Ebay-If I'd only known....

[C.Ann]

Don't have much time for DISing these days but wanted to jump in on this thread for a minute to discuss the Paypal issue.

When I first started selling on eBay I did not except credit cards and went through the tortures of you-know-where from people who wanted to buy with credit cards ONLY.. After much thought (and some sage advice from a friend here on the DIS) I decided to take the plunge and upgrade to a Premier account. Suddenly my buyers were very happy and I saw both the number of sales and amount of sales increase dramatically..

It also made a big difference in my own experiences with eBay as I was able to ship as soon as the cc payment was made and I didn't have to store "sold-but-waiting-for-payment" stock all over my house.

The best part came during Christmas sales though.. Because I accepted cc payments and switched over to Priority Mail for that period I was able to continue making sales until 4 days before Christmas! No way I could have done that if I had to wait for payments; wait for checks to clear; and then ship the items out.. That last week just before Christmas was a VERY profitable one for me!! Had I not accepted cc's, I would have missed out on all of those wonderful sales - not to mention the higher amounts that folks were willing to pay because they still didn't have a gift for grandma/AuntMary/sisterNell etc.. Desperate times call for desperate measures and folks were willing to shell out a LOT of money at the last minute knowing the items would arrive in time to head off disgruntled family members - LOL..

Also, I have the Paypal debit card and use it as credit at the post office when shipping my sales (to get the cash back) as well as for other items here and there. During tax time this past year I was quite surprised to see how little those "fees" to me actually were when I added up the cash back, increased sales, higher sale amounts, etc..

On the flip side - as a buyer - I will not bid on auctions that do not accept cc's as I shop with my Paypal card and I want my items "yesterday" - LOL.. I'm not about to run out to the PO for a money order for $5 - especially with the cost of gas these days!!

There are pro's and cons both ways, but I truly believe that accepting (or not accepting) cc's can have a dramatic impact on your sales (or lack of) and the people willing to bid on your auctions..

Whichever way you decide to go, best of luck to you!!

 

[fsufandis]

I accept anything and everything. Checks, CCs, I sell large ticket items and I could not get the volume without accepting CCs.

I mark off the fees as part of the business expense. I made over $14k profit last year on ebay (fully declared for IRS and tithed to church).

Keep a separate account for the money and business. We belong to a credit union, so it was easy.

I agree with posting on the Ebay community board. I went out there one time to post a problem with a user that I was dealing with and next thing I know, users are piling on me about my content, pictures in my auctions, etc. Man these people were ruthless.

I've got over 800 feedbacks with 1 negative. Stated that they had not gotten the item and I had the PO receipt and insurance stub. I got an "Oops, sorry" e-mail the next day as the husband had picked up the mail and forgot to tell her that there was a package for her, but too late.

 

[mattmommy]

Definitely check things out to see if anybody's buying what you have to sell. We made so much money selling pins and other misc. stuff, we went to Hawaii. Not too shabby. Paypal is a plus. I only took paypal, money orders or cashiers checks. Trying to keep track of checks is a pain. I did make an exception if they asked and had 100% positive feedback.

List that they have a certain amount of time to pay. I put down 10 days, but I've seen shorter and longer listed. I know things happen and as long as communication is open (they e-mail if they have a problem) I'm very understanding. If you do have a problem getting payment, go through the process of reminders, final warnings, etc. In the end you'll get your listing fee back and when you leave negative feedback you have documentation to back you up. I had a non-payer that never contacted me. They left negative feedback and by going through square trade I was able to have it removed because it showed that I was in the right. I have 100% positive feedback.

People buy ANYTHING!!!