eBay Sellers, How to Protect Yourself?
 

I just started getting into the world of buying shit off ebay and I'm interested to start selling a few things myself.

I know Paypal seems to side with buyers more easily and you hear many elaborate stories of buyers trying to con the sellers.

I am curious to find out what the experienced ebay sellers on RS takes for precaution. I have read through all the tips and selling info off ebay so any info is appreciated.

thanks.

Depends what you're selling..
I've never encountered any problems. I've sold things from $10 to $500. Just check the buyer's feedback and you should be okay.
If it's like a $5 iPhone case, no one's going to bother scamming you out of that.
If it's a more expensive item, then opt for a shipping method with tracking number and info.
If you plan on opening an eBay store or something, then another option is to open another bank account and Paypal so you have all your records from day 1 to give you more credibility if a problem was to come up.
But I think for the most part, you should be safe.

Include this in your invoice to them:

(Subject)
TERMS OF SERVICE
(Message, Optional)
By accepting the payment for $XXX.XX (type of currency here; e.g USD, CAN) you have agreed to the following terms of service:
1. You have received ALL services and goods in question, and the sale is FINAL.
2. There are NO refunds, returns, or chargebacks.
3. You will not create false paypal disputes regarding this transaction.

i got screwed a few times early on when i offered the cheapest shipping option (no tracking)

got taken advantage of through claims on paypal i kept my receipts with canada post (that showed who and where i was shipping to + the customs form) but paypal still ruled in the buyers favour :fulloffuck:

and because of these 3 incidents (2 were for the same buyer) paypal always holds my funds now until the buyers confirm or the tracking confirms that the items were delivered

since then if i ever sell anything i only offer tracked shipping

had a shady russian guy act very shady even with a tracked item (the item was sent to his local post office and he wouldnt pick it up for weeks and paypal wouldnt release his payment to me because it wasnt officially delivered, the buyer claims its not at the post office, i ended up telling him i was getting canada post to investigate as well as the US Postal office and that very afternoon he picked it up... wtf???)



anyway i suggest only offering tracked shipping and when placing an auction ebay has implemented an option for you to set bidder requirements (the options are few but you can ensure the really shady individuals wont even be able to bid)

and including a line in your listings that stipulate no refunds sale final and (what i include) seller holds no responsibility to claims of damages, such claims will be dealt with between buyer and shipping courier or, at the behest of the buyer, between seller and shipping courier

If you're selling higher value goods (I say more than $100), then along with some of the suggestions above such as only shipping with tracking, I might also consider restricting who can bid/purchase the items to only those with good feedback, not n00bs.

Nearly everything I sell is sold as is no warranty as most of the items are used. I normally describe the condition of the item. I normally ship with either UPS or US Postal so tracking is included or costs about $1.00

Whenever I sell I would go for tracking, signature upon delivery, and insurance
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Sorry for the thread hijack, but anyone know how long/how many transactions does it take till Paypal/eBay stops holding my funds for 21 days?


Also, is it better to print the shipping label from eBay or get everything done at the post office? I don't have a weighing scale so I'm not sure what the weight of some items are :fuckthatshit:

I tried to sell a $600 lens on ebay once, what a hassle... Paypal is fine but I had many buyers try to go private with me on paypal and skip ebay to save a few bucks. :fuckthatshit:

Ended up selling on craigslist for a better price/smoother transanction, lady from quebec tried to flake with her offer of $580 on ebay and I filed a complaint against her.

Selling an expensive item on ebay is not something I want to do again... :/

You usually get better rates through eBay. It's also more convenient just to print all of your labels at home and then simply drop the packages off at the post office or mail box.

If you do enough shipping to justify it and you only deal with lighter items (under 5kg), a kitchen scale comes in pretty handy. You can get one for $25-40 at London Drugs.

Yeah that's what PayPal claims aswell, but I'm cautious of them since eBay takes a fee from my sale AND PayPal takes a fee aswell when they're owned by the same "company" :fulloffuck:

Plus my printer hasn't been working so printing labels is a hassle lol

From experience, I've done a shit ton of eBay and Craigslist sales.

With eBay, you might run into some headaches. For instance, for higher priced items, I was at the total mercy of the buyer. I had to wait an extra two weeks for him to confirm that he received the package before I even got the funds. You could either make money or lose money through the exchange rate, shipping and eBay seller fees. It all adds up. If you don't plan on selling a lot through eBay, Craigslist is by far the best place to sell locally.

Just be careful with the buyers. Do your research. Google their email address, whatever it takes. Document everything in your ad and make sure all your messages go through eBay just in case they need to do an investigation.

