My New Way Of Promoting Ebay

yeah, yeah, paypal is trying to fleece the world....is anyone aware of how many lawsuits have already been filed against ebay/paypal due to problems not onlyfrom unlicensed product sales, but MANY for problems of fraud arising from check and money order payments? if ebay is getting rich off the paypal transactionsthen why are they preparing to lay off 10% of their work force? they are making these changes because they have to in order to survive. electronic paymentprovides accountability for all transactions, period. i have a good friend who is an accounts manager at paypal here in omaha and she tells me horror storiesDAILY about the fraud, theft, and trademark infringement she has to deal with. i don't think a lot of people really grasp just how many thousands ofpredators WORLDWIDE make a living off of ripping people off through ebay, and 90% of them do it through money order and check scams...<br><br>THE REASON WHY PAYPAL ONLY DEALS WITH CONFIRMED ADDRESSES IS TO PROTECT THE SELLER! IF THEY DID'NT HAVE THAT POLICY DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY MILLIONSOF DOLLARS WOULD BE LOST FROM PEOPLE USING STOLEN CREDIT CARDS AND CHECKS TO PURCHASE ITEMS AND SEND IT TO AN ADDRESS WHERE THEY CAN RECEIVE THE GOODS? THEREIS A VERY GOOD REASON WHY PAYPAL ONLY CONFIRMS ADDRESSES IN CERTAIN COUNTRIES. MAINLY, BECAUSE MAIL SERVICE TO MANY COUNTRIES (INCLUDING MEXICO) IS UNRELIABLEAT BEST, NEARLY GUARANTEEING PROBLEMS WITH TRANSACTIONS FOR EITHER THE BUYER, SELLER, OR BOTH, SUCH AS THE EXAMPLE CITED IN AN EARLIER POST. EBAY IS ABUSINESS, NOT A CHARITY OR PUBLIC SERVICE. IT IS NOT THEIR CONCERN NOR OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE SERVICE TO UNRELIABLE COUNTRIES JUST SO THEY CAN BE FAIR TOEVERYONE. THAT IS NOT DISCRIMINATION, THAT IS BUSINESS!<br><br>i have sold 400 cars on ebay in the last 6 months and not lost ONE DOLLAR to refunds. why? because i only accept paypal, i only ship to the continental u.s., iaccurately describe and photograph my cars, and i package with the utmost care and ship fast. if you are willing to have wider selling parameters in order toget a couple more bucks out of an item then a seller must realize they are also increasing their risk of problems, pure and simple. ebay did'nt fill theworld with thieves and con artists, but they have inadvertently given them a great home to commit their crimes in complete anonymity. this is the source ofnearly all ebay and paypal's woes. does'nt anyone think that maybe, just maybe, ebay was aware of the fact that their policy changes would pi$$ offthousands of customers, and cost them untold millions in business? do you think that a company that has had so much success and growth does'nt employpeople who could forecast how people would react to these changes? the bottom line is they had no choice but to make these changes to protect ebayers fromthemselves and to close the door on future legal problems stemming from paper transactions.<br><br>i just think its hilarious to hear people say "i sent a gucci purse to an address in somalia and it never got there! now i'm out the money i got paidfor the item just because the customer never received it! that's not fair! its paypal's fault!" are you kidding me? how is it someone else'sfault if a person chooses to send items to underdeveloped countries rife with crime and corruption, not to mention laughable postal systems, and the item neverarrives? if you're willing to take the risk for the extra cash then you should be comfortable with losing your money should it not work out.<br><br>everyone wants to blame ebay/paypal for their bad experiences but i wonder how many of them stop to wonder if maybe they did'nt make a bad choice in howthey sold an item. many times, people lose money to refunds because they worry more about squeezing every dollar out of an item and are willing to shipanywhere, for any type of payment, instead of thinking about the risk involved with the transaction, they assume its ebay's responsibility to cover theira$$ so they should be able to send anything anywhere without worry. the reality is, most of the people out there buying items then filing claims are doing sodeliberately because they know the loopholes in the system and seek out people who run auctions with their pants down, so to speak. thousands of people MAKETHEIR LIVINGS scamming people on ebay. as a necessary means of survival, ebay and paypal are trying to close those loopholes, even at the cost of losing partof its customer base. a business has to do what it has to do to survive, plain and simple.<br><br>i realize it may seem as though i'm a paid spokesperson for epal, but i assure i'm not, lol. i have a very close friend who is privy to the innerworkings of the companies in question and we speak almost daily about her job. i am trying to pass on this perspective from the inside so everyone can betterunderstand whats going on. not many people in the public at large have access to this type of info because ebay does'nt advertise their legal issues, nordo they give reason for their changes, because they understand it would be even worse for business if they came out and said "hey guys, we're makingthese changes because we are being sued up the wazoo and our customers are losing millions to fraud". my friend worries daily about losing her job becauseof all the problems ebay already has due to legal issues, and is certain the company will eventually fail altogether based on the current direction of thecompany.<br><br>so there you have it, some food for thought to maybe balance out a rather one sided thread. i'm not taking anyone's side here, and i don't think myviews are any better than any one else's, but i thought i would throw this info out there because in all this complaining about ebay i'm reading veryfew people take into account the big picture of the situation. its all too easy to wave your arms around around and shout about big evil companies sticking itto the little guy, but no one stops to consider all the little guys who have been sticking it to ebay because they offer too many freedoms in their businesspractices up to this point. ebay is not a public service, they are a business and yes, they are in it for the money. they will do what they have to do tosurvive and keep making money because that's what business do. we all have the choice to take our business elsewhere if we don't agree with how acompany is run, don't we? <br><br>one last thing in response to an earlier claim that shipping rates are going to go up because of these changes: that is a complete fallacy. shipping rates aredetermined by postal carriers, not paypal. they don't make any money off of shipping whatsoever. as a matter of fact, it is cheaper to pay for shippingthrough paypal then it is to pay directly at the post office or ups. usps even provides free delivery confirmation for labels purchased online, where you haveto pay extra for it at the post office.<br><br>troy

