Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Online Auctions, eBay Craigslist Petroliana PayPal Question

Dick, Only under certain circumstances... Example a buyer is retaliating, abusing feedback etc... That's how I read the rule book.

Doug, Doug, Doug picking on a friend, that's cold. LOL Jason, I know that I for one will and do pass up auctions where I think the seller is trying to stick me with all the paypal costs. Now if they want to share those costs I grumble(because I'm cheap), but I will bid on their items. Ebay should be no different than bidding on items at an auction house. There both the seller and buyer share the % paid to the "house". And it does seem to me that threads that have the words Ebay and/or Paypal as the subject matter do pull in the replies. lol

^^^ Ummm....so exactly how can one tell if the seller is passing on the 3% paypal cost to the buyer? If their opener, reserve, or buy it now price is a mere 3% higher than what they originally wanted for the item the buyer would never know.

I've sold enough items on Ebay over the years ( 9yrs) to get an average of 9% cost for selling on Ebay including taking PayPal, that does not include postage or shipping whatever the case may be..It's pretty easy to me to add 9% to whatever the final price you want for the item..as a seller. Postage is pretty easy to figure out as well and have that included in the final price and no one can complain after the bidding is over..The buyer knows exactly what he or she is going to pay IF successful and if they don't like that amount then don't bid. It's not rocket science..

[This message has been edited by Wes Hague (edited 12-03-2008).]

Wes...exactly.
I gotta believe most of the products we purchase at retail outlets have the cost of credit factored into the selling price.
A merchant paying % points to the bank for credit card usage is no different than any other operating expense he incurs, and that expense is usually passed on to the end user.

Most of the time,(99.99% of the time?) a buyer can't tell when "padding" is placed on an item. Easy to tell though when a small item starts at less than $10 and has a $35.00 shipping and handling charge. I see a lot of that on oil cans and handy oilers. The seller is either trying to beat ebay and/or the buyer. I always like the one where the seller has in their auction insurance starts at $3.99 on the first $100.

Bob, as a seller /buyer and a person who has been in business all his life, I don't like to call it padding, it is called expenses. Selling on Ebay is no different than selling in a store, buying on Ebay is no different than buying in a store downtown. ALL costs go on the item before the profit, sometimes there is no profit depending on how bad the seller wants to sell it.
Don't forget it costs the same to ship a $10.00 quart can as a $1000.00 quart can, with the exception of insurance.The Ebay/PayPal costs are greater on the $1000.00 can. Why not look at Ebay and PayPal as the same as buying anywhere in any store downtown ? Ebay is an AUCTION HOUSE not a discount store...and most times NOT a fire sale.

well said Wes...............it just looks bad when the seller adds these expenses to the shipping & handling charges, why not just add these extra expenses to the price of your item......I can't fault anybody for trying to get as much money as possible for there product however it just looks bad when they try to get it on the shipping end.......

[This message has been edited by roadrelics@aol.com (edited 12-04-2008).]

Wes, I wasn't trying to insult you or your experiences.

None taken Bob,,,no problem.

Darryl if your starting/opening bid or you have your reserve include everything, the customer knows exactly how much he is paying for the item when its all done and if he doesn't like that amount he doesn't have to bid..NO hidden fees to anyone. What you see is what you get.. seems simple to me.

What has worked for me (although eBay did not allow me to say it in my auctions) was to give the buyer a choice: pay the 3% for PayPal or use some other method of payment. I had to write this in the invoice but I say specifically in the auction that the invoice must be read. About half the time the buyers do not read the invoice and act accordingly. The rest either get upset, get the refund and pay another way or just comply and pay the fees. The drunks usually mess up, don't read the invoice and then get mad. Writing an email and then waiting for an acknowledgement before invoicing proved to be a good way to go about it. Still I have come out of eBay (it is pretty much history as far as I am concerned... usine eBid.net now)with a decent DSR score (another pain eBay has provided for us). With the fees at eBid more reasonable I am not so reluctant to accept PayPal but it still is a screwed up service fraught with problems.

Whine Whine Whine, What's the big deal, you sell an item for $300. 3% is $9., $500. 3% is $15. If you can't afford such a minimal expense for National Exposure then go back to putting an ad in your local paper for $45.00 for 3 days. PEOPLE there is NO OTHER place where you get the world looking at your item for a such a minimal advertising cost. And the FACT is, you get more bidders and MORE money for an item when you accept Paypal.

FINALLY !!!!!!!!!!

I work on commission for the most part. eBay with its increased fees and PayPal essentially has taken away the fun and decreased my profit margin. That would be in my book a bad thing so appropriate action was required. Adjusting to the market I am! With the non payers that have blossomed recently, the chargebacks and lack of support from eBay and PayPal, moving on seems like a good decision. eBid.net has potential and I will go with it for now.

Seems to me that any internet auction site has a great potental for problems. Both non paying bidders as well as non producing sellers, those that get the money and don't send an item. That is a side effect of an auction where no one is meeting person to person for the transactions. Is is rampant, NO! First, a site wouldn't last past the first hundred auctions, or less. Second, most people are honest. There will always be those that are looking to "steal a buck", they don't care if its on the internet, going house to house, phone sales or beating up someone to get their purse or wallet. The other evening in the Portland OR area a lady was assaulted outside a bank, just before the bank closed. She was there to deposit money and was pushed into a brick column. She has a broken nose, face injuries and cuts and bruises to her upper body. No one would blame the bank for this, so why blame Ebay when a buyer or seller "screws you over"? Ebay didn't do it, a dishonest person did. Going to a different auction site is not going to stop one from sooner or later meeting a dishonest person in an internet auction. It happens at "face to face auctions", too. Ebay is the biggest "game in town" and has been around the longest, they must be doing something better than their competitors that no longer exist. Again, my .02 worth of trouble making. (the heart meds are making me feel better and more my old troublemaking self, lol)