Recent ebay problems your opinions please

We recently sold some items on evil bay. Got a lot of new, zero or low feedback bidders. Some have argued over shipping, want to send M/O and some deadbeated. Been about a year since i sold on there any one with recent exsperiance or how to deal with it?

Money orders are great. The only thing better is CASH. Just make sure that the money order is legitimate BEFORE you ship.

Most folks have no idea how much it costs to ship even a light weight item, so state your shipping charges up front and DO NOT negotiate.

Yes, there are a lot of new or relatively new buyers. There also seems to be a rash of brand new sellers. Being new is not necessarily a bad thing. Everyone has to start somewhere. The only real problem is that some of those NEW ebayers are actually old-timers with brand new I.D.s. Use caution.

I can not afford to use them! Tried 3 transactions, 2 got hijacked. Security seems to be lacking. Greg

I would require a postal money order before shipping. Hal

I'm an old E-bay buyer. I kind of like it when shipping is set amount. If they don't like it, they can stay away. Yes, I know some still try to rip off with preposterous charge..buyer beware and leave them alone. I see a lot of "we reserve the right to reject any bid we (what ever reason). I think you should be able to smell the bad ones. Pal-Pal is great. If you worry about it, set it up with a small separate bank account. That or money order. Those that gripe about, like 8 dollars to ship a spark plug, just done understand life. It takes time and effort to pack and ship a thing.
Zero feed back, could be a new guy or a new name to cover tracks. Low feed back-I would refuse them as trouble makers.
Kenny

when i sell on flea bay always put shipping and handling you have to box and tape that takes time,dont take money orders use paypal,i know it cost alittle but better than getting burned on a fake money order.good luck hope this helps

Been buying on ebay for several years. As long as shipping cost is displayed, I don't care what a person charges. I just add shipping to my maximum bid. I do not bid on items from new or low feedback sellers. I have never sold on ebay, so I don't know how you could refuse to sell to low feedback buyers.

Money orders are no longer an issue as their use is PROHIBITED by ebay policy.

I have bought and sold on Ebay for years. I only use PayPal with no exceptions, and state that clearly in my listings. That filters out most of the deadbeats, money launderers, etc. I report anything suspicious to ebay and/or PayPal. I have had to report one buyer and one seller. In each case I came out whole in the end. If you are selling, as others have suggested, I list a flat rate shipping fee, or put in the weight with a definite shipping carrier and type so the purchaser knows before they bid exactly what the shipping cost will be. I have my items listed with no worldwide shipping offered. In my experience, I have found that alot of scammers are outside the USA, have been on ebay with that user ID for a very short time, and have only one or two positive feedbacks, probably done in cahoots with their accomplices to look legit. They are the ones that buy something from you, then want to wire you an amount of money that is way over the item price, and have a courier pick up the item and the extra money (they say you can keep a certain amount of it as a fee, of coarse. I had this happen about 5 years ago when I was selling a guitar. I immediately reported it to ebay, and within a day the buyer had closed his ebay account himself. I do get requests from international buyers inquiring if I will sell to them. This allows you to check their feedback history, and if they have purchased from USA sellers frequently and paid promptly. I will only allow them to bid if this is the case, and so far I have had good luck. I truly believe ebay is safe if you clearly state what you will and will not do (your selling policies) in your listings. That way if anybody tries to negotiate or trick you after the sale,you can refer them to your stated policy, you are protected by ebay and PayPal. I also think it deters the scammers from choosing those sellers as possible victims.

Thats when I quit buying there.

Ebay policy states that you cannot mention checks or money orders in your listings. Ebay cannot stop you from accepting those payment methods. If you don't want to use Pay Pal, just contact the seller and ask if he will accept other methods.

You have the same problems no matter where you sell.

I haven't sold on ebay for about a year now. Seems like the bidders aren't there ? If I have to give something away I'll donate it to Goodwill or Salvation army. I can't afford to keep listing things nobody wants either. I don't see how so many do.

Ebay is trying to protect sellers - not that that is is _working_, but buyers are the ones left unprotected by ebay. Paypal might be good for you sellers, but it sucks to be a buyer....

The more paypal caught on, the less I bothered looking. Now that it seems to be the only option - I don't really understand their policies any more tho???? - I really don't even bother browsing them any more.

I'm an honest person. I think a lot of us lost interest in ebay any more. All you have left are the bottom sweepings of society lurking there? I'm sure a lot of honest people, but kinda a high % of scruff is lurking there too.

--->Paul

Pay Pal is real great if your the buyer. Get what you buy and then complain to Pay Pal. The money is gone out of your account in a blink. Try getting it back if the buyer isn't happy or honest. It happened to my son. He never did get his parts returned or the money back.

The problem I'm having with FEE-BAY is in my Mom's eBay account. My Mom has a eBay Store with about 350 items and now FEE-BAY says all sellers need to take out all details in listings about check/money orders because sellers can ONLY ACCEPT PAYPAL AS A PAYMENT METHOD!! I hate all ther STUPID changes. I have to edit ALL THE ITEMS and change this. They say you can do it in TurboLister, but we can't, it won't let us edit them in there. The things I hate about eBay most is the hidden user ID's, only PAYPAL as a payment method, and the fees and stupid policys.

They are changing all that too so you can't take anything but PAYPAL. We just bought some parts and we can't do the Request Total or even view the sellers address. They are making it so everything is PAYPAL only. I'm so sick of eBay's policys.

Here's my two cents; I've only purchased on eBay, not sold, so take it for what it's worth.

Low feedback? We all had to start somewhere. As long as they cough up payment why should you care?

Shipping charges? If you stated the charges clearly up front, then they don't have an argument. They bid knowing what shipping would be. Now if you didn't clearly state what shipping would be, shame on you.

Money order? Not allowed anymore, and for good reason. Again, they knew up front that Paypal is the only way they can pay.

Didn't pay? Well, you didn't ship, did you? I don't know what eBay's policy is, but I would put a provision in the listing that payment within 48 hours is expected, after that the item is subject to relisting.

You must now specify shipping and for good reason. I know the pay pal only but have been bombarded by money order request. I could see it right at the time of change over but its been 3 months. Ebays unpaid item policy is a hassel and it lets the dead beat walk.

Andy, move over to E-Crater. You can accept personal checks, money orders, Pay Pal, or my favorite, Google checkout.