Loader]

I almost had the same thing happen to me when a overseas buyer requested surface shipment. I'll never do that again and I put that in my disclaimer that I will only ship via air. I have not done any ebay sales in quite a while and getting ready to list some items soon. I'm already dreading it. :roll:

 

[asiamiles]

worst case scenario...........let the swines close your ebay and paypal account and not pay up to reimburse paypal? assuming you transferred funds form paypal to you bank account before you deliver!

Paypal already froze one lot of money and reimbursed a second lot. I'm calling them up tomorrow to enquire what the hell's going on. It just seems there is no protection at all for sellers...a buyer makes a complaint (and you should have seen his whining: "I don't want the items anymore") and Paypal wait a few days to make it seem like they're investigating and then automatically refund the money; it's close to complicity to defraud.

 

[John Lever]

I don't sell expensive jackets[ £400 plus] on ebay any more. It's much better to sell on the forum. They can take the money back at any time and you are minus one jacket and the payment. All the power is with the buyer.

 

[jacketimp]

even you did exactly what Paypal told you to do
once buyer filed the claim Paypal won't do any thing to protect you.
it happened to me last time over a stupid video game cost less than $80
they won't take your money but they will freeze your paypal account.
even they knew it's buyer's false statement.
I HATE paypal....but without it will be very difficult to sell on e-bay!

that's the point......transfer all funds OUT of paypal so there'e nana for them to freeze.

then open another new account......

 

[handworn]

I've been investigating alternatives. This article:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/06/smbusin ... /index.htm

helped the most. Onlineauction.com seems to be the biggest of the alternatives, with about one-tenth of eBay's number of items listed, though after reading their amateurish and self-important "Declaration of Cyber Independence" I wonder about their professionalism. Still, it's worth considering, and in the 14 pages of WWII militaria currently on, there might well be some bargains. Bidtopia (not in that article, but in another about five sellers who left eBay) seems like a solid place backed by the sheer number of overstock items Bargainland, the former eBay seller that founded it, puts on all by itself, and all starting at 99 cents, no reserve. But that's not the midcentury collectibles we like. The best hope may be the teasers that Yahoo might bring its U.S. auctions back, and that many eBay sellers want Google to start up an auction site.

Really, the cheap stuff is the key to building momentum for these eBay alternatives. Items like USAAF collar insignia starting at, say, $9.99 with no reserve, in which the seller might be content with only one bid. That, and ease of listing and searching, and a strong advertising budget. Worth looking into now, 'cause eBay has realized it's essentially a monopoly and can do as it pleases. (Or so it thinks.)

I almost had the same thing happen to me when a overseas buyer requested surface shipment. I'll never do that again and I put that in my disclaimer that I will only ship via air. I have not done any ebay sales in quite a while and getting ready to list some items soon. I'm already dreading it. :roll:

 

[asiamiles]

even you did exactly what Paypal told you to do
once buyer filed the claim Paypal won't do any thing to protect you.
it happened to me last time over a stupid video game cost less than $80
they won't take your money but they will freeze your paypal account.
even they knew it's buyer's false statement.
I HATE paypal....but without it will be very difficult to sell on e-bay!

It's quite true, buyers don't even have to think and build up a solid case (of lies) to claim back their money. They can make contradictory statements and all sort of nonsense and Paypal simply hands them them back what is rightfully now your money. To me it's tantamount to theft. Indeed, isn't the buyer committing an act of theft? Presumably the distances involved give them that safety barrier; I bet they wouldn't clam back if they knew the seller lived in their neighbourhood.

Soon it will be not only "very difficult" but impossible to sell on eBay with Paypal...they are making it mandatory that you accept it next month, and without offering it as a payment option you won't be allowed to sell.

that's the point......transfer all funds OUT of paypal so there'e nana for them to freeze.

then open another new account......

In the real world this isn't really an option.

 

[Sid Vintage]

And then the icing on the cake. The scammer or attempted scam artist is free to leave you a neg feedback after you've had the pleasure of being scammed / attempted to be scammed.... And you can't do a thing about it! Then once you've got more than a few negs your fees cost more. Brilliant!