Hey Ken I work for EBaY and PayPal if you want some information you can pm me. Somethings listed here are a little overboard but I can give you some insight on what and what not to do as an Ebay seller. Really all you need to do is read the legal agreement and follow it. There are Seller protection policies in the agreement that if you follow it you can save yourself headaches later.
Just my [2c]
Why is that so? I’m a German and buy a lot via ebay in the US. Payment is via PayPal and done within minutes after the auctiion has finished. Where is the trouble or risk from your point of view?
I’ve had problems on a couple of my auctions that involve “I’m in Nigeria, a client owes me some money, if you would accept his check for $5,000.00, deposit it into your bank, deduct the cost of item and shipping, and ship the item along with a check for the balance, then I would be happy to buy this item from you.” Of course, anyone falling for this scam is out the item and whatever is in their bank account (the scammer not only cashes their check, but also electronically empties their account).
My policy is exact payment in full prior to shipping. If you need to know how much shipping is, I’ll send an email with an exact amount (and total). Personal checks, money orders (except USPS M.O.'s, which I can cash at the local P.O.), and such must clear the bank prior to shipping. I also accept U.S. cash (in person, or by mail if you’re that foolish). I accept Comchek and EFS (very common in the trucking industry), which can process using an “express code”; I can cash these in about 10 minutes, and (time permitting), ship same day. I’m not currently using PayPal.
Other than that, I’ll sell and ship nearly anywhere in the world.
I NEVER send personal checks because the routing number and account number are printed on them, it’s too easy for a crook to electronically empty your bank account. I only use personal checks for bill paying at reputable companies (utilities, etc.) I deal with regularly, and at lo
REINHARD! STEIN!
I am an American eBay seller with around 5 or 6 years experience and over 1,200 transactions and I AGREE with you…INTERNATIONAL buyers are cool and EASY to deal with. Even though my auctions say “USA”, I always send anywhere if somebody asks. Maybe I should state that in my future auctions. I just never bothered. Anyway, I’ve had quite a few customers from a bunch of different countries and EVERY international sale has gone down perfectly. I’ve only had a few bad customers over the years and they’ve all been domestic. Guys, it’s just shipping is harder to predict and the extra customs paperwork is a tiny bit annoying. That’s all. The people are great though! I like sellers that don’t get all full of themselves with a million rules and those threatening tones about leaving negative feedback under certain conditions (see above). I mean, everybody KNOWS negative feedback is a potential result of things going bad. There’s no need to mention it. I say to sellers KEEP TERMS SIMPLE AND BRIEF. BE NICE. BE RELIABLE. PACK PERFECTLY. ACT QUICKLY. Ya see, selling on eBay isn’t rocket science…it’s just good 'ol fashioned COMMON SENSE. Please don’t fill those listings with 100 lines of legalize. We have enough of that poop in America. And give those international folks a break!
Jeff (MrKLUKE)
Trouble people? Give me a break, I’m Canadian and have bought tons of stuff off of Ebay. I use Paypal and pay right after the auction ends unless the seller wants payment in some other form. You guys that don’t ship out of the US are losing out. I’ve emailed sellers in the past asking for permission to bid and I usually get it but the odd time the seller says no. I remember a locomotive, a Barrie Collingwood Railway GP9 that sold for 25 bucks, I would have bid up to 150 for it so the guy lost out. It takes what, about a minute to fill out a customs form?
“Trouble people” is a polite euphamism for Nigerian 419 scammers and other third world con artists who want to use COD, Western Union, etc. Canada should be no problem for any legitimate US ebay seller (unless they’re just too lazy to fill out the paperwork). I do remember seeing one ebay seller (a hobby shop) who included in his listing a long political rant about Canadians and how he would absolutely not deal with them, but those people are the exception.
I love ebay. I’ve bought and sold things with people all over the world without incident and have purchased things that I never thought I would have the opportunity to own. The vast majority of ebay users are honest people. You have to use it intelligently, but if you stay away from ten dollar iPhones and the like, you can make it a very rewarding experience, both personally and financially.
