Guys, I think I'm missing out on a lot of good stuff. Never bought through ebay, don't know how it works. What about Paypal. Seems you can't buy much of anything on here or anywhere else for that matter without this special bit of savvy. Help a poor dumb Aussie out. How's it all work? What are the traps? What little hints have you got for me regarding security and any other stuff I'm too dumb to have even thought about. Pete
Pay-Pal is by far the easy the way to do business.As for the auctions,watch a few and watch how they work.Also when you sign up there is a pratice page to use to get you started.Rule#1.If it looks like **** and smells like ****....you know the rest.Dave
i have used it for a yr and haven't had a problem. If you sell, there is a tarrif on rec your money. as a buyer its ok. my 2 cents.
Works great, need credit card to buy, bank account to sell. Not all buyers and sellers accept Paypal, you still have to use money order or check.
Glad to hear it works great for you all. What I want to know is the process, the tricks and traps and HOW it works...not so much of the HOW WELL it works. Thanks, Pete
PayPal isn't for everybody. Spend some time reading the information on here: http://www.paypal****s.com/ Dave Mann (602) 233-8400 weekdays http://www.roadsters.com/
Thank god someone else said it, paypal****s.com is an awesome website. Here's the deal, you buy enough on ebay, and you'll get screwed now and then even if you're careful. You buy using paypal and paypal and you may lose your money and never get the product. Or the product may arrive and instead of your high end car part you ordered, you receive a nice new smoke detector. What does paypal do? Nothing, sure they'll have a pansy *** "investigation" but in the end, you lose. If you ever sell using paypal you'll always get screwed. Some have had good luck and that's awesome but most do not. Pay using direct credit card, this is preferred. When that isn't available I prefer personal checks, it's easier to track. Next to that is US Postal Service Money Orders. Also easily trackable. No PO Boxes and demand two contact numbers, an email address and a physical address then send your payment with signature confirmation and check the box require receiptiants signature. Get on ebay, skip paypal. don't use any online payment medium, they're all horrible. Check feedback, just because they have 80000 positive feedback and only 1 negative, if that negative is from recently, p*** on them. It's all too often these major ebay sellers take a downward spiral or their account was stolen. Have they sold anything like this before? I personally prefer major ebay retailers or private sellers in my area where I can pick it up in person. I've bought several parts on ebay from local sellers. Even got a great deal on a brand new 2005 4L80E, only paid $100 for it. The guy tried selling it on ebay but had 0 feedback, I saw he was one town over so I called him and he was ready to get rid of it cheap. Deals happen but play it safe.
I have had good experience using paypal on ebay as well as buying from other members of this board. It is just like everything else, there is some risk but usually the rewards are worth the effort. On ebay avoid second chance offers as they are usually scams but I have had over 150 transactions and the only problem so far was a dead beat that would not pay me. I'm sure others have had good experiences as well as bad so you will get lots of opinions. Bottom line is do what's right for you.
I try to wait until the last to make a bid ... I have a clock with a second hand ... and I bid with only 30 seconds to go ... and bid my highest price ... Sometimes ... I get it ... Sometimes I do not ... IF someone else gets it ... they paid more than I was willing to pay ... I ALWAYS pay with a US Postal Money Order ... ( guess that is not a option for you ) I never bid on anything without a picture and he must have good feedback. I prefer to buy stuff from a eBayer close enough to drive and pickup the item IF it is a major item ... for two reasons ... I can inspect the item before the ca$h changes hands and I save the freight ... Just be CAREFUL ...
I've had over 2,000 ebay transactions, equaled out 50/50 on buying and selling. I've also done a lot of buying and selling on Overstock, Amazon, and Yahoo Auctions. eBay is by far the best, there are way more scammers on the other sites. As for payment mediums, there really isn't one single good online payment medium. I've moved tens of thousands of dollars through paypal, stormpay, bidpay and andale checkout. They've all cost me a lot of money. Now here's a scenerio for you.You're staring at your second hand and you bid with only 30 second to go, or even 10 seconds, yet I still win, and I still got a great deal, why? Because I'm using an automated service. eBay sniping should be banned but it isn't and until it is, I'll continue to make my larger purchases using this method of winning. I've bought cars this way and it really prevents the bidding to go way up and then at the last second, literally, you snag it. http://www.ezsniper.com 3 free trials.
