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Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

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Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#11

Post by brk »

I stopped selling things like this on eBay a long time ago because I do not sell things frequently enough to keep up with the scams du jour.

My local craigslist is where my for-sale items now go. Sure, I may get a little less than top-dollar for an item, or it might take a little longer to sell, but I'm never left with some after-the-fact dispute where I have no control (note: I'll only accept cash).

eBay was fun while it lasted, but then it became a giant flea market with basically semi-pro retailers looking to sell things, and a whole bunch of random scammers. Intermixed in all that was the occasional legitimate "amateur" seller.

For the very few times I've purchased something on Ebay in the last few years, it's always been from "pro" sellers with storefront type setups. The hassles of dealing with amateurs selling poorly described items, taking too long to ship, etc. was also not worth the "deal" I was getting.

A true "amateur to amateur" auction type sales website is an area begging for competition...

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#12

Post by eli »

A few years ago I sold an Android phone on eBay. A scammer bought it, claimed it was broken, and filed a claim with PayPal. The guy sent me back a different phone of the same model that was indeed quite broken. I appealed to PayPal and lost. I got screwed in this case, but frankly I'm not sure what PayPal/eBay is supposed to do about this sort of scam. Dude even swapped the sticker with the serial number from inside the case.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#13

Post by DanBlake »

larsberg wrote: post #9

To jump on a point totally unrelated to the post's complaint but related to selling smartphones, I've found that if I'm selling electronics (especially generation-behind iPhones for the family) I can do much better than eBay, even before you discount both their listing fee and paypal use fees. And there's comparatively no risk. For cash: gazelle For slightly more cash (usually just a few percent), in the form of a gi…

Gazelle is worthless and preys on the poor and uneducated. You get less than 50% what you would from selling on ebay.

http://www.gazelle.com/iphone/iphone-4s/at-t/iphone-4s-64gb-...

vs

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Cell-Phones-Smartphones-/9355/i.html...

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#15

Post by bryne »

DanBlake wrote: post #13
larsberg wrote: post #9

To jump on a point totally unrelated to the post's complaint but related to selling smartphones, I've found that if I'm selling electronics (especially generation-behind iPhones for the family) I can do much better than eBay, even before you discount both their listing fee and paypal use fees. And there's comparatively no risk. For cash: gazelle For slightly more cash (usually just a few percent), in the form of a gi…

Gazelle is worthless and preys on the poor and uneducated. You get less than 50% what you would from selling on ebay. http://www.gazelle.com/iphone/iphone-4s/at-t/iphone-4s-64gb-... vs http://www.ebay.com/sch/Cell-Phones-Smartphones-/9355/i.html...

Which in this case is zero, because eBay is rife with scammers preying on the *well-educated?

Gazelle and Amazon present almost zero risk to the seller, hence the price differential.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#16

Post by AjithAntony »

mibbitier wrote: post #6

> " If youre thinking of selling an expensive item on eBay, think again. " I would say, this type of fraud is exclusively targeted at cellphones, ipods, netbooks etc. If you're selling something like an antique grandfather clock, you should be fine. Of course anything that requires collection, or couriering is going to be more traceable and secure. I have sold hundreds or maybe thousands of items on eBay. The only on…

>If you're selling something like an antique grandfather clock, you should be fine.

Paypal orders buyer to destroy antique violin:

http://www.regretsy.com/2012/01/03/from-the-mailbag-27/

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#17

Post by DigitalJack »

This seems like a credit card/bank problem, it's not unique to paypal.

I was thinking about upgrading my phone and ebaying the old one. After reading this, I'm thinking maybe I'll go the craigslist route, or one of the online trade-in deals.

Does gazelle have this same issue? I'm not sure if Gazelle the company buys the product and sells it, or if they just connect me with a buyer like ebay does.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#18

Post by mibbitier »

larsberg wrote: post #9

To jump on a point totally unrelated to the post's complaint but related to selling smartphones, I've found that if I'm selling electronics (especially generation-behind iPhones for the family) I can do much better than eBay, even before you discount both their listing fee and paypal use fees. And there's comparatively no risk. For cash: gazelle For slightly more cash (usually just a few percent), in the form of a gi…

For the UK there's http://www.envirofone.com/ or http://www.mazumamobile.com/ or http://www.fonebank.com/ amongst others.

I've used the first 2 with excellent results. Obviously you get slightly less than selling on the open market, but you don't have to deal with scammers, and get the cash quickly and without issues.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#20

Post by kerryfalk »

brk wrote: post #11

I stopped selling things like this on eBay a long time ago because I do not sell things frequently enough to keep up with the scams du jour. My local craigslist is where my for-sale items now go. Sure, I may get a little less than top-dollar for an item, or it might take a little longer to sell, but I'm never left with some after-the-fact dispute where I have no control (note: I'll only accept cash). eBay was fun whi…

Shameless plug; we've built one for automotive enthusiasts: https://www.styckyd.com

Our target is to serve the C2C market and make shipping less painless as well as eliminate some of the risk on the buyer's side. With the current climate for buying goods online companies serving the space are at risk for opening themselves up to scams like this one by buyers. The reality for anyone accepting credit cards is that you're at the mercy of the buyer.

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