I remembered also Sellers who copy and paste manufactor’s own images and descriptions instead of hosting the actual image and describing the item in thier own words are a no no to me.
Some items are ebay are actually pre-ordering for future delivery at some point in the future.
I like to deal with Ebay Stores because they usually have a actual physical store somewhere with the item in stock.
Some of you gave me a hard time about “Problem People” Others have tried to point out such as the Nigerian scam. I sold several items across into Canada with a Customs form and no insurance to the buyer. The buyer has to recieve the item at the declared value which is in the actual amount of the sale. I dont devalue across borders or customs. Period.
I bought a lens once from Singapore and the shipping required about 110 days to arrive.
Early in my ebay experience I offered several items to the world. I found myself scrolling through massive amounts of email and losing what little time in the evening after work. So limiting the customer base helped greatly.
Once in a great while I will recieve a nice email from a buyer… say in New Zealland or somewhere far away who wants the item and actually helped me understand what that buyer expected as far as shipping. Someone else won the item on a 20 second snipe and I was sorry that New Zealand did not win for that auction.
Yes I may have gone overboard a little so ease up a bit folks… every sale is something new and exciting. Never know what that box of choclates is going to contain once it gets to your door.
Oh, and pay pal? I do it as a buyer but never as a seller. It is very nice to use the bank card attached to the account such as a VISA to finish the purchase. That way if there is a problem, one can challenge the seller.
DON"T charge $21.50 postal for a $3.75 actual rate, When you ask to send a parcel at the post office the clerk will sell you the most expensive rate there is, all the postal rates are on the internet, so you can get a pretty good idea what the actual cost will be.
include detailed pictures and discriptions [B)]
I try to absorb some of the shipping. Sometimes costs are unexpected. For example one item was very bulky in it’s own box and required a new box about 3 feet long and 2 feet. Such a box was found at a Shipping store nearby and cost 16.00 by the time everything was packed at the store. In addition to the customer’s postal rate of about… 14 dollars… the total shipping that time was 30.00.
It was more than I expected and a learning experience so that when a item goes up for sale, it is first evaluated for potential shipping needs such as a large box. Then the description is left accordingly explaining to the viewers why the shipping charge is so high.
Im considering just holding the invoice and bill the buyer for actual charges (Prior to shipping) from now on, the recent increases in rates force the shipping charges pretty high. There is a certain percentage of losses in shipping this year.
Myself, this is what I do. I sell alot of my weathered cars on eBay. I try to get good pictures. I have a Kodak 5.0 megapixel, which takes good pictures, but I can’t get them to bright like some can. I still have to mess with the lighting some. NEXT, is the topic of the car. I give a story on the car, how it became rusted, the graffiti, if it has some, etc. Then I break down what I have done to the car. How I did the weathering, what steps, what extra (wheels, couplers), etc. Then I show the shipping price. I charge $6.50 for shipping. Not to bad, where I have seen people charge $9.00 or more. Thats WAY to much. I also give the car a test run on my layout. Some don’t do that. I have done all my cars that way, and had to change a few things on a couple of cars. I kinda like doing that to make sure they will run right out of the box. I might not make alot like some people, but I do make enough to pay a bill or so. One other thing. I think there are some people that start there starting price way to high. I understand that the have some time put into it, but you also have to think of the buyer. The most I started a car was, when I had 2 going for one auction. That was last weekend. I stat it at $29.99. It gets me alittle mad when I see some cars start WAY higher than mine, and don’t look to good. AND, then they get a bid, andmy car goes a few dollars more than I started at. Oh well, I guess. As long as you are honest, there should be a problem.
Just a note for the sellers out there who “just haven’t gotten around” to making it clear where they are willing to ship.
When potential buyers are using international mirror sites (like eBay.ca for me), items that are shown in the listing as being available only to the US do not even show up on their searches. By not indicating in the listing that you are willing to ship outside the US, you may be costing yourself potential bidders.
Now, in my case, I’ve become savvy enough to use ebay.com exclusively, and if I see an item I want and it’s not listed as available to Canada, I just ask the seller if they’ll ship to me. 8 times out of 10 they’ll do it, as long as they can be sure of the postage before I pay. Often, the seller will insist that I pay for insurance as well, but the cost is usually not excessive, and I prefer to insure items over $25 anyway.
I guess what I’m saying is, there are a lot of potential bidders out there that just aren’t aware of all of the in and outs of ebaying. The more information a seller provides, the better.
Mike
Money orders are the only thing I use, I make them out in U.S. funds, sellers like them as they can cash them immediately, unlike cheques in the U.S. that have to wait a few weeks to be processed??? (what’s that all about???) all the sellers I’ve dealt with rave about M/O’s.
Integrity and honesty, simple
Fergie
Show me a money order drawn on the US Post Office, and I give you first class shipping because that item is yours now. I know without a doubt that it is paid for. If not? Well there is a tracking number on that little document.
Thanks for all the answers. Seems like most of you look for the same thing as I do. God knows I am a Power Buyer with around $30,000.00 spent on E-Bay.
Jasperofzeal here is the reason I was thinking about the $15.00 charge for a warranty.
DOA warranty does not mean it will run say for 6 months. It will start up and move when you get it. 2 cases I have had, BLI Class J from K-10 Trains ran fine for a week. That would meet DOA Warranty right? After 7 days the worm gear started to spin and engine would not pull. Back to K-10 Trains and I got a new one.
Then the PCM Big Boy off E-bay, ran fine for abput 3 weeks, then I lost the headlight and smoke unit. Seller told me to send it back to BLI for the 3 to 4 week waite. Plus rather it be the owner or a LHS BLI only pays for the shipping one way! That is the reason for the $15.00 charge. You are going to pay it rather it be to us or BLI.
Cuda Ken
DOA means Dead On Arrival, as in it doesn’t run at all. If I’m an eBay buyer and that happens, I would email to let the seller know the product is dead and expect either a full refund or a second unit is sent on its way to replace the dead one, along with a UPS call tag to take the dead horse back at their expense.
If it died 6 months or 6 weeks after arrival, I would expect it is my responsibility to contact the manufacturer for warranty service. There is no way I would pay a $15.00 charge for an implied warranty when the manufacturer has a firm warranty.
Don Z.
Cuda Ken,
Don Z. said in a more clear way what I wanted to say. As far as your 15.00 charge, I could see it as an offer to extend the manufacturers warranty, but I don’t think that is what you’re offering. Would that 15.00 charge be refunded say after 6 months (or any specified amount of time) if the buyer doesn’t use it? If not then to me it wouldn’t be worth it. I hope you don’t take it as if I’m trying to rain on your parade, I’m truly not, but you wanted honest opinions and that’s what I’m giving you. I personally don’t find that 15.00 charge useful for my purposes, but others may feel comfortable knowing you would fix any problem that they may encounter. In any event, good luck with your future endeavor, and maybe I’ll see you at the bay.
If people are dumb enough to fall for that then in my opinion they deserve it. Like you said, you have to use Ebay intelligently. I find it amazing just how many people fall for such ob
Here are my issues:
Accurate description. No vintage, or rare descriptors unless it is absolutely true. Most HO from the 60s and up are not hard to find. Just because something is old does not make it rare. Doing this infers the seller is either a rip-off artist or an idiot.
Good clear pictures. Either some of these guys are the world’s worst photographers or it is done on purpose. With today’s point and shoot cameras I have a hard time believing that the photos cannot be improved.
Fair shipping prices. As a seller you need to recover your expense’s, including boxes and packing materials. That is fine. Charging gas / labor for your great Aunt Betty to go to the post office is outrageous.
Handle problems promptly. I know things happen, but how you handle problems says more about your creditability than anything else. It is easy to be a seller when things are going well. Don’t make a person complain to Paypal or Ebay to get action.
Reply promptly to emails. No one says you have to be available 24/7 but you need to answer mail. In this day and age unless you go off on a safari or end up hospitalized it is easy to stay in touch. Cell phones, PDAs, libraries and office supply stores are just some of the ways you can check your email while traveling.
Jim