Ebay Question

goldenpath

goldenpath

Cathlete
Today I sold something to someone on ebay. The person has been a member since Sept 07 but has never bought or sold. I am accepting payment through paypal. Do you think this is a safe transaction? or could it be trouble?

Please let me know what you think.

Debbie
 
I don't know if the customer is on the up and up but paypal backs everything you do on ebay so you should get paid no matter what.

HTH a bit. :)
 
I think you are in the drivers seat. It is always more risky to purchase from someone new than it is to accept their money. I wouldn't be too worried.

Best of luck to you.:)
 
Paypal is very safe. As long as the member has an account through them things should work out okay. I prefer Paypal just cause it's quicker and easier and the buyer never knows your account number. Plus if they don't pay you can leave negative feedback explaining what happened so other people are aware. If the buyer doesn't pay, ebay is pretty good at letting you re-sale the item with out penalty since it's not your fault. Sometimes if the buyer just barely signs up with paypal, it does take a little more time for ebay to check their info but usually goes through after a few days. Hope this helps!;-)
 
Hi Debbie,

I'll tell you what I do just to avoid this sort of thing in case you want the info for future sales you do on ebay. I put in my description that I don't accept bids from bidders that have less than 10 points on their feedback score. I also say that if anyone wants to bid, and they have more than a certain number of negative scores, they can't bid. I'm very picky, but I even put a clause in my descriptions that if i've bought from or sold to someone in the past and had trouble, don't bother bidding because I'll cancel your bid! I keep a list of everyone that has been a problem.

YOu are definitely safe because you just don't mail the item until you receive payment. You will not lose anything but your listing fees if this buyer doesn't come through, and I think you can contact ebay and get that back. I'm not sure - but depending on the item it's usually less than $.50 to list something - I typically list clothing and shoes or watches...things like that.

Good luck!:7
 
Hi Debbie,
Another point of view: Just because the person hasn't bought or sold even though they've been an ebayer since 9/07 doesn't mean they're questionable. Maybe they are a lurker, unlucky in their bidding or looking for very select items. I've been an ebayer for several years and have only purchased a handful of items (less than 10)! Like everyone else said, you as the seller control the transaction (no payment, no shipment) HTH!

Jonahnah
Chocolate IS the answer, regardless of the question.
 
Thank you everybody for your responses. As you can tell, I don't do this regularly. I too only have a hand full of transaction. I guess everyone has to start somewhere. I have sent the invoice to the buyer and am waiting for payment. Hopefully, everything works out.

Again, thanks!!!

Debbie
 
Debbie - Oh good old ebay... You pay to list, pay to sell, pay to receive payment... I'm starting to wonder if I'm making any money off of it at all. And then you have those lovely buyers who refuse to pay. Hopefully, the person who won your auction is legit and will pay you soon. I just had to leave negative feedback for someone who paid only after I opened a dispute and then as soon as I closed the dispute, they cancelled their payment. Ebay will not let me reopen a dispute, so they are giving me a "one-time" grace on giving me my listing fees back - how sweet of them. Then, I have another person with 0 feedback who bought up all of my "buy nows" and then refused to pay or respond to my e-mails/invoices... Really ticks me off cuz' I've already paid out the butt just to list those and I was charged once they sold. I am now in the middle of a dispute with that person to try and get back my fees so I can relist. From now on, I will be blocking those two bidders and I will also be limiting my auctions to people with over 10 feedback etc... I hate to do that, but it's such an aggravation otherwise.
 
I now have another question. How quick should the person pay.. how long should I give them? What is reasonable? I would think within 24 hours. I would think that people who have bidded on an item would be checking to see if they won.

Some people are really a pain, why would then bid knowing they are not going to pay. Why try to frustrate other people. What goes around, comes around. They will get their share of troube for making trouble for others.

Can they really cancel their payments? That SUCKS!!! What happens if I receive payment, ship the item and then they cancel? How long should I wait before I ship - to make sure that they don't cancel or can't cancel anymore.

I am beginning to wonder if this ebay things is for me. :eek:

Debbie
 
My auctions vary - sometimes 3 days, sometimes I give 7 days - I think it depends on what I have listed because some people want combined shipping. On those I give more time if I have lots listed and they say they are watching something else I am selling.

I always say that the flat fee rate for shipping is out if I combine shipping too - because it could cost more to send two items than one - just fyi.

I wait until the time frame is up that I've allotted to receive payment - then I email. I usually give them an additional day or two, but then I start nonpaying bidder process.

Did your buyer pay yet?
 
Debbie - The person who cancelled their bid, paid through paypal using an "e-check". I'm not sure how long they have to cancel their payments through paypal. I will have to look into that more now. I lucked out in this case because since she did an e-check it didn't automatically clear in paypal, it said pending. Because of that, I checked back every day to see if it cleared. So, I saw it the minute she cancelled. If she had paid with a card, it would have showed up as completed and I would have shipped. I'm not sure if she could have cancelled then or not. It all does make you leary. That other person was obviously someone screwing around who thought it would be funny to buy all of my buy it nows and then not pay. She/he kept other people from being able to buy those items and now I have to go through the process of listing them again... ugh....

I will add though that 99.9% of the people I have dealt with have been wonderful. There have only been 2 buttheads out of my last 30 transactions. ;)

Forgot to mention - I give them 7 days to pay. I e-mail them as soon as they win the auction though and send them an invoice. If I do not hear from them at the end of 7 days, I e-mail them again. After that, I open a dispute which basically sends them an e-mail reminder from Ebay that they need to pay. If they do not respond to that, then ebay credits back your fees and you can relist. At that point, I leave negative feedback for them. I only do that after giving them plenty of notice and opportunity to respond.
 
Thanks again for your help. I have not received payment yet but it has only been a day. I will keep waiting a bit and then I will send them a reminder.

Debbie
 
I just received an email from paypal stating I received an instant payment. The only problem now is that I stated in my ebay ad that I only accept payments and ship to people with a confirmed address. Guess what, this person does not have a confirmed address. HELP!! I wonder if I should take my chance or not.
 
Have you tried emailing the buyer?

If you send the package out, and they did not follow your instructions and therefore don't receive their package it is on them. Just alwaysalwaysalways keep your info that shows proof of mailing the package.

I sold a diaper bag to a gal in Canada one time (last international shipment I'll make by the way) and we mailed the package out a bit late due to a snow storm, but then it got stuck in customs. It was there for 3 weeks. I specifically stated in my description that I do not refund for packages not received - it's up to the buyer to pay for insurance on their purchases....because honestly - how can you track a package and be responsible for it when it's out of your hands? I had the paperwork to prove I mailed it so we scanned it in and emailed it to her. I refused to refund her money, and I also referred her back to the description. She wasn't happy, but she got her package a few days after our back and forth, and thankfully all was well.

I've had more problems with buyer stuff from other sellers that wasn't what it was supposed to be than from buyers. I think you'll be fine. Open up some communication with that buyer and see what you can work out.

:)
 
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