Ebay help, selling airfare credit

[hlane]

I have some SW airfare credit that I am not going to use that I'd like to sell on Ebay.

I got burned by doing this before, about a month after the auction ended the person claimed they didn't make the purchase after they booked their flights using my credit. I wasn't protected through Paypal because I didn't sell a tangible good, and didn't have proof of delivery (they wouldn't accept the emails as proof).
Paypal ended up taking the money out of my checking account, over drawing it and it caused a chain reaction of bad events finacially for us right at Christmas time.
Southwest came through for me and refunded me back my money after I told them exactly what had happened. Luckily the person hadn't flown but just moved the credits over to their name so SW was able to track it back to my name.
So needless to say, I don't want to go through that again. Anyone have any ideas how I can sell this and still be protected?
I was thinking selling an item, including the SW credit as a "bonus" and then mailing the item out along with the credit info and requiring signature confirmation...do you think that would work?

TIA!

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

Just pm'd you. Jennifer

 

[tikilyn]

I don't want to take over your threat but maybe you can explain how this works. Does the buyer get a good deal for the credits?

We are flying out to orlando in Sept. and dh has made it impossible for me. He says if I can get airfare for 350.00 for both of us then we can go. Well, we live 4-6 hours from any major airport hubs and the cheap airfare is at the hubs. We'll have to add another 200.00 to the price if we fly out from our town.


Thanks

 

[trivial]

I'm sorry to hear about your previous experience. I've used PayPal for a long time, but I've heard the stories of how terrible they are to deal with when something goes wrong. When I sell expensive items on eBay, I stipulate that I won't accept bids from those with fewer than a certain amount of feedback, and that their feedback rating must be over 95%. That way I can see that they have a proven track record, but it's not fool-proof. The idea about mailing something physical sounds like a good idea as well; you can also require that payment be made by some other method, such as a money order, so PayPal can't screw you over again.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The OP might want to consider/try a private sale - for example, to a friend, relative, coworker, friend-of-a-friend... rather than ebay. Another option might be craigslist for your city/area, so you can meet the person and get paid in person.

 

[sdoll]

I'm sorry to hear about your previous experience. I've used PayPal for a long time, but I've heard the stories of how terrible they are to deal with when something goes wrong. When I sell expensive items on eBay, I stipulate that I won't accept bids from those with fewer than a certain amount of feedback, and that their feedback rating must be over 95%. That way I can see that they have a proven track record, but it's not fool-proof. The idea about mailing something physical sounds like a good idea as well; you can also require that payment be made by some other method, such as a money order, so PayPal can't screw you over again.

I understand your position but I got burned and got 1 neutral feedback and now have a 50% favorable. I love the deals I get on ebay and the few sales I have made but I am so frustrated about my approval rating. So I would lose out on a good deal from you...

 

[krystalleigh1]

I too have a travel voucer from our last trip to WDW. United damaged (really damaged) some of my stuff so they gave me credit. I was planning to use it this fall for the free dining but am having baby #2 in August. I thought about e-bay, but don't want to deal with a nightmare like what you describe happened to you.

So I'm going to give it to my sister. She's a little flakey so I really hope she uses it. But even if she dosen't it's still less of a PITA than selling it on e-bay.

GL!

 

[hlane]

I am SO annoyed with EBay!!
I post this on there earlier today with a starting bid of $350 and a BIN of $375. I had 3 watchers within an hour of posting my ad and 2 people message me about it. Before I even had a chance to respond EBay cancelled my auction (along with all others selling the same)
I did an online chat with EBay and the rep could not give me a reason as to why it was cancelled, he just talked in circles!
So now I am back to square one. Looks like we may be flying somewhere before Sept when it expires because I am not going to let $422 in credits go to waste.

 

[neatokimmo]

If I remember correctly, when I sold my SWA voucher I sold a drink coupon book for several hundred dollars and gave the ticket away for free. Sneaky, but it wasn't against the rules at the time.

 

[Tom Collins]

I have 105.00 worth of credits that keeps getting pulled on Ebay, too. I have no idea why they are saying these aren't valid auctions, but I'm pretty peeved about it. My credits expire on June 26, and I don't want to get stuck with it.

 

[trivial]

I understand your position but I got burned and got 1 neutral feedback and now have a 50% favorable. I love the deals I get on ebay and the few sales I have made but I am so frustrated about my approval rating. So I would lose out on a good deal from you...

I have no doubt that there are many people with little or no feedback who are honorable, but for expensive items in particular, I would want some assurance: a fair-sized number of positive feedback, payment in person and/or money order, etc.

 

[HarleyMom]

Hlane -
When do your credits expire? Also, I see your "GO BUCKS" tag - are you in Milwaukee?

 

[hlane]

Hlane -
When do your credits expire? Also, I see your "GO BUCKS" tag - are you in Milwaukee?

Check your PMs

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Please keep in mind that it is against the rules to use the Disboards to sell anything. Please do not place the OP or any other poster in a precarious position by offering to purchase their airline credits. If this thread appears to be heading in that direction, it will be removed.

 

[eeyoregon]

I have 105.00 worth of credits that keeps getting pulled on Ebay, too. I have no idea why they are saying these aren't valid auctions(

It has always been against Ebay (and SWA) policy to sell unused airline credits and it will quickly get you banned from Ebay all together if you are a repeat offender.

The only way folks can get away with it is to list an auction for drink coupons and toss in the voucher for "free".

 

[hlane]

It has always been against Ebay (and SWA) policy to sell unused airline credits and it will quickly get you banned from Ebay all together if you are a repeat offender.

The only way folks can get away with it is to list an auction for drink coupons and toss in the voucher for "free".

I've sold credits several times before on EBay and when I had the problem I listed in my OP I called SW, explained the whole EBay situation...they were very understanding, traced the credits back to me and refunded me my $$ to my check card....maybe I just got very lucky

 

[zurgswife]

I've sold SW credits on ebay before. I wonder what the difference is now. They are transferable.

 

[krystalleigh1]

Has anyone ever tried contacting the airline and seeing if they'll give you any credit for vouchers that are almost expired? Even another voucher? Or when they expire are they just gone?

 

[hlane]

Has anyone ever tried contacting the airline and seeing if they'll give you any credit for vouchers that are almost expired? Even another voucher? Or when they expire are they just gone?

I've heard that you can extend the expiration date for $50 per credit...I've never looked in to it though. If I can't sell mine I won't be too heart broken if I have to take a vacation this summer

 

[Wall E]

I had a headache with selling Skymiles on Ebay, but it turned out okay in the end.

I sold enough Skymiles for 2 seats on ebay for $750. The buyer waited 6 weeks and then filed a dispute with paypal saying that the miles were no good. I filed my own claim with paypal that his claim was fraudulent.

In the meantime the guy resold my miles on ebay for a $100 profiit. I passed all this info on to paypal and it took them about 6 or 7 weeks to resolve it and release the hold on my account. Paypal told me that since the buyer bought a non-tangible item, he was not covered by their protection policy and they would not return his money. I was amazed that paypal ruled in my favor after all the horror stories I've heard.

The really funny part of the story is that about two months later the buyer who tried to rip me off sent me an email saying that the guy he resold the miles to used a stolen credit card to pay him. And now paypal had siphoned the money out of his bank account. This guy wanted me to call Delta since the Skymiles account was originally mine and see if I could get some information about who booked the ticket so he could try to get his money back. Needless to say I sent him a not so polite email telling him to get lost.

It seems like there a lot of people pulling scams with miles and certificates on ebay. I would be careful.