An Ebay question

[fan-of-fans]

"I've considered attempting to sell a few things on eBay but 1) I refuse to link PayPal to a bank account, and 2) I hear these stories and details and it's not worth the risk/effort. "

Agreed on both. If I have something to sell I usually try to find a buyer through a forum or something. They send me the check or money order and I ship it. Usually I only do this with people I've known a while, and haven't had any issues.

It's too risky to do this on eBay and have who knows who bidding or buying it. Not worth the effort to list and have to get shipping supplies to ship either. But some have made a business out of it, I understand.

The once or twice I've had issues on eBay I always contact the seller directly. To me that's how I'd want it if I were a seller. Most sellers in my experience don't leave any feedback until I have received the item and left them feedback first. A few times lately they've left it as soon as I paid though.

I've never bought anything from Amazon, I find more of the things on eBay as far as vintage or older items.

 

[launderess]

Thing about eBay now is the buyer is always right

You ship something and despite all the tracking and receipt information seller says "I didn't get it", and files a claim. Most of the time eBay will side with buyer and refunds their money. PayPal is another one; you'd better make sure things are shipped with tracking and receipt information uploaded. Even then if a buyer files a chargeback claim it still may go against you.

Either way you can be both out money *and* not see item ever again. You are lucky if it does come back, and is undamaged/in sellable condition.

PayPal cannot stop a credit card from reversing a charge, to the question then becomes what happens to that loss. Do they eat it, or go after the seller's account?

Meanwhile moment a chargeback process begins PP puts a hold on your account for full amount.

 

[good-shepherd]

considered attempting to sell a few things on eBay

Extremely reluctantly I had to give in and set a up separate account for Ebay Paypal transactions and use it exclusively to accept payments, transfering the funds into another account as soon as available. So far no problems.

However, my listings are "returns not accepted" (unless I screwed up or they ask nicely). Moreover, I provide lots of good photos, honest descriptions and package the items well.
This drastically reduces dissatisfied buyers and/or items damaged in transport.

I also use Ebay for shipping labels. Fed Ex Smart Post items can be dropped off at the USPS, have decent discounts and they're not too strict on my size and weight estimates.
Tracking is included so its hard for the buyer to claim the item wasn't delivered.

If they have porch pirates time to move to a better neighborhood.

 

[thomasortega]

It's not like things really work...

Buyer claims he never received the item. You can even send ebay a video of the delivery where the delivery man put the item right on the buyers hands, ebay will ALWAYS be on the buyer side.

 

[yogitunes]

yeah, I been through this before.....

and it depends on what type of service they did, or have given....

if I order a part for a machine.....clicked and paid for it.....ALL they did was tear off an invoice from the printer, go down an isle and grab my item, put it in a box, taped it shut, slapped a label on it, and tossed it into a bin for the UPS driver....

what the heck did you do that was so damn special or exceptional?

you did YOUR JOB!!!....big WHOOP!....now onto the next invoice....

was this a promotion from stuffing envelopes?

rest assured, if you F**KED UP, I'll let you know!....just like any other job!

there could be 50 people all selling the same part.....I choose you, where the hell is my high star rating?

I also don't get, 'Like' Us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.....what the heck for, I may never need an item from you ever again....no one has time for that, or an inbox full of email nonsense afterwards....

 

[launderess]

Who is going to be making that video?

Only way to ensure anything shipped (USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc....) is only delivered to addressee and signed for is via some sort of registered mail, or otherwise restricted delivery with adult signature required. All those services cost more than standard ground shipping.

Since eBay charges final value fees based upon entire invoice amount billed to buyer (including shipping charges), unless buyer agrees upfront to pay it comes directly out of seller's pockets. When you consider what it costs to even ship small packages these days, we're talking about serious money at some point.

In any event do not know a single shipper who offers video recordings of delivery in USA. Maybe the location where someone must go to collect a package might have some sort of security camera system, but that isn't a given either it will have captured transaction in question.

As stated previously, all a buyer must do is start a chargeback via their credit card. If that process goes in their favor there is nothing PayPal or eBay can do; they will either eat the loss, or claw it back from seller.

 

[twintubdexter]

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">I've never heard that term before...Porch Pirates...I like it!</span>

 

[iowabear]

Iowa was one of the states that required eBay to start collecting sales tax.  This started in January of this year.

 

I've only purchased one eBay item this year and eBay charged me 7% sales tax in a completely separate Paypal transaction.

 

Seems ridiculous to pay sales taxes on used items.  And if shipping is listed as a separate charge Iowa charges tax on that as well!

 

Another reason the golden age of small internet sellers is coming to an end.

 

[gusherb]

I just sold a couple electronic items I had laying around and didn't want anymore on eBay, I didn't really expect to make much money on it. However I noticed that my final value fee/other fees amounts to just over $11 for an item that sold for $87 and another that sold for $9.99. Plus there's what PP takes out. I always choose "buyer pays for shipping".

After all is said and done, for that $87 item I'm getting about $75 out of it. 

 

It's not terribly hard for me to sell stuff on eBay but it's just barely worth it after all the fees, idk how anyone doing it as a business actually makes any money. I only do it to sell off stuff I don't want anymore but don't wanna donate it or throw away. 

 

I'm thinking about trying Facebook Marketplace next time. Have sold stuff on Craigslist before with success but I would only sell large items on there that I wouldn't want to hassle with shipping anywhere. Have sold electronics on there in past and found it a pain and can easily go wrong/be sketchy if one isn't super careful. 

For smartphones and tablets I'll use Swappa but unfortunately the only way to accept payments is PP and like discussed, they always side with the buyer, PLUS the dispute window is 6 mos which is asinine for an old phone or something. I sold an iPad last summer and the guy started hassling me about not being able to activate it on Sprint, I messaged him back and never heard anything again which was fine by me. 

 

[lorainfurniture]

It is profitable

Once scaled up it is quite profitable. For used parts I buy an entire washer for $40. It will usually equate to about $500 in parts, usually more. Fridges go four figures easily.

To make money doing it you have to make it your job. We ship over a dozen packages daily, usually 2 dozen or more on Monday. We have a little over 3,000 items listed.

 

[iowabear]

Thanks for the perspective Eugene.

 

I've browsed vintage audio components for years.  In the last couple of years the shipping charges have become very expensive, sometimes as much or more than the items are worth.  Now add 7% tax to both the price of the item AND the shipping charge...well the fun has gone out of it for me.

 

[good-shepherd]

Even with all the Ebay fees and possible hassles it still a good way to list items with nationwide, even world wide exposure. Some I make a good profit on, others I'm just glad I got rid of them and they went to a good home.

Overall a mostly win-win situation.

Granted, its not like years ago when it was straight auctions where crazy bidding wars could get going and drive prices way up on items I had for sale, Ebay fees were about 2% and the buyer paid for the actual shipping costs.

Then on the other hand, items could be purchase dirt cheap if there were few or no bidders. I picked up a lot of stuff that way and re sold years later for multiples of what I paid.

Now everything is overpriced "buy it now" Amazon style.

 

[good-shepherd]

Porch Pirates...I like it!

Oh, thats a big pastime here in places like Jersey City, Hoboken, and the like.

 

[lorainfurniture]

I would never sell the volume of parts if it wasn’t for eBay. Don’t get me wrong I think they are just below extortionists, but a necessary evil.

Perfect example would be Larry from modern parts house. Dude had a million bucks in vintage parts In That place. Maybe I’m exaggerating but definitely hundreds of thousands. What little I pulled out of the dumpster I sold for a few thousand immediately on eBay.