I used to use money orders exclusively to pay for ebay parts...... Tha is until I realized that lots of post offices do not have change for $100 on the premises....... Also if YOU get paid by money orders-same deal- you can't cash it at your local post office in most cases.....they will not trust their own employees with any cash. Now after 7 safe years of using ebay and Pay Pal I can buy a part at midnight and pay instantly or I can sell a Model A roadster for 19,000 dollars and get paid inside of an hour....the guy pays- I know he's paid and he is on his way to pickup his dream car that same day------sure I pay the fees as a seller so what its called "conveniece"! Besides you don't have to be a rocket scientist to add the 2-3 % onto your askin price do ya? THEY DO IT AT ANY PLACE YOU BUY GAS WITH YOUR CARD...... I hate to say this but after all the PaPal whining I hear, here ,I think it is just stupid not to advance into the ~present~ rather than bein paranoid as hell all the time. PAY PAL HAS OVER 65 MILLION ACCOUNTS/SATISFIED USERS- WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU? [sure some folks are still having trouble] doin bussiness in cash~! If you want some advice - and this applies to any other payment venue as well as ebay and PayPal....... Do not ever click on any link to pay or be paid FROM YOUR EMAIL........ Go to My ebay or the PayPal website in your favorites -then you know absoluteley WHO you are dealing with....its just common sense- in this day of international scammers we have to be on our toes guys!
It's won't be long before you sell one of those cars of yours, and the fella pays instantly with paypal, comes and picks it up, and a few days later the money is reversed because it was later found that it was a stolen account. What now? Ya gonna call the police? and give them what information, The car is probably being cut up before you ever even know you were paid only with digits on a computer screen. I don't know about you but numbers isn't good enough for me. There's cautiously using paypal and then there is putting your neck out there for them and you're doing just that. Be careful man, and at least give www.payal****s.com a good read.
I have used paypal for over 5 years and only got screwed three times= once when I got something but it was not what was in the auction for $600 bucks paypal does not work if you recieve anything at all so if it is wrong dont admit to recieving anything at all=second time it went past 90 days because of excuses from seller no recourse after 90 days so watch that=3rd time was rpu unit that I paid for with the agreement of ok to store it here for as long as you want after 90 days I am out $2100 bucks and it disappears=so be careful of what ya do it aint entirely safe Ken
aH! See that's what I'm talking about, that **** has cost sellers like me a lot of money except instead of not being happy with the product, they just feel like they should get it for free, so what do they do? Deny receiving it and I'm stuck having to give them a full refund! That **** doesn't work now, because every package has tracking information and signature confirmation. Oh and if you receive a shiny new smoke detector instead and you file a claim that you never received it, you better check the box because if a tracking number is on it, they keep your money and you keep the $600 smoke detector. Why do I keep bringing this smoke detector thing up? Because I spent 2,500 on an item once, and all I received was a smoke detector. I filed every claim paypal had and was on the phone with them, in the end paypal agreed that I needed my money back, and all was good, oh glorious day. But wait, the *******s had already cleared out their paypal account and now paypal can't give me a refund until they have the money back from them. Think they'll ever return it? Hell no. So see, even if you buy something and paypal finds that you deserve a full refund, you still won't get it. They can skip out and start up shop again under a different name.
This is a good thread, there has also been some information about Ebay and Paypal that I didn't know. I've been using Ebay and Paypal for about eight years and haven't had any trouble, so the info is interesting. What I'd like to add is that when you pay via PayPal, unless you have money in a PayPal account, the transaction doesn't really happen for several days. So there is a chance that something still can go wrong, be very careful if you are the seller and accept PayPal for payment. I'd wait until I know that the transaction has really happened before sending any merchandise.
fordcrager brings up a great point and one that I almost forgot. Briefly, and I stopped for other reasons beyond losing money this time, I offered paypal as a payment option but under shipment details, I stated that it delays shipments by up to 7 days. This way I could transfer the money and as soon as I saw it pending, I shipped the item and usually that was only 3 days later. A lot of people complained about it but they were all told the same thing: "Paying by paypal will delay your shipment up to 7 days. If you want your item shipped faster, you can overnight a cashier's check or money order" Later I decided offering money orders or cashier's checks only was actually easier because I never had to explain the paypal delay again. This doesn't exactly help striper there who's only interested in buying, I believe. For you, man because you're in Australia and I apologize for not noticing that earlier, I think paypal is an option but just be very careful. Check feedback like crazy. Even read the positive because a lot of people leave a positive but include complaints in it. Also yes you can fund your paypal account and send instant transfers but you can send instant transfers as well if you have a verified checking account and credit card.
you know they have these things called "banks". apparantly they keep many thousands of dollars on hand for cashing things like checks and money orders! just because a money order comes from the post office doesn't mean you have to cash it there.
EXACTLY ... I just deposit a US Postal MO like a check ... in my checking account ... No problems and no h***le ... And the FEE to buy a US Postal MO is cheap ... like 1 dollar for up to 700 or 800 dollars ... No fees to cash ...
Yeah I guess I wasn't the only one that thought that too. I've never tried cashing one at a post office, always just deposited it. And they keep quite a bit of cash on hand, the money you give them when you're there doesn't disappear immediately. I've been known to buy a few thousand worth of money orders and pay cash, can't say any supervisor or anything ever came out and took the cash real quick. It just goes in their drawer.
I have always enjoyed the car culture and most of the people in it. The computer/m*** communications age has changed a few things. Everywhere I now go, I cannot seem to swing a dead cat without a car person mentioning what this stuff is bringing on ebay and a non car person telling me what this stuff is worth at the of BJ auction. The short answer is that there are too many flakes on ebay and too much ego at BJ. Both of these venues seem to bridge the gap between reality and fantisy for both the observers and the participants. Ebay is a good place to sell if you can stand the flakey folkes. Most of the stuff is located in the US and I've noticed international shipping has gone up and more strings are attached to international shipping. I'm sure you are aware how costly bulky items are to ship. Paypal is really just a third party that handles your money for a fee.(like I need someone else with their hand in my pocket).
Something I've seen recently, there are auctions on ebay for "feedback secrets"......aparently it's some sort of feedback trading ring where people run auctions for .99 cents, everyone buys a recipe, or something emailable ( or nothing at all), then give glowing feedback to each other in order to build a bunch of feedbacks to then run off and start selling junk with the props from said good feedback. Some people only look at the numbers, not what the feedbacks are for....I recently found this out while clicking open the guys' last 30 or 40 feedbacks, they were all for .99 cent ****, then at the end, was the auction for the "feedback secerets" auction. He was selling copied-from-TV-series DVDR's. Except he made them look like they were store bought'n DVD box sets. Also, I live in a pretty big town, so I can walk into the Post Office with 2000.00 worth of USPMO's and cash them right up, no problem....sometimes I have to step over to the other window, but always get them cashed. Maybe it's just where I live, but some of the replies above made it sound like you'll never get big ones cashed at the PO, but that's not true for all USPO's. Not to mention if you're trying to stay under the radar on taxes and not run thousands of dollars of checks thru your account (which if you buy & trade a lot thru the year can easily run over 100 or 200K), cashing the USPMO's at the source is the next best thing to doing everything in cash....since it's not tied to your bank account whatsoever and would take tons of research to ever tie one to you, let alone hundreds of them....since they don't get any names entered on them when you buy them. It would all have to be hand searching stacks & stacks of used USPMO's at the Treasury in KCMO where they go to ever trace one back to you. I've never deposited a USPMO and never will....they turn right back into cash with a drive across town....I consider them cash, and the only sure thing next to actual cash.
The Jalopy Journal