<font color="#330066">Troy ,I agree with many of your points. But the problem is that there are many decent , honest, hardworking people on Paypal and nowthey are forced to accept this form of payment only. I will take a negative before I ship to Mexico or Belgium or somalia. etc. I have a block on my paypalacct. that I don't take unconfirmed payments and they still managed to by-pass the block. Why , because paypal sets it up for them to still proceed withthe payment. I then cancel the payment and of course, the buyer goes ballistic and doesn't understand why I did that...<br><br> If a seller has been on ebay 10 years and they are good (actually, I think that I bleeping good at 5400+ feedbacks), then they shouldn't be forced tochange. I take it on a lot of things but I won't take it on certain items like unsealed models. I take a lot of pictures but I can not going to buildthe damn thing inorder to guarantee that it's complete. I will state that I can't be sure if its complete. I don't want to take a chance thatsomeone will remove a part and then file a claim w/ paypal... On heavy items, I am afraid that they will NOT want the item and will return it and then I losethe shipping. I feel that I have earned the right to decide which payment I want for a certain item.<br><br><br>It's great that you Troy haven't had a problem. Great that you take good pictures and list accurate descriptions. But all it takes is for 1dishonest person to say that you shipped them an empty box or switched the car or they claim that it's a repaint and then what. Will paypal side with youor them? What if the person had the same car that they bought from you but in bad shape and they claim that you sent them that car instead of a nice one. Paypal exposes the seller to dirty , dishonest buyers. You should have to right to decide if you will take paypal on that Olds 442 or not. Not paypal.<br><br>That is the problem here. If there is fraud in electronics and designers stuff, then make those sellers Paypal only and leave the poor saps like me ( andMark alone......)<br><br>maribell</font>

<font color="#003333" size="4">Here's another problem with this new Paypal change... The post office and the banks will lose $$$$$. Now, don't thinkfor a second that your mail will be delivered faster with less moneyorders and checks being mailed out... My post office had 2 clerks retire in the last yearand they weren't replaced! As the post office is losing millions of dollars due to electronic payments, they aren't replacing many of theiremployees. I have a friend who works in a postal processing facility and she says that there is almost no first class mail anymore. She rarely getsovertime. My brother is a mailman in Florida and he too says that there isn't much overtime now due to electronic payments. (he hates that I pay all mybills online..)<br><br>So Anita , see if your union can fight this w/ paypal. <br><br>Let paypal/ebay modify their rules and make the bad sellers and the new ones and those selling Gucci, electronics , etc. be the paypal only sellers and leaveMark, and me and the others that posted here alone....<br><br><br>maribell</font>

