Ebay, paypal and credit cards

[MasterBlaster76]

I've been using paypal and ebay for a couple of months now - some of you might remember that I used to say that 'I don't do ebay', well that was before I signed up for paypal.

However, I've recently read some pretty alarming things about paypal and it's severely damaged my trust in it. So, what I want to know is can you still buy on ebay just using a credit card? If you do so, are you giving out your financial details to any Tom, Dick or Harry or does everything go through ebay as it does with Amazon? I know this to be true because I have sold things on Amazon before and I never saw anyone's payment details.

I'd imagine selling on ebay might be more than troublesome without using paypal - do people sell on ebay through a credit card?

The other reason I'd rather my money was sent straight to my card rather than paypal is not everyone accepts paypal. A great example for that is Amazon, where I buy a very large percentage of my online shopping - even now, I'm expecting a couple of people's Christmas presents from them. I know that it's possible to have paypal send your money straight to your bank, but I've read so many horror stories about that process that I've now removed my bank's details from paypal.

So I'd be interested to hear anyone's views and if anyone here has had any trouble with paypal? One of the things I've read that is extremely off putting is that paypal will nearly always refund a buyer if they claim to either have a problem with an item, or if they claim said item hasn't arrived. Indeed, I've read that even sending items by Recorded Delivery isn't enough to cover yourself. It's hardly fair that anyone could basically buy an item from you, then decided they'd like it for free and flag up a complain against you with paypal!

For that reason, whenever possible I prefer to sell on Amazon (their fees are extortionate, but I get round that by adding a few quid onto my items prices - they still seem to sell). The trouble is, you can only sell things on Amazon that are listed on their website. Furthermore, a lot of people seem to think that Amazon is an auction site like ebay, because they keep putting their items up at ridiculously low prices like 99p - this of course means you have no chance of listing your identical item at a fair price, as everyone will always go for the one on the cheap provided it's listed as good condition.

I wasn't sure where to post this - if it belongs in 'Issues', then could a mod please move it? Thanks.

 

[MattW]

Don't sell on eBay - eBay isn't an auction site anymore, it is a site for people who are fairly well organised sellers. Everyone else will either make a loss, or have ebay/paypal fees take most of their profit. You can't compete with power and business sellers - don't try you'll just waste your time for no gain. And that's if you get a good buyer.

As for buying, PayPal is great. I don't have it connected to my bank, I just pay via my Visa debit card each time - which means the exact amount the item costs is deducted at the time I buy, there's no balance to worry about. The time when I needed to get a refund (someone sold me a counterfeit item), the transaction was just reversed and the money back in my account fairly quickly.

There's credit card only facilities, but not really for regular people, as you'd need a merchant account with a transaction provider. eBay also banned listings without PayPal as an option a while back.

Half the time PayPal processes the credit card anyway.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

I have made a decent amount on ebay through sales to be honest and I managed to sell my piano as well for ?600 - that was exciting - I had one bidder, then when I came home, a full blown bidding war had broken out, with someone swooping in at the last minute with the winning bid! That's going to be cash on pickup though - I'm not trusting paypal with that sort of money - the buyer doesn't have a problem with that. So you've never had any problems with paypal then?

Generally speaking, I don't list things for 99p in the hope the price goes up, because I've picked up so many things myself for the 99p starting price. I list it for a decent but fair price, and see what happens. Sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes for the starting price, but most stuff does go. As well as that, I usually only list things on Ebay's increasingly frequent 'free listing' weekends. I only use one photo, so that's free, and I don't bother with 'Buy it Now'.

 

[Themer]

That's going to be cash on pickup though - I'm not trusting paypal with that sort of money - the buyer doesn't have a problem with that.

I'd be a lot more inclined to not trust the buyer than Paypal in that situation. There is no way I'd be wanting to meet a stranger with over ?600 involved. There's a paper trial for starters if anything did go wrong.