With local selling you are in complete control of the transaction. Of course, it all depends on how diligent you are when it comes to scams and getting ripped off.

no matter what you write in terms and conditions, paypal will immediately favour the buyer whether it be $2 screen protector to a $20,000 rolex watch. if you pay with credit card/bank account you're protected with them too but you have to contact them within 30 days of the charge/transfer.

the only ways to protect yourself is noted above. if you put buy it now with immediate payment, it eliminates the hassle of flakers but then it sometimes brings customers who don't read the item description/terms and conditions. you have to give them full refund and pay to ship it back to you and even if you do that, you are at their mercy if they decide to give you negative feedback. I have had many instances where the customer insists for extra items or else they will give me negative feedback. I ask for photos of the 'damaged' items and they will stop replying but leave negative anyways. if the customer claims their purchase is missing pieces, again you are at their mercy and you need to ship them everything they request.

it sucks and a few renegade customers have succesfully gotten extra or completely free items from me but ebay doesn't care and still charges 8-12% plus 4% for paypal.

sign up for an american bank account to save on the currency exchange rate. also ship out of USA to save "some" money...

wow thanks for all the great responses
hmm looks like so much hassle

99% of transactions are fine but only.... 25% leave positive feedback.
but that 1% of bad transactions/scammers always leave negative feedback.

PayPal doesnt always side with buyers. I got scammed by some dude, paid for 3 nights in a Vegas hotel, got there and my reservation was only 2 nights. Explained the situation to the front desk and they knew about the guy who ripped me off and gave a good deal on the 3rd night. Explain all this to PayPal in an attempt to get my out-of-pocket funds back and they somehow side with the seller. No explanation at all, just dismissed my dispute.

Fuck PayPal.

From experience, Paypal usually sides with buyers. As a buyer I was able to file a lot of complaints and get my money back with very little effort. Even though they were all legit, it didn't require much evidence if any at all to have Paypal rule in my favour. I've only sold a few things on eBay before, and one time I sold a mint condition phone on there and shipped it out to them. About a month later the guy makes a claim on Paypal saying that the phone came all scratched up, and even though he had the phone for a month and it only took a few business days to ship there, Paypal ruled it in his favour. The money was taken from my account and then he shipped it back to me. Came in the mail in horrible condition, and it was obvious the phone had been dropped a couple of times. Tried calling Paypal and emailing them but no luck :/ Wasted a LNIB phone and lost the money I paid for shipping.
Never had any other trouble selling some other things on eBay though. Guess it kind of depends on your luck on what kind of buyer you come across

just fyi, BANKS won't side with you for a reversal so CREDIT CARDS ONLY when buying stuff. just found out the hard way.

i just have two more general questions about selling

1. if i'm selling in multiple ads (let's say CL + eBay) and if I sell the same item on CL but someone ends up bidding for it before i delete the ebay ad...what happens? Would I get penalized?

2. You guys talked about avoiding people with shitty feedback, but I thought when the have the winning bid you have to follow through on their transaction no matter what? Similarly what if the winner bidder does not have a confirmed address for paypal? I can refuse the sale?

As a seller, always ALWAYS use tracking. And ONLY send to CONFIRMED paypal addresses. And if it's on ebay, ONLY if the name to the ebay account matches the paypal account.

if you sell locally and don't cancel on ebay on time, it is up to the buyer's discretion about leaving negative feedback. but more often than not, they will leave negative feedback.

how about my 2nd question...if a buyer with unconfirmed address or terrible feedback has the winning bid...there's no way out?

Well you should be putting "shipping to confirmed Paypal accounts only" in your auctions so you have a way out if you don't want to ship to a buyer.

I've been selling on Ebay for years, have almost 900+ positive feedback. Like already mentioned in this tread I've always stuck with two golden rules when it comes to selling on eBay;

1. Only ship to CONFIRMED Paypal addresses no matter what. Even if the person is willing to pay extra never ever ship to unconfirmed addresses.
2. Always ship using tracking + signature. Never forget to get the signature option because a buyer can file a dispute even if the item was tracked but because it was never signed for he/she can claim it was not delivered.

if shipping with usps with a commercial account, tracking is included. signature is like $2 extra so it depends on the price of your item.

canada post shipping with tracking number to usa starts at $15 a parcel...

is there any way to avoid the hidden brokerage fees or hidden shipping fees after you buy an item from ebay?

i had a few times where they state shipping was free but i still get charged/pay on the spot when i have to sign for my package