<font color="#FF0000">Troy, when I said that that shipping rate will go up , I meant that now the few sellers that ship at exact cost will have to add a"handling charge." These people now have to make up the 4 to 5% in fees that they have to use for paypal. I'm on my 3rd printer now thanks topaypal! I don't charge exact shipping anymore. Thanks to paypal. I add a dollar handling fee to all transactions , thanks to paypal....<br><br>There are more costs to the seller when you print online for those that didn't know. I must go through 2 packs of printer ink per month. Yes, now youget a little break on the shipping fees when you print online (only on priority mail.) Scotch tape, at least 10 rolls per month. I once ordered thoseadhesive shipping labels for paypal too and those cost me money too.<br>It can also be a bit time consuming printing up the labels sometimes. I do it pretty fast now but at first , it took me a bit of time and I made mistakes andhad to void the labels. <br><br>Paypal needs to make changes to protect the sellers. That is my beef with them. Now , just because a person says that an item didn't arrive, they get anautomatic refund.. I don't so.<br><br>maribell<br><br></font>

Jeff, we are not talking about business owners, and of course they wish there expenses were that cheap, but they also have a building, rent or mortagage ,other bills , supplies, etc, but on ebay, you cannot compare that to a real business, its just plain stupid. We are talking about the sellers who occasionallysell on ebay and why should they have to get hit with fees ranging from 9-14 percent, its just ridicoulous. And for the record, paypal is not 100 percent safe,I have been screwed on paypal and know plenty others as well, so its not the best payment method, still a good old money order is, and if you worried about theseller, spent another 5 bucks and you got signature or delievery confirmation, even safer.<br>Eric

<br>I have been selling on ebay a ton more the last few months. I have sold over 100 very collectable record albums. And, by the way, I have shipped them to 16different countries and not lost one or had one problem.<br>My main reason for responding is that everyone keeps saying that you have to accept Paypal payments and pay all these extra paypal fees. That is absolutelyfalse. What they have said is:<ul><li>Direct credit or debit card payment via a merchant credit card account</li> <li>PayPal</li> <li>ProPay</li> <li>Payment on pick-up</li></ul><p>I don't know anything about Propay and wouldn't expect a casual seller to set up a merchant account. But I have heard that you can set up anaccount at most banks so that credit card payments can be sent directly to your account. <br>Ebay has also said that if you have a customer that you have dealt with before that does not want to send electronic payments than exceptions can be made(but Iam sure that won't be so easy to get that exception).<br>I do agree that Ebay is probably going to hurt themselves with all these changes they have made recently but just thought I should mention this in case someoneactually thought Paypal was the absolute only payment method accepted.<br><br>Chris<br></p>

<p><font color="#330033">With the exception of pickup, each one of those will cost the sellers money. Keep in mind, the more fees a seller pays, the higherthe starting prices or reserves or shipping fees. That is a fact. I just read up on propay and the fees are more than paypal.. There is even a fee to getyour money sent to your checking account! and if there is a chargeback, the seller is automatically charged a fee. Ouch. <br><br><br>I also had an auction closed because I wrote that I accept cash. It was for a cheap item, a bumper sticker and the total w/ shipping would've been lessthan 5 bucks. I restarted the auction and spelled cash as KASH and I used a buy it now and the auction sold before ebay caught on.. and yes, the buyersent cash. SO be creative and mispell it.. Make ebay work their computers to catch you. use greenbacks, cassssh , etc. What works one day may notwork the next day.<br><br>As for my history on paypal.. only about 6-7 items were lost in 10 years. Not bad but just the threat of a chargeback bothers me. So if you have had success,great for you. If the item is lost, you can pretty much bet that the buyer will file a claim.<br><br>Maribell</font></p>

