selling on ebay scares me

[luv2liv]

since nobody wanted to buy my canon 5dii here, and alsoo FM, i figured i try ebay.
after 10 mins of listing it, someone with 0 feedback bought it! they wanted me to send photos before they send paypal. i thought my photos in high res from all angles were good enough but whatever.

as i was sending the photos, ebay sent an email "we suspect your buyer is a spammer, transaction cancelled. you can relist....."
thank god!!! cause i was kinda scared sending out the camera even with payment. stories of people loosing money because buyers claim to receive an empty box. ouch.

 

[SKORPI0]

Never sold anything at eBay. If I were to sell anything, it would be via Craigslist/OfferUp/ so I can meet buyer in person.

 

[Six]

Immediately block all zero feedback buyers and out of the country buyers.

 

[HumblePie]

Never sold anything at eBay. If I were to sell anything, it would be via Craigslist/OfferUp/ so I can meet buyer in person.

Same here. I've sold 2 things on ebay in my entire lifetime and luckily they were smooth. Still, I would rather sell items on niche community product boards like the forums here if I'm not selling locally.

 

[luv2liv]

Immediately block all zero feedback buyers and out of the country buyers.

how?
this is all i can do in my account settings:

account>Site Preferences>Buyer requirements>

Block buyers who:
-Don't have a PayPal account
-Have received 2 Unpaid Item strike(s) within 1 Month(s)
-Have a primary shipping address in a location I don't ship to
-Have 4 Policy Violation report(s) within 1 Month(s)
-Have a feedback score of -1 or lower
-Are currently winning or have bought 10 of my items in the last 10 days

 

[Pardus]

eBay is loaded with scammers and con artists. I closed my eBay and Paypal account years ago. There is zero reason to buy anything from eBay.

 

[Six]

I haven't sold on eBay in a couple years due to double shafting fees. But a quick google shows you can still specific the minimum number of positive feedback for a buyer. http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/buyer-requirements.html

 

[Cappuccino]

since nobody wanted to buy my canon 5dii here, and alsoo FM, i figured i try ebay.
after 10 mins of listing it, someone with 0 feedback bought it! they wanted me to send photos before they send paypal. i thought my photos in high res from all angles were good enough but whatever.

as i was sending the photos, ebay sent an email "we suspect your buyer is a spammer, transaction cancelled. you can relist....."
thank god!!! cause i was kinda scared sending out the camera even with payment. stories of people loosing money because buyers claim to receive an empty box. ouch.

Also if they do buy it and you cancel the order, they can still neg you and you cant even neg them back feedbedmen ;_;

 

[Mai72]

I've been selling on eBay and it's been a positive experience. No issues. I sold my laptop, Acer tablet and clothes. All were quick transactions.

Craigslist is another option. Just watch that the person you meet doesn't spike your drink, and rip out your organs so they can sell them on eBay.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Buying is generally safer than selling unfortunately. Only way to make money selling is volume as you can just write off the few buyers that screw you over via paypal chargebacks etc. Unfortunately China is pretty much the king of this as their barrier of entry is much lower. Ex: they don't need to meet any regulatory listing like UL etc. So they can make a product, whip em out from a factory and sell them. There's very little overhead and red tape for them. Meanwhile here in North America the red tape is ridiculous and then you have to try to compete with the Chinese sellers.

 

[Sonikku]

I've sold on ebay a few times. Mostly as a result of living in an economically depressed area with poor craigslist results. I have never had an issue, but I have taken steps to protect myself. Requiring 5 or more feedback, selling "as is" and sending with a requirement that the buyer signs for the package are all a good idea. But damn, those fees...

 

[dud]

I've been a seller off/on for 19 years. Over the years the pendulum has definitely swung from protecting seller over to protecting the buyer. These days you are definitely at-risk when selling on ebay. All a seller has to do is break the item, change their mind or whatever ... complain to PP and your money magically disappears from your account.

Needless to say my current transactions are 95% buying and 5% selling.

 

[luv2liv]

yeah, most of the time i buy from ebay, chinese sellers for small items that are just dirt cheap. if i lose money from these deals, it's no big deal.

 

[slayer202]

You've gotta be careful, more or less so depending on what you are selling/buying. Buyers do get the benefit of the doubt but I've had a couple scam attempts lately and shockingly Ebay/Paypal have eventually covered me

 

[pontifex]

Same here. I've sold 2 things on ebay in my entire lifetime and luckily they were smooth. Still, I would rather sell items on niche community product boards like the forums here if I'm not selling locally.

how is selling on forums any better? there's probably less protections/avenues getting things resolved than a forum.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I have some items to sell, but I'm too nervous to try eBay, or Paypal for that matter.

I'm a member of a local virtual yardsale group on Facebook. I would probably go that route first.

 

[Staples]

I sell stuff there. I hate the 13% fee (paypal + ebay)

Now if you make a buy it now only ad, it makes you take offers which I hate.

But it is still a much bigger marketplace than craigslist.

 

[Beer4Me]

Also, watch out for International buyers that use US shipping addresses. They'll come up with a Confirmed shipping address, but the Buyer will be Unverified. I always check Google Maps to look up the shipping addresses - ALWAYS. I've had a few come up in the middle of nowhere, so I always cancel orders with these f'ers. Unfortunately, as someone stated above, eBay still allows them to post Negative feedback with no resolve. I've just learned to deal with it as Houston has a really terrible Craigslist community, among other things...

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

how?
this is all i can do in my account settings:

account>Site Preferences>Buyer requirements>

Block buyers who:
-Don't have a PayPal account
-Have received 2 Unpaid Item strike(s) within 1 Month(s)
-Have a primary shipping address in a location I don't ship to
-Have 4 Policy Violation report(s) within 1 Month(s)
-Have a feedback score of -1 or lower
-Are currently winning or have bought 10 of my items in the last 10 days

Hey Thanks for this tip. I used it and love it.

I've sold lots of junk (mostly electronics) on ebay over the years with very few issues. In general, I make it really clear what I'm selling with pictures etc. I generally have a no returns policy, but have taken stuff back that buyer said didn't work. In all cases, the buyer was lying and for whatever reason didn't want it anymore...but it happens so seldom, that it's not an issue.

Always track your shipments. In one case, I sent an item Fedex to the buyer's house. I was only obligated to send it USPS, but was late in getting out the door so paid for next day shipping. Fedex dropped it off, but someone in his building stole it...or so they said. They blamed me for shipping it "too fast" and not getting a signature, which I wasn't required to do. In the end, I just told the to take it up with Fedex and Paypal made sure I got paid. I've got an XBOX and a nest camera up now. fingers crossed that it all goes without a hitch.

good selling.

 

[EXCellR8]

Immediately block all zero feedback buyers and out of the country buyers.

can't stress this enough, since they make no effort to enforce the scammers. I've had plenty of issues with international orders and rarely do I ever ship overseas unless I am paid a ridiculous amount to ship.

on top of that, there are so many bs charges and fees now that there's barely anything left for the seller. they take their cut, charge you a "final value fee" and then ask you to donate to charity. I would pay them good money to go to one of their offices and sucker punch the manager... they should start offering that instead.

f ebay.

 

[Staples]

If there is any silver lining to their fees, Ebay charges 10% and Paypal for a total of 13%. But has anyone tried to sell on Amazon? Amazon is even worse, they charge 15%.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow did not realize the fees were so high for Ebay/Amazon. Seems to me if you were to do product sales it makes more sense to look for a credit card processor and just sell directly off your own website. Or do CC processor services charge even more?

 

[BUTCH1]

Same here. I've sold 2 things on ebay in my entire lifetime and luckily they were smooth. Still, I would rather sell items on niche community product boards like the forums here if I'm not selling locally.

I agree, if you can sell local that's the best route, but sometimes it's just not a viable one. I'll give you an example, about 5yrs ago I bought a pair of beat-up Pioneer HPM-100's at a garage sale for $5. These were early '80's vintage speakers and were popular+ fairly high-end for the era, I salvaged the mid's, X-over's+ ribbon tweeters and sold them on Ebay for $175 for everything. There simply was no local audiophile who would have shelled out that kind of $$ for vintage audio stuff. Thing is now is Ebay has gone rather nutty with their fee's and listing prices but that will only harm them in the long run as people look to alternative site's to list stuff.

 

[BUTCH1]

Also, watch out for International buyers that use US shipping addresses. They'll come up with a Confirmed shipping address, but the Buyer will be Unverified. I always check Google Maps to look up the shipping addresses - ALWAYS. I've had a few come up in the middle of nowhere, so I always cancel orders with these f'ers. Unfortunately, as someone stated above, eBay still allows them to post Negative feedback with no resolve. I've just learned to deal with it as Houston has a really terrible Craigslist community, among other things...

LOL, yea, there are pitfalls with CL as well, morons who call and want to buy but never show up. Then you've got to be REALLY careful if you're selling an expensive phone, car, or laptop, there have been so many people just get robbed it's nuts!. One couple listed a used car and they thought they were doing it safely, another couple shows up to test-drive the vehicle and the guy gets about 2-3 miles away then pulls out a gun and robs the dude. Takes his phone, wallet AND the car!. His wife wondered why the other girl suddenly "forgot" her phone and left the scene a few minutes after the test-drive started.Thief stranded the seller nowhere close-by to walk to and call the cops.

 

[luv2liv]

Wow did not realize the fees were so high for Ebay/Amazon. Seems to me if you were to do product sales it makes more sense to look for a credit card processor and just sell directly off your own website. Or do CC processor services charge even more?

CC is about 5% max! but not much exposure going with personal website unfortunately.