<blockquote> <font color="#330033"><font color="#330033">If the item is lost, you can pretty much bet that the buyer will file a claim.</font></font></blockquote><font color="#0000FF" size="4">I don't understand this. This is the reason post offices offer insurance on packages so if it gets damaged orgoes missing, the buyer gets their money back. If the buyer chooses not to buy insurance then it's on them if the package gets lost or damaged. How canpaypal just refund them their money, no questions asked, if insurance wasn't purchased??? In my eight years of buying on ebay I have had three or fouritems go missing. Out of all of them, none had insurance on them. Not once did I file a claim with paypal to get my money back. Why not? Because it was MYFAULT for not buying insurance. The items weren't big $$ items anyway, so I felt insurance wasn't necessary. I'd contact the sellers to find outwhen they shipped (a couple of times the seller had completely forgot to send it!) but I reassured them that it was my fault for not buying insurance and thatI didn't expect a refund of any kind. Why should I? They did their part, they sent it out, they can't control what happens to it after it leaves theirhands. I don't understand why paypal accepts claims of lost or damaged items. They need to tell the buyers to take it up with their post office, that ifinsurance was paid then they'll get their money back and if it wasn't paid then they're S.O.L.<br><br><br>~Karen</font>

maribell, thanks for sharing your points and counterpoints. its nice to be able to share differing opinions without getting angry about it...<br>i too, am very familiar with the expenses incurred to ship items. i have a closet full of blue painters tape, packing tape, protecto paks, and bubble wrap toprove it, lol. it does add up, that's for sure. my approach to shipping is to set out to break even, not making or losing any money, and i factor the costof materials to ship into that rate. i personally don't figure the 4% into my shipping costs, i just eat that because its not fair to the buyer in myopinion, though i'm sure many feel otherwise. i'm okay with the 4% cut because of the time it saves me, pure and simple. you gotta spend it to make it.you are probably right though, some people will raise their shipping costs because of this i suppose, but if that's the case, there's not much you cando about it except pass on the auction....oh, and i hear you about the cost of printer ink! here's a great tip though, if you look on ebay you can find inkrefill kits for dirt cheap! with the refill kits you can reuse your existing ink cartridges indefinitely! not sure if you already knew that but i thoughti'd share. i crapped my pants last time i spent $68 for 4 new ink cartridges, that's when a friend told me about refilling the old ones...<br><br><br>HERE IS SOME GOOD INFO IN REGARDS TO KAREN'S LAST POST:<br><br>IT IS NOT PAYPAL'S POLICY TO REFUND MONEY ON THE FLY LIKE HAPPENS TO SO MANY PEOPLE. WHEN THIS OCCURS IT IS THE CHOICE OF THE INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT AGENT THATTHE CLAIM FILER IS DEALING WITH. MY FRIEND AT PAYPAL TOLD ME THAT MANY OF THESE ACCOUNT AGENTS WILL CREDIT A CLAIM NO QUESTIONS ASKED A GOOD PORTION OF THETIME. WHY, YOU ASK? SO THAT THEY CAN GET HIGHER CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RATINGS ON THEIR PERSONAL WORK RECORD! PAYPAL DOES FOLLOW UP SURVEYS FOR A CERTAINPERCENTAGE OF CLAIMS FILED, AND IN THOSE SURVEYS, THE CLAIM FILER IS ASKED ABOUT THE SERVICE OF THE AGENT. ALL AGENTS KNOW THIS AND MANY ARE INCLINED TO GRANTA REFUND JUST TO GET THAT POSITIVE FEEDBACK ON THEIR RECORD! WHATS MORE, THESE AGENTS ARENT JUST SCREWING SELLERS, THEY ARE SCREWING PAYPAL JUST AS BAD, ASTHEY FREELY GIVE PAYPAL'S OWN MONEY BACK TO CUSTOMERS WHEN IT CAN'T BE GOTTEN FROM THE SELLER!! VERY SAD, BUT VERY TRUE. MY FRIEND IS A VERYCONSCIENTIOUS PERSON AND THIS PROBLEM WITHIN PAYPAL BOTHERS HER DEEPLY. SHE IS CONSTANTLY HAVING TO REVIEW AND CORRECT THESE REFUNDS, BUT SHE SAYS THIS ISSUEIS WIDESPREAD THROUGHOUT THE COMPANY. THAT IS WHY IT STILL GOES ON SO MUCH. ITS NOT COMPANY POLICY, ITS THE INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES WHO THINK OF NOTHING MORE THANCLOCKING IN, CLOCKING OUT, GETTING A PAYCHECK, AND EEKING THEIR WAY UP THE CORPORATE LADDER. KIND OF IRONIC THAT PAYPALS CUSTOMER SURVEYS, WHICH ARE SUPPOSEDTO MONITOR THE QUALITY OF THEIR SERVICE, ACTUALLY PROMOTE CORRUPTION AND LAZINESS WITHIN THE COMPANY IN ORDER TO GET POSITIVE REVIEWS ON THOSE SURVEYS. SADLYIT MAKES SENSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT BECAUSE NO CLAIM FILER IS GOING TO GIVE AN AGENT A GOOD REVIEW IF THEY REFUSE THE REFUND, WILL THEY? KIND OF A NO WINSITUATION...<br><br>ALAS, THERE ARE THINGS YOU CAN DO SHOULD YOU GET SCREWED BY ONE OF THESE AGENTS IN A REFUND SITUATION. FIRST, YOU HAVE TO ACT FAST, FAST, FAST! SECOND, INTHESE SITUATIONS, CALL PAYPAL, DO NOT MESS WITH EMAIL. MORE THAN LIKELY YOU WILL GET SENT TO SOME HALF WIT IN THE PHILLIPINES CALL CENTER. DON'T WASTE YOURTIME WITH THEM! ASK TO BE CONNECTED TO THE "EXECUTIVE ESCALATIONS DEPARTMENT". DON'T LET THE AGENTS TELL YOU NO. DEMAND TO TALK TO THE EEDEPARTMENT. THIS WILL GET YOU TRANSFERRED BACK TO THE STATES AND TO AN ENGLISH SPEAKING AGENT. ONE STEP CLOSER. IF THIS AGENT IS NO HELP, ASK TO TALK TO THEIRSUPERVISOR. KEEP BADGERING THEM UNTIL YOU GET SOMEONE WHO WILL LISTEN. THEY ARE FEW, BUT THEY ARE OUT THERE, AND MOST OF THEM ARE AT THE TOP OF THE ACCOUNTSFOOD CHAIN, SO THAT'S WHERE YOU HAVE TO REACH TO RESOLVE AN ISSUE WHERE A REFUND IS ISSUED WITH INSUFFICIENT REASON. I KNOW, I KNOW, ITS A HUGE PAIN IN THEA$$ AND A LOT OF TIME INVOLVED, BUT IF YOU FEEL YOU WERE HOSED THEN ITS WORTH IT.<br><br>TROY

<font color="#003333">Karen, you should be cloned. All bidders should be like you on ebay but unfortunately, they aren't. If all bidders were like you,Ebay wouldn't even have a PROBLEM SOLVING DEPARTMENT!<br><br> They will file claim.. most of them. Even if you send them a copy of the postal receipt, they will still file a claim. Paypal doesn't automaticallyrefund their money.... but what if they call their credit card and the item in question was an expensive redline (Olds 442 for example..) In less then 24hours, the total amount is back in the bidders charge acct. Then of course, paypal will try and get it from the seller.<br><br>That is the problem w/ paypal. A seller is always exposed to a chargeback. Always! That is why , I only list cheap items and when I list something that Ithink may be risky, I won't take paypal on it. <br><br>Sure paypal does save time often. But that choice should be left to the seller if they want to drive to the bank to deposit a check or if they prefer losing4% .<br><br>I am seriously considering selling an expensive redline and I will not take paypal on it. The paypal fee would be in excess of 16.00. I can drive to my bankin a Hummer H1 loaded with missiles and soldiers and it wouldn't cost me 16.00 in gas. My bank is very, very close. The choice should be left up to theseller.<br><br><br>INSURANCE..... This is truly scary for all of you that truly love paypal 100% all the way and like this change..... If the del. confirmation shows that theitem was delivered, then the post office will NOT pay! So if you are shipping to an apartment building, I would suggest SIGNED DELIVERY CONFIRMATION instead. The mailman can drop off a box anywhere . So if someone else picks it up, the rightful owner didn't get it. This happened to me 2 times this year. Thankfully, both bidders were morons. They filed the claim with paypal and both times , they let the 20 day period pass without escalating the claim. Bothbought insurance but the post office would not pay the claim since del. confirmation showed that it was delivered. Both lived in apartment buildings. In 1case , the address was NOT confirmed. Had they filed the claim, I would have lost the money. That's why I don't ship to unconfirmed addressesanymore regardless of the bidders feedback.<br><br><br>Maribell<br